The Ball Watch Company Engineer Hydrocarbon Ceramic Midsize wrist watch – A timepiece that explores the summits of watchmaking technology.

Inspired by the Engineer Hydrocarbon Ceramic XV presented in 2011, the new Engineer Hydrocarbon Ceramic Midsize is a perfect example of the most rugged, most reliable and most sophisticated collection of timepieces every designed by BALL Watch. The ultimate personification of the identity of the company created in 1891 by Webster Clay Ball, the models in the Engineer Hydrocarbon collection are destined to find themselves on the wrists of the explorers of the modern world which BALL Watch has made its ambassadors.

First woman to join the BALL Explorers Club in 2012, Edurne Pasaban is an experienced mountaineer who can claim to be only woman in the world to belong to the very closed circle of people who have scaled 14 peaks more than 8,000 meters high. Over the nine years it took her to establish this extraordinary list of achievements, Edurne Pasaban applied her qualities of tenacity, the will to surpass herself and strength essential to conquering unknown horizons in the most extreme conditions and which are all values that can be attributed to the Engineer Hydrocarbon collection.

With a stainless steel case and intermediate diameter of 36mm, BALL Watch has included in its key collection a balanced model that will suit today’s explorers. The streamlined and refined style of its dial makes it a sporty and elegant watch that would not be out-of-place even in formal situations. A subtle allusion to the colours of the alpine world, the dial is available in “slate black,” “ice white” and “quartz pink”. The delicate use of various finishes adds a refined touch to the dial, visible in particular with its interior circle that delicately arcs around the ends of the luminous micro gas tubes.

With the same attention to aesthetics and harmony, the pure ceramic rotating bezel matches the colour of each dial. Benefiting from BALL Watch’s pioneer ceramic processing technology, the numerals and the graduation on the bezel are coated with powerful luminous paint. Ceramic also provides the bezel with exceptional resistance to corrosion, scratches and ultraviolet rays, all natural adversities a timepiece may have to face during an ascension on Edurne Pasaban’s wrist.

Other elements that underscore this collection’s reputation, the Engineer Hydrocarbon Ceramic Midsize is resistant to shocks of up to 5,000 Gs, protection against magnetic fields of an intensity of 4,800 A/m and water resistant up to a depth of 200 meters. The patented crown protection system is the final touch providing the wearer of the Engineer Hydrocarbon Ceramic Midsize with improved safety in managing time and complete freedom of action from submarine depths to the peaks of the Himalayas.

With a rich past closely associated to the history of the American railroads, BALL Watch remains one of the most respected and established watchmaking brands in the United States as well as being the instigator of chronometry standards. In his position as Chief Time Inspector, Webb C. Ball introduced as early as the late 19th century, a time standardization system for American railroad companies to use. This system is based on such rigorous precision and reliability criteria that it inspired the “Contrôle officiel suisse des chronomètres” (COSC) to issue its own certification standards in 1973. So, quite naturally, the majority of the Engineer Hydrocarbon collection’s calibers are chronometer certified, providing an additional guarantee of precision and exactness. The Engineer Hydrocarbon Ceramic Midsize is no exception with its ETA 2892-2 automatic movement certified by the COSC and displaying hours, minutes and seconds as well as the date.

Real signature of all BALL watches, the dial indexes and hands are of course fitted with luminous micro tubes of tritium (3H) gas. This state-of-the-art Swiss technology used on BALL watches requires no external source of light or energy while being up to 100 times more efficient than conventional luminous paints. BALL Watch has further improved this process by attaching the dial micro tubes to metal appliques. The new patented process enhances the effect of the micro-tubes while also improving the diffusion of the light generated by the tritium gas. A stainless steel bracelet adds the final touch to this chronometer.

Today, more than ever, BALL Watch is continuing its journey and asserting its role as a key protagonist in the exploration of modern time and the evolution of watchmaking history.

  • Model Number:
    DL2016B-SCAJ-BK/PK/WH
  • Movement:
    Automatic caliber ETA 2892-2, chronometer certified COSC
  • Functions:
    18 micro gas tubes on hour and minute hands and dial for night reading capability
    Shock resistant to 5,000Gs
    Anti-magnetic to 4,800A/m
    Water resistant to 200m/650ft
    Hours, minutes, sweep seconds and date
  • Case:
    Stainless steel
    Ø 36mm, height 10.4mm
    Top ceramic luminous unidirectional rotating bezel
    Anti-reflective convex sapphire crystal
    Patented crown protection system
  • Band:
    Stainless steel bracelet with folding buckle
  • Dial:
    Slate black, quartz pink or ice white