VIDEO: The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II is colourful, robust and competitively priced

Zach Blass

With the world inching back towards the finish line of normality, travelling abroad has re-entered into the mix of our hectic lives. In a digital age where we are bombarded with notifications, a casual timecheck on your phone, can all of a sudden drag you back into your device and the hundred notification bubbles on your screen. So rather than rely on your smartphone, it’s nice to have an analogue timekeeper to give you just the information you seek with no inadvertent interruptions to your travels. So today we’re going to explore why the Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II is a competitive candidate for your wrist, both at home and abroad.

The nicely mixed finished stainless-steel case 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.

There are three configurations of the Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II, all which have a matte dark blue dial. Where they differ is the colours of the robust scratch-resistant sapphire bezel inserts. Each of the 24-hour GMT bezels are by coloured in a manner collectors would describe as drink-themed. You can choose between Coke (black and red) Starbucks (black and green), or the Pepsi (blue and red) that we had the pleasure of getting hands on with.

One facet of watch design where Ball excels in is legibility. The 24-hour bezel scale, dial hour indices and all four central hands are luminous. Forty-four micro gas tubes are utilised, emitting light and green for the bezel scale and GMT hand to distinguish the tine functionality, yellow for the central hours, minutes and seconds hands as well as the hour indices with the exception of the 12th hour index that shines orange in darkness.

The lug width of the case is 20mm so you can explore aftermarket strap options to your heart’s content, but affixed to the watch is a stainless-steel bracelet with a patented folding buckle with extension. The eight shaped three-piece links are brushed and finished for the narrower outer pair with the broader central link mirror-polished.

Inside, beneath a solid engraved caseback is the Ball caliber RR1201-C a modified take on the ETA 2893-2 GMT movement. The watch is rated to be resistant against magnetism up to 4,800 amperes per meter and is COSC chronometer certified to +6/-4 seconds per day. While some would enjoy a sapphire exhibition caseback, Ball has strategically engraved a world time GMT scale into the solid caseback that serves as an easy guide for correctly setting your GMT hand to a given time zone. So if you are in the market for a colourful, competitive, and robust daily wearer, this $3599 USD GMT is a solid avenue to explore.

The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II pricing and availability:

The Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon AeroGMT II is available now for $3599 USD