Recently Released: Ball Engineer III 00RED

When we hear of watch collaborations, we’re accustomed to it being another brand from outside of the watch world, say, a clothing brand or perhaps something from the automotive world. But why not a special edition for the watch world? That’s precisely what we’ve got here with the Ball Engineer III 00RED that was done in collaboration with CronotempVs Collectors.

Now first, the bad news – the Ball Engineer III 00RED is available only to members of CronotempVs (so if you want one of these, you’ll have to join up with them), and only 91 pieces will be made. So, in a sense, it’s sort of doubly-exclusive. So, why write about a rather hard-to-get watch? For me, it was the dial, and how they’ve done the tritium display.

With prior Ball releases, I’ve found myself drawn more and more to the multi-color displays, say, like this rainbow-hued one. That said, there can be an appeal to a simpler layout. I’m not talking all one color, but mostly a single color with one additional pop. That’s what the Ball Engineer III 00RED offers, with the indices and main hands in white, while the seconds hand and the large “00” at the 12 o’clock position done up in red.

Is red the brightest color for lume, whether it’s tritium or not? No, it sure isn’t, and that’s why you don’t see it nearly as often. But for something like picking out the time in a darkened room? It’ll work just fine. Oh, and check out the handset – Ball has finally granted my wish, and put their wider tubes on a handset, which is just great.

Along with the cool light show, you do get all of the standard protections that Ball is known for – shock-resistance, anti-magnetism, and water resistance. While I think I’d still give the edge to their rainbow array of colors with tubes, this layout is pretty special, and it’s the first time I’ve seen the wide tubes used on the hands. The Ball Engineer III 00RED goes for $2,749, and is only available via CronotempVs Collectors. ballwatch.ch