Ball Watches

Is WatchPilot an authorised Ball seller?

WatchPilot is an authorised retailer for Ball watches. This brand sometimes passes under the radar, but we really appreciate the robust construction of its watches. One of the most iconic features of a Ball watch is its second hand, that’s either tipped with the Ball ‘RR’ logo or given a splash of colour or luminosity.

Is Ball a Swiss watch brand or American?

Ball is a Swiss-owned and Swiss-made watch brand based in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The brand is savvy when it comes to technology and watchmaking innovations, so it often combines its own in-house mechanical movements with patented elements. These include the Ball SpringSEAL Patented Regulator Anti-Shock System, the SpringLOCK® Patented Anti-Shock System and the A-PROOF® Patented Anti-Magnetic System. The link between Ball watches and America comes from its origin story, which started in the United States in the 1890s. There was a fatal train crash in Ohio because train drivers hadn’t synchronised their watches and didn’t run on a shared sense of time. Web C. Ball was appointed Chief Time Inspector and created a ‘Rail Road Standard’ for everyone to follow. Ball celebrates this history with the double ‘RR’ on the dial of all its contemporary watches.

What is the story behind Ball watch and its ‘Night Reading Evolution’?

Okay, so this is just a fancy way of saying Ball is good at producing Swiss-made watches that can be read in the dark. The brand uses Self-Powered Micro Gas Tubes (H₃) for its sports watches and divers’ watches that are 100 times brighter than using luminous paints. Plus, these micro gas tubes don’t need to be recharged in the sun and don’t drain batteries or power reserves. The construction here is all about tiny amounts of Tritium – a radioactive isotope of hydrogen – that reacts with phosphor-coated mineral tubes to create a glow. These tubes are placed on the dial of Ball Engineer watches and other models to aid legibility. The only caveat is that this glow in the dark element only tends to last 10 years.

What watch movements do Ball watches feature?

As Ball is a Swiss watch brand you can be assured of high-quality automatic mechanical movements as well as complications like moonphases, chronographs and day-dates. The brand is especially proud of its own, in-house and made-from-scratch Chronometer Manufacture Caliber 7309 that’s COSC Certified and has an 80-hour power reserve.