BALL Engineer II Skindiver Heritage Blue Limited Edition Reference DM3208B-P1-BE - A No-Nonsense Dive Watch, A Review (plus Video)

As a watch company, the BALL Watch Company has been making watches since 1891. Back then, it specialises in railroad timepieces. However, like many watch companies in the world, dive watches was an area that was worth looking into. The BALL Skindiver timepiece conceived in 1962 in response to the increasing popularity of underwater diving in the United States.

To commemorate that milestone in the company's history, BALL launched the Skindiver Heritage series in the form of three distinct groups that are differentiated by the movement used. The most affordable group features BALL's RR1102 automatic caliber with a day-date complication (built on an ETA 2836-2 base); the middle group uses the BALL's RR1102-C caliber with COSC-certification; and the most expensive group used the BALL in-house RRM7309-C movement with 80-hour power reserve and COSC-certification but drops the day for a date-only complication.

After looking at the three options, I ended up with the most affordable option available, the model featuring the base movement RR1102 without COSC certification and paired with a rubber strap. The DM3208B-P1-BE was the model I chose.
The motivation in getting the watch were the dome sapphire crystal, the sapphire protected bezel and the tritium gas tubes for the dial and bezel.


The History of the Term Skindiver

When BALL launched the original Skindiver back in 1962, it was due to the development of the sport of underwater diving that was propagated by the Underwater Society of America in 1959. This organization is responsible for promotional work and providing training about diving, as well as organizing competitions. It established two codes: scuba diving and skin diving or free diving. The former sport uses air tanks for breathing whereas the latter sport does not use any external source of air i.e. the diver will only have what is available in his or her lungs to make the dive. Skin diving or free diving is a very extreme sport.


The Watch

The Skindiver Heritage is basic in design. The watch is made out of satin brushed and polished stainless steel. The watch casing is paired with rubber straps. The specification provided by BALL states that its width is 42 mm, height is 14.6 mm and lug width is 22 mm. Using my own measuring tools, I got the following measurements: width is 44 mm wide (bezel-edge to bezel-edge), width including crown in 46 mm, height is 15 mm and lug-to-lug length is 53.6 mm. Only the lug width was similar at 22 mm wide. The weight of the watch (including the rubber strap) is approximately 125 gm.


The Dial

The dial is generally painted blue. The main dial surface is metallic blue while the sloping chapter ring is solid blue. On the sloping chapter ring are white minute markers. The applied hour markers (the tritium gas tubes) which are placed on the main dial surface partially cuts into the chapter ring. The applied hour markers are framed with white paint. Only the 3 o'clock hour marker is shorter than the rest to fit in the day and date aperture. 



There are six lines of texts on the watch; half on the upper quadrant while the other half on the lower quadrant. BALL uses many types of fonts and font sizes. Apart from word "AUTOMATIC" which is in yellow, the rest of the texts are in white. Despite the many lines of text, the dial does not feel crowded.

The day and date aperture consist of two cutaways with step frame, the longer cutaway is for the day wheel and the shorter cutaway is for the date wheel. Both wheels have white backgrounds with black texts and numbers.

The hands of the Skindiver Heritage are large Roman daggers with skeletonised tips and fitted with tritium gas tubes. The minutes marker is long and reached the edge of the dial. As such, the skeletonised tip on the minutes hand allows one to see the actual minute marker as it passes over it. Meanwhile, the seconds hand is thin with a rectangular section where another tritium gas tube is located. As with most of BALL's watches, the end of the seconds hand have the famous "RR" logo.


The Casing

Protecting the dial is dome sapphire crystal with anti-reflection protection. There is a metal ring separating the crystal and the bezel.

 

The bezel is one of the key attributes of this watch. Protected by a dome sapphire crystal, BALL was able to add underneath the crystal quite a number of tritium gas tubes to make the bezel also shine in the dark. Due to the addition of the sapphire crystal on the bezel, the outer edge of the bezel has been capped by a sheet metal with waffle texturing for grip. The bezel uses a ratcheting system that is loud yet reassuring. Unidirectional, it takes 120 clicks for a complete rotation. On the bezel itself, the first 20 minutes are marked for every minute while the rest are marked in 5-minute interval by a line marker or an Arabic numbering.

To take off the bezel, one to need to take off a number of small hex screws found just under the rim of the bezel.



The screw-down crown is located at 3 o'clock. It is signed with the BALL logo at the top surface and it has the same waffle texturing like the bezel on its side. The crown has four positions; the first is the screw-down position; the second is the unscrew position where you can manually wound the main spring; the third position allows you to adjust the quick-setting date and quick-setting day functions by turning the crown clockwise or anti-clockwise, and finally; the fourth position where you can adjust time and where the seconds-hand stop mechanism (hacking) kicks in.

The lugs on the Skindiver Heritage is straight which makes it feel like a big watch. There is no drill-through lug holes which would have made strap replacement easier. When measured, the length of the watch from lug-to-lug was 53.5 mm. Those with smaller wrist may find this watch a tad too big with obvious lug overhang. If only BALL would just curve the lugs slightly inward to make the overall length below 50 mm, more people will find it easier to wear. Even with my 6.75 inch wrist, the lug overhang is noticeable.



The watch comes with a display case-back. It is screwed down using six pegs sunk along the peripheral of the case-back. Apart from some of the basic information regarding the watch, a special serial number to indicate that it is a limited edition timepiece can be found on the case-back. In my case, the watch is number 221 out of 1,000 examples globally.

RR1102 with golden letterings

Through the display window you can see BALL’s BR1102 automatic caliber with a day-date complication which was based on the ETA 2836-2 architecture. This 25-jewel movement operates at 4 Hertz or 28,800 BPH and has a power reserve of approximately 38 hours. Apart from the stamping on the rotor of the company's brand, the movement lacks any artistic rendering.

I was able to do a simple accuracy test using the Toolwatch app for the RR1102 movement. Straight out of the box, the watch recorded an accuracy of +8.2 seconds per day.

I don't have the manufacturer's stated accuracy for the RR1102 movement. I suspect it should be similar to the classic ETA 2824-2 and as such the result was withing expectation.


The Illumination

BALL is well known for the use of the self-powered micro tritium (H₃) gas tubes in their watches. This lighting source provide a long-life brightness that is at least 100 times brighter than markings using standard luminous paints. All this without the need for it to be 're-charge' by any light source beforehand. Power comes from the inherent radiation of the tritium gas sealed in the mineral glass tube. The interior walls are coated with luminescent material that gives off cold light when activated by the electrons emitted by the tritium. Nevertheless, the brightness of micro gas tubes will deteriorate over the years. In this case, with the half life of 12.3 years for tritium, by the 25th year, the brightness is expected to dim by 75%. Even at that level, it will be as bright or even slightly brighter than traditional paint based illumination.



For the Skindiver Heritage, there are 31 of those tubes: 12 on the dial, 3 on the hands, and 16 inside the domed timing bezel. As you can see in the photo above, all, apart from one glows green. Only the 12 o'clock marker on the dial has an orange glow.


Watch Casing Strength

The Skindiver Heritage conforms to the International Standard ISO1413 shock resistance requirements i.e. based on the simulation of the shock received by a watch on falling accidentally from a height of 1 m on to a horizontal hardwood surface. In practice shock resistance is generally tested by applying two shocks (one on the 9 o'clock side, and one to the crystal and perpendicular to the face). The shock is usually delivered by a hard plastic hammer mounted as a pendulum, so as to deliver a measured amount of energy, specifically, a 3 kg hammer with an impact velocity of 4.43 m/s (This will deliver approximately 30 Joules of energy to the watch). The watch must keep its accuracy to +/- 60 seconds/day as measured before the test. For the Skindiver Heritage, it is designed to absorb a shock of 5,000 Gs.

The watch is also has anti-magnetic properties, able to withstand 4,800 A/m or 60 Gauss of magnetic force. This conforms to the ISO764 magnetic-resistant watches standard. Nevertheless, this is not as impressive as it seems as many watches are either similar or ever surpassed this level.

Meanwhile, the watch casing is water rated to 200 meters.


The Strap

The watch casing is paired with a 22 mm wide rubber strap. There are two strap guides also made out of rubber. Surprisingly, the signed buckle is rather thin. I expected something more substantial like the clasp on the bracelet model.



Honestly, I wished BALL used silicone instead of pure rubber on the strap. I had a number of anxious moments with my rubber strapped watches when the rubber failed (see here). Due to those experiences, I would prefer not have rubber straps if there is an option.



Perhaps in this case, BALL could throw in a nylon NATO strap as a spare as part of the limited edition offering. Currently, all the limited edition timepieces under the Skindiver Heritage series either comes in bracelet form or rubber straps.


The Wearing Experience

Despite the length of the watch, it does wear well when paired with the rubber strap. The friction between the rubber and the skin makes it sit snugly on the wrist without needing to make it tight. The wide expanse of the dial, the large hands and wide markers is easy on the eyes for quick referencing.



It is when it is in a darken situation where the watch really shines (pun intended 😁). The tritium gas tubes really put on a show with constant brightness unlike other paint based illumination. The fact that even the markers on the bezel lights up make it unique. Only a few watches have this capability (which I appreciate).

Overall, I am satisfied with this watch. There this only one change that I would make is to switch the rubber strap to a nylon NATO strap with the watch. Ball should have anticipated this possibility and perhaps add an additional strap as part of the product offering increase customer satisfaction.




The Packaging

The watch comes in a three-piece packaging. The first is a white slip-on cardboard piece for transit. Underneath it is a BALL green box with the brand stamped at the top. After opening this green cardboard box, you will find the main watch-box as well as the the documentation associated with the watch.



The main watch-box is designed like a drawer. There is a faux-leather tap where one grabs to pull the 'drawer' open. Inside the drawer is the watch on its pillow.



The documentation by BALL is minimal. A CD-ROM is provided where the soft copy of the manual can be found. Otherwise you can download it here: https://www.ballwatch.com/global/en/customer_service/online-user-manual.html.


Specifications

Model: Engineer II Skindiver Heritage
Movement: Automatic Caliber BALL RR1102 (re-worked ETA2836-2 automatic movement)
Jewel: 25
Frequency: 4 Hz or 28,800 BPH
Power Reserve: 38 hours
Illumination: 31 micro Tritium gas tubes on bezel, hour, minute and second hands and dial
Shock Resistance: 5,000 G capable
Anti-Magnetic: Up to 4,800 A/m
Water Resistant: 200 m / 660 ft
Dial Colour: Blue
Case Material: Stainless steel with satin brushed and polished surfaces
Dimensions: Width 42 mm; Height 14.6 mm; Length 53.5 mm; Lugs 22 mm
Weight: 125 gm
Strap: Black rubber strap with pin buckle
Crystal: Anti-reflective dome-shaped sapphire crystal
Bezel: Unidirectional rotating dome-shaped sapphire diving bezel with gas tubes illumination
Case-Back: Screw-down with sapphire crystal window
Crown: Screw-down and signed
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, day and date
Launch Date: July 2019
MSRP: RM8,160
Purchase Date: 7 December 2019
Purchase Price: RM5,550
Dealer: Hang Thai Watch, Bangsar Village



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