BALL Reinvents the Engineer Master II Voyager, Available Now at a Special Pre-Order Price

Late last year, BALL introduced the Engineer III Bronze Star and the Engineer III Silver Star, a series of very cool pilot’s watches being offered for pre-order at an enticing price point. Following that successful experiment, BALL is back with a similar proposition, this time around with a total aesthetic revamp of an already-existing watch—introducing the new Engineer Master II Voyager. On its surface, the Voyager pulls on some classic flieger design cues—large Arabic numerals and broad sword hands that ensure immediate legibility. But looking beyond that, there is some impressive functionality built into the design.

As the name implies, the Voyager is designed with world travelers in mind. To that end, the Voyager combines two separate dials—a classic 12-hour main dial and a secondary 12-hour sub-dial at six for tracking an additional time zone. It’s an incredibly effective implementation of the complication, and it’s not all too common. There is also a big-date function below 12, standing in place of the BALL logo which has been moved to nine.

BALL has also taken this opportunity to revamp their tritium tubes, which are now incredibly thin so as to be nearly inconspicuous. Placed at every point along the 60-minute track and measuring just 0.3mm by 2mm, they’re the thinnest tubes ever used on a BALL timepiece. The Arabic numerals on the main index and the markers in the sub-dial are coated in Super-LumiNova.

The Voyager will be available in two dials and sizes—blue and black, 44mm and 40mm. The black is classic, the blue more adventurous, but both are safe choices for daily wear. With regard to size, I personally feel the 40mm version hits a sweet spot both in terms of size and design. Note the cleaner implementation of the sub-dial where it doesn’t eat into the five, six and seven on the 40mm version.

Packed within the case are some of BALL’s movement-protecting technologies. BALL’s patented Amortiser anti-shock system is essentially a lock that prevents the rotor from damaging the movement in the event of a shock. The Voyager is rated to resist 5,000Gs of shock. Furthermore, an iron cage and anti-magnetic ring shield the movement from magnetic interference.

As mentioned above, BALL is offering this new collection at an exclusive pre-order price: $1,659 on a calfskin strap and $1,699 on a stainless steel bracelet. This promotion will run though February 28th, at which point the full retail will be $2,999 and $3,099, respectively. An additional nylon strap is available for an extra $65. Each variant is limited to 1,000 units and buyers can select their desired edition number and can opt for a personalized engraving. Watches are expected to ship between May and June, 2017.

For more information or to reserve yours today, visit Ball.