Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Original Black Dial Watch Review

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Today’s watch, the Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Original, is one coming out of a long line of tradition rooted in the history of the Ball Watch Company and their official railroad standard for timekeeping. The Ball Watch Company was founded in 1891 out of necessity, in the aftermath of one of the largest train collisions on the American railroad at the time.

Webb C. Ball was made Chief Time Inspector of the railroads and challenged with establishing a reliable timepiece inspection system, setting standards of accuracy for all watches used on trains, and creating a safer railroad system. Out of this the Ball Watches Railroad Standard and the brand was born.

Eventually the brand ceased operations and production, likely due to the quartz crisis which ended many brands throughout the course of the 1970s and 80s, however the Ball was resurrected by private investors and was relocated to Switzerland where it continues with its tradition of making accurate and reliable timepieces today.

At 40mm in diameter the watch is actually a lot smaller in size and scale than it might appear. This model has a 14.5mm thickness and has a 50mm lug to lug length from top to bottom. It has a manufacturer suggested retail price of $3335.00 dollars.

This watch is powered by the BALL RR1102-CSL, an ETA 2836-2 base caliber movement which is COSC chronometer certified. It is also highly shock resistant and antimagnetic in keeping with the Railroad standard. The Ball Hydrocarbon has 200m of water resistance and uses a patented crown protection system, keeping the crown safe from both impacts and inadvertent manipulations while submerged.

It features an antireflective domed sapphire crystal, and a unidirectional elapsed time bezel that is also sapphire capped and lumed. The dial, handset and bezel contain 30 micro gas tubes for low light illumination.
A few of the notable features about this watch include the crown protection system. A signed and decorated hinged latch secured by a spring-loaded button, swings away, exposing the crown which can then be unscrewed and used to hand wind the movement and set the time and date.

The coin edged stainless steel bezel assembly with sapphire cap is a 120 click unidirectional timing device used to track the passage of time in 60 minute increments. The action is smooth and the sapphire glass top scratch resistant and durable, as compared to watches with an aluminum bezel insert.

The tritium micro gas tubes, seen most notably on the handset, has a faint but persistent glow providing low light illumination and legibility without the need for an external light source for charging. The lume isn’t as bright as you might find on watches with a painted lumibrite fill but neither will it fade over the course of the night without a recharge.

The watch case has an entirely satin brushed finish, with a few small exceptions such as the coin edged bezel assembly and the crown protection latch. The bracelet is mixed with brushed h-style links featuring a polished center link. The RR signed clasp is a substantial and nicely finished and decorated piece of hardware as well.

At close inspection you might notice the matte black dial has beveled and recessed hour markers, a triangle at 12 with squared markers at 6 and 9 and circle plots in between. The 3 o’clock marker is present but truncated to make room for the day and date complication.

The high polished stainless steel handset is faceted and the seconds hand counterbalance is done in the brand’s Railroad logo, matching both the dial printing below the 12 marker and as found on the bracelets clasp.

The Ball RR1102-CSL movement is at its heart a chronometer grade ETA 2836-2, the day date version of the venerable ETA 2824-2, a movement that can be found in countless watches across dozens of brands. It’s a 25 Jewel automatic self-winding movement with a 38 hour power reserve running at 28,800vph. The COSC chronometer certification ensures the movements timekeeping accuracy to be in a range from -4 to +6 seconds per day in average variation and is tested over a span of 15 days in 5 positions and for temperature.