A little retro action from Ball right here. No doubt you are going to start thinking of all the classic watches that Ball looked to for influence when designing the Engineer II Ohio GMT COSC Chronometer watch. A little classically styled Jaeger-LeCoultre aesthetic never hurt anyone. In steel and 40mm wide, the Ohio GMT is a great classy watch with the conveniences you’ve come to expect from Ball. Yes, you can get an ultra modern looking big watch from them, but they are also starting to be more proud of their simple line of more conventional timepieces. Even when presented with that whole “well it looks like XXXXX,” Ball will just retort with “well yea, but we do all the same things that that watch does, in a good quality case for this price.” And for about $2,200, the Engineer II Ohio GMT watch is a pretty good deal.

With a black or brushed steel dial, the applied Arabic hour numerals are complimented by a full array of tritium gas tube hour markers, as well as applied arrow style metal markers. Hands are dauphine-like, and have tritium gas tubes in them for lume. I don’t like that the size of the tubes in the hands are the same, but I think they are different colors, which should help you tell them apart in the dark. The red GMT hand is nicely diminutive, but still legible, though it is totally sans illumination. I wonder why? It does however have a nice 24 hour scale as the chapter ring around the dial.

The case is water resistant to 100 meters and have a sapphire crystal. Inside the watch is a Swiss ETA 2893-2 automatic movement that has been COSC Chronometer certified. You can get the watch with a black or brown crocodile strap, or on a good looking Ball brand metal bracelet (probably the best choice). For those who enjoy the simple good looks, this might be the right Ball watch for them. It is a relatively good value, and it should have better durability that some of its competitors. Look for the new Engineer II Ohio GMT COSC watches soon.

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