Review by Guest Bum, Mr. Wristwatchcheck.
Ball Watch Company is a brand with American roots and some true heritage. In terms of value, the brand punches way above its weight and contends with higher-end luxury brands through innovation and built-for-purpose timepieces. However, after getting hands-on with one of Ball’s newest offerings, the Ball Roadmaster Vanguard, there are few aspects that really hold them back from competing with top-tier brands relating to quality. Some minor tweaks of the model I reviewed, for example, would really propel them to be on par with brands that offer watches at multiples of the price.
At the end of 2020, Ball released a variety of Roadmaster models that utilize quick-set pushers on the left side of the case to move the GMT hand independently, a movement module Ball has patented. They subsequently introduced the Vanguard line, which interested me most. Instead of a GMT hand, the Vanguard has a 12-hour dual-time hand that tucks away behind the hour hand when not in use. This is a very useful way to display a second time zone that is much less common in the watch industry. Ball advertises the Vanguard as “the world’s first professional diving tool with dual time, day and date functions.” With a 12-hour display, a day-night indicator is also necessary for the second time zone, which is included at the 6 o’clock position. In typical Ball fashion, the watch is packed with features. It is made almost entirely out of titanium, contains a COSC certified movement, is 200m water-resistant, and includes Ball’s signature tritium tubes on the dial. That was a mouthful, but one of Ball’s strengths is the ability to pack a punch regarding specifications and functions.
The Vanguard features a rotating dive time bezel with an aluminum insert. The model that attracted me most was the blue and red (Pepsi) bezel. Each variation of the Vanguard is limited to 1,000 pieces, and they are priced at $3,199. The only difference between the various models is the color combinations of the bezel and dial, and only certain combinations are available with a ceramic bezel insert instead of aluminum. The Pepsi bezel was not one of those options and is currently only available with an aluminum insert.
Positives
The Ball Roadmaster Vanguard presents excellent value and its specifications lead the way. You get an extremely comfortable and lightweight titanium watch and band, well-regulated movement with a patented and convenient time change mechanism, 200m water resistance that allows you to take this watch anywhere, and insane lume, all for just over $3000.
“Insane lume” is an understatement, by the way. One of the reasons I prefer the Vanguard over the Roadmaster GMTs is because it features all numerals displayed for the hours. This makes it light up like a torch with all of the tritium tubes. The markers are also outlined in an applied metal. This looks great during the day; under certain angles, all you see is an outline of the numerals. The hands are well finished, with a slightly beveled edge and great polishing. These small things add a level of elevated execution that separates Ball from other brands with similar price points. Considering Ball has to fit tritium tubes on its handsets, which adds more separation between each hand, this watch dial is not as deep-set as you would think. They have managed this really well. You also get a few complications with this watch, which stands out above other competitors: dual-time, day, date, day-night indicators, and a dive bezel.
One of the most prominent positive aspects of the Vanguard is the dual-time display. Not many watches present the second time zone in this manner, and Ball has tight tolerances when it comes to this second hand: it fits perfectly behind the hour hand, with only the red outline showing. The day/night indicator is also well-positioned and a clever way to track 24-hour time. This is useful when you pick up the watch after it has stopped, to know when not to change the date (which can be an issue with ETA movements and the date change mechanism being engaged between 9 pm and 3 am).
The wearing experience with the Ball Roadmaster Vanguard is excellent. It is so lightweight I occasionally forgot that I had it on my wrist. The case is 14.2mm in height, which could be perceived as being too thick, but it wears flat on the wrist. The slightly domed sapphire crystal and caseback might add a little height, but make the watch appear flatter than its stated thickness. The watch is also extremely legible, day or night and at any angle. Apropos of functionality and wear, it’s hard to imagine a watch that would be better positioned than this one.
Negatives
In its entirety, the Ball Roadmaster Vanguard presents excellent value, but it does have some drawbacks and while they are probably not deal-breakers on their own, in aggregate they are worth mentioning.
On paper, the measurements of this watch are great (a 40mm case size and a 47.8mm lug-to-lug), but they are a little misleading. The watch features a bracelet that is made to resemble an integrated bracelet, which extends the lug-to-lug measurement. This increase is further exacerbated by the first end-link not bending much. This makes the watch nearly 55mm from end-link to end-link, which does stick out on smaller wrists like mine. It also changes the way the watch drapes on the wrist and adds a bit of rigidity. It’s a shame because other than this issue, it’s an excellent bracelet that is well finished with great articulation. The external, H portion of the H-link bracelet is titanium, with the center links in stainless steel. These center links have a nice polish on the sides as well. This would be harder to achieve with titanium, so I’m assuming that is why Ball went with stainless steel. The bracelet also has a very nice taper, providing a comfortable wearing experience.
The Ball Roadmaster Vanguard comes with a butterfly clasp. While the clasp is well built, I prefer a folding deployant clasp. I was able to get an additional bracelet from Ball with this type of clasp – it is a standard offering for other Roadmaster models. Since the Vanguard is 200m water-resistant with a dive bezel, I feel it should come with this clasp instead. The deployant clasp, also in stainless steel, sits flush with the band and is not a pressed metal but still very thin. However, the diver’s extension clasp definitely looks like a pressed metal and looks very much out of place, both on this watch and in this price range.
In the past, Ball has upgraded its watch models to address critical concerns. This is seen in the Roadmaster line as well. One of the big feedback points on many GMTs (most ETA-based movements, for example) is that they are not true travel GMTs. Often referred to as “Office GMTs,” these watches allow you to change the GMT hand without hacking the movement independently, but not the local time. When traveling, there is a need to change the local hand without hacking the movement, which many higher-end GMTs (Rolex, Omega, Grand Seiko, and others) can do. Ball recognized this and recently introduced a Roadmaster GMT with a movement upgrade, making it a true GMT that allows the changing of the local time with the additional pushers. This is a brilliant move, but unfortunately, it has not made its way to the Vanguard collection yet.
If you look closely, you will notice the Vanguard does not have minute markers. There are 3 lines between every hour marker. Ball indicates this is to measure 20-minute increments for the dual time hand. This is not a useful measurement since the dial already has a minute hand that would let you know the exact time in the second time zone. I know there are time zones out there in half-hour increments, such as India, for example. However, you can’t set the dual time hand to anything other than an hour apart from the local time. So this makes the markers altogether pretty useless for me. I would much rather have minute/second markers.
I love the bezel’s “Pepsi” colorway and prefer the look of aluminum to ceramic (which is not available for the Vanguard in this color combination). However, I would have preferred if they made one color through the first 20-minute markings and then the other through the remaining 40. Other brands do this for Dive watches, and it seems much more functional. This instead has it split 50/50 (from 45 to 15), as you normally see on GMTs. It gives you a similar look to some of the iconic bi-color bezels, but there doesn’t seem to be any real function of doing this for dive bezels. On GMTs, it’s used to separate day and night on the 24-hour scale.
There are also some aspects of quality control that bother me. The day and date wheels are not aligned, with the day sitting slightly below the date. This is very apparent, even at a glance. I feel this is common at lower price ranges, but at this price range of $3000+, I would expect better alignment and tighter tolerances. With the additional pushers, Ball’s patented system for changing the travel time is easy to use. They have pushers that lock with a half twist, sealing it for 200m (and more in the case of other variations) of water resistance. In the example that I had, one of the pushers was a little too easy to twist, sometimes skipping a lock/unlock position by spinning too freely. It made me fearful of twisting it open accidentally. Again, I would expect tighter tolerances, especially when this seems unintentional since the other pusher felt very different.
I have other Ball watches, and something in common with them is that the watch’s winding mechanism is not disengaged when screwing in the crown. Usually, this would not be an issue, as I have seen this in many other watches. However, since this watch has a smaller crown, it makes screwing it in pretty challenging. Well, at least more challenging than it should be.
The Ball Roadmaster Vanguard presents unparalleled value at this price point. Ball continues to innovate, with a patented dual-time mechanism and even pushers themselves that provide a new way to seal the watch. A few minor details could be addressed, possibly the price of moving too quickly with new designs and innovation. However, it does not take away from the overall package of this excellent timepiece. You will be hard-pressed to find a watch that is packed full of features and executes them with this level of detail. I would encourage seeing this one in the metal; there is quite literally nothing else out there like it. The Ball Watch Company makes sure of that.
