Ball Watch Company Trainmaster Racer Watch Review
Wednesday - 15 February 2012
Ball Watch Company got its start creating watches for the locomotive industry. Collisions between these massive machines were such a problem in early industrial America, that synchronisation became an obvious necessity. Safety had to improve, and precise timepieces would be a key element of this.
Pocket-styled watches are now more of a stylistic statement than a necessity. But there still exists strong demand for these watches based upon their style. The Ball Trainmaster Racer is an update of a vintage piece. How can you tell that it was designed to help railway men avert disaster? Look at the main dial; the intervals are not hours, but minutes instead. The intervals are spaced at five minutes.
It’s important to mention that this tailored dial arrangement was produced at the behest of those in the industry. Also integrated into the piece is Ball’s novel in-house “Triple Date mechanism.” Located at the three o’clock position, the month, day, and day of the month are visible in a single line. This helps make reading the date even easier, and the information is remarkably complete.
As an added feature, there’s a 30-minute register just below twelve o’clock. Then there are the micro BALL gas tubes that provide night-time visibility. Ball does a good job differentiating the different dials as well. For example, the hand is red for the 30-minute register and green for the 60-minute dial. Now, for the practical consumer, there might be concern that this watch, while interesting, doesn’t help you keep track of hours during the day. That isn’t the case, as hour markers are also included. If you look directly above the 5-minute intervals, you’ll see raised hour markers.
This is truly an interesting piece specifically designed for an important function. It’s a watch meant to do one thing, and one thing only, extraordinarily well.
