On one hand, I tend to rail against watches that do something to make it “seem” more feminine. On the other hand, offering up a pink dial doesn’t really fall under that umbrella, as it’s just another color that many folks have as a favorite. Add in that it’s a watch helping raise funds for breast cancer research, and we’re all on board with the Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Hope.
For this one-of-a-kind watch, Ball is working with The Pink Dial Project which is seeing quite a number of brands creating these special watches that are then going up for auction. The auctions started today, and are running through November 1st. Once the dust settles, all of the funds raised from these auctions are going to go benefit the Union of International Cancer Control.
For their contribution, Ball has created the Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Hope. Coming in at 36mm, this is certainly smaller than what we normally feature from the brand, but it’s still got the looks (and the movement protections) that the larger models have on offer. Here, the bright pink dial and pastel pink bezel are going to have a lot of the attention. For me, though, I’m drawn to the tritium tubes they’ve used.
That really shouldn’t be a surprise, as those tubes are the hallmark of the brand. They bring a nice blast of color (I’m particularly fond of their rainbow dials), but here, wow. For the numerals and indices, they’ve got a deep pink shade that’s verging on ultraviolet (at least, that’s how my mind interprets it) that is just lovely. The hands have yellow tubes, and then the bezel itself has a more standard bright blue-green glow.
The MSRP for the watch (if you check Ball’s site) shows $2,799, but as this is a charity auction, one presumes the price will hit something much higher than that. Should you not land the winning bid, they do have a “standard” version of the Engineer Hydrocarbon Midsize (seen here) for that price that still has the pink ceramic bezel, but swaps in a mother-of-pearl dial for the bright pink of the Ball Engineer Hydrocarbon Hope. To check out the auctions, which are underway now, head on over to loupethis.com
Tech Specs from Ball
- Movement: Automatic caliber BALL RR1101-C; Chronometer Certified COSC
- Functions: Hours, minutes, sweep seconds and date
- Case: stainless steel; Ø 36mm, height 13.1mm
- 18 micro gas tubes for night reading capability
- Unidirectional rotating pink ceramic bezel
- 5,000Gs shock resistance
- Anti-magnetic to 4,800A/m
- Water resistant to 200m / 660ft
- Anti-reflective sapphire crystal
- Patented crown protection system
- Pink dial, stainless steel bracelet
- Limited edition of 1 piece
