VIDEO: The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II and Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU

Time+Tide

One of Ball’s slogans is “accuracy under adverse conditions”. That tells the story of what this brand is all about – watches that deliver tough functionality that you can absolutely rely on. It’s a legacy that was founded back in the 1890s, when Webb C. Ball was chosen to dictate a set of standards for railroad chronometers, an initiative designed to help prevent train crashes. The watches that Andrew reviews in this video – the Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II and Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU – continue that muscular tradition of robust timekeeping instruments.

 

 

The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II offers a nicely mixed finished stainless-steel case that definitely has a bit of presence on the wrist clocking in at a comfortable 40 millimetres in diameter, a not particularly svelte 14.5mm in thickness and as somewhat broad for its size 51 millimetres lug-to-lug length across the wrist. But to be fair, that lug-to-lug measurement should be safe for average wrists and its size is not without reason as the design results in a highly robust daily wearer resistant to 7,500 GS and 100m of water resistance with the screw-down crown. In short, this is a watch you definitely don’t need to worry about during daily wear – wherever your day takes you.

The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU is a hardcore dive watch – NEDU stands for navy experimental dive unit – that incorporates a chronograph and a tri-compax layout. The 12-hour chronograph counter is positioned at 6 o’clock, a small seconds display is located at 9 o’clock and a 30-minute chronograph counter sits under 12. Each subdial is snailed and shares identical proportions. The chronograph registers feature red hands, while the small seconds display includes a white hand. As always with Ball, legibility is a particular strength here due to the 21 micro gas tubes that deliver incredible visibility in the dark.

The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II pricing and availability:

The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II is available now for AU $5550 and the Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU is also available for AU $7150.