Ball watches have always retained an interesting place in the world of watches. I’ve always been enamoured by their peculiar brand name, one that has been reminiscent of humorous synonyms. Well, today they’re finally jumping into the integrated bracelet game with their new Roadmaster M Perseverer. It’s really too bad this wasn’t released a few weeks back, it would have had a solid chance of making my integrated bracelet roundup on Worn & Wound.
Appearance
Judging by the press release I just received, that arrived with very little info on it, I will say the images of the watch are off to a good start. Some integrated bracelet watches can really miss the mark in terms of design, but that doesn’t seem to be the case here. The Roadmaster M Perseverer definitely has a strong similarity to the Tissot PRX Powermatic though, but I’d say that’s a good thing since the PRX has aced the design especially at its more affordable price point.
What we’re seeing here with the Ball, is a nearly identical mating of the tapered bracelet to the watch case. The small, short but wide multilink design of the bracelet is also quite similar and it does appear to be quite comfortable, of course we will need to handle the watch at some point to prove this.
What we can be certain of are the specs that have been provided to us, and the dial layout. The watch is coming in at a very reasonable 40mm case size (also available 43mm option), and a surprisingly thin 12mm – two very important specs that seem to be hitting the sweet spot in terms of wearable proportions.
As someone who is not overly keen about date wheels cluttering up the dial, I must say that I actually really love the way this one looks. Something about the size of the date wheel and the magnification bubble is working really well here, and it’s giving me Rolex Oysterquartz vibes. I’d say that’s about the full extent that the Rolex comparison goes, as the rest of the dial is quite unique and characteristically Ball in appearance – especially with the multi-colored micro gas tubes for lume. The rest of the dial looks really nice with the choice of a light pastel blue, dark blue, or black, all variants are complete with horizontal ribbing across the dial.
Final Thoughts
The general selection of integrated bracelet watches is quite thin these days, so It’s nice to see another addition to this genre of watch at the $2599 USD price point. I like that Ball is implementing some quality materials in the construction such as the 904L stainless steel, as well as the interesting in-house caliber RR7309-C automatic movement. I look forward to going hands-on with this reference at some point to really test it out.
I actually pre ordered the ice blue dial one a few weeks back, I don’t know why Ball hasn’t sent out watches to the watch reviewers yet. These are limited to 1000 pieces each and it’ll be first come first serve until they’re gone. You’d think they’d want the advertising and watch world buzz that comes with it. I’ve yet to see any real world pictures of this watch, just renderings. I’m also hoping the bracelet is a quick release and they come out with a rubber and leather strap for this.
From what I’ve seen throughout the years, is that they have a really tiny almost micro-like marketing department. The watch samples seem to be handled by one guy, who at times is probably concentrating on other tasks.