I recently had the opportunity to pick up a Skindiver and take it on a test run. I've had a ton of Ball watches over the past couple years, but I was burnt out a couple months ago by a bad experience with the Ball service department and the terrible design of the Ball VX.
Anyway, I managed to snag one of these at a price I felt was fair so I gave it a whirl.
The Skindiver deviates from its lineage. All of Ball's previous divers have featured some variant of a strange crown protector. This watch is different in a good way - it has no crown protector at all. The watch is cut from excellent materials. The case is built solid out of stainless and the bezel is polished ceramic. The watch does have some of the typical Ball design aesthetics; mainly the second hand and logo.
Case
The size of the watch is very comfortable measuring in at 40.5mm wide and 14.3mm tall. The lugs gently slope toward the wrist, but the caseback protrudes down a fair amount preventing the lugs from truely wrapping around the wrist. Despite this, it sits very comfortably on my 6.5" wrist. In fact, when it's on, I usually don't realize it unless I am checking the time. Finishing is the department where I feel Ball watches shine most. There are many contrasting surfaces on the Skin Diver. The brushed surfaces are as good as any Omega I've ever handled and the polished areas are beautiful. They are neither too distracting nor too subtly..perfect. The contrasting surfaces even extend to the caseback, which is beautifully accented by a polished dodecagon that frames a vintage looking skin diver logo. The case is also antimagnetic - rated to 4,800 A/m and shock resistant to 5,000 G's. Water resistance comes in at 1,000ft, which is plenty deep enough for even the most adventurous divers. Ball appropriately did not feel the need to add an He valve on this model.
Bezel
The bezel on the Skindiver is aluminum with a polished ceramic insert. The lume is a light blue, which contrasts nicely to the green and orange markers on the dial. It rotates unidirectionally with firm, crisp clicks (120 of them) and very, very little play. The bezel actually flares out from the case, allowing it to feature a thicker insert. The markers on the bezel are big and bold. Personally, I would have preferred a bezel with no enlarging flare and smaller insert because I feel it makes the dial look a bit smaller. However, it is a well executed design.
Dial
The dial layout is probably the most polarizing aspect about the watch. It features a split day/date complication with the day at 3 o'clock and the date sandwiched between the 4 and 5 markers. The tritium tubes are large and bright, and each has minute markers in between. Unlike many other Ball watches, this model does not feature a guilloche dial, which I feel is appropriate given its purpose-built design. The Ball logo is located at 12 o'clock, and is typical in its design. The hands are polished and all feature tritium tubes. The red of the seconds hand is stunning, which also has the prototypical Ball logo at the end of it.
Had I designed the watch, I would have set the day and date at 3 o'clock. I feel the date interrupts the presentation of the dial and clutters it a bit. I also would have shortened the indices between the minutes since I feel they make the watch dial look even smaller. Last, I would have dropped the "official railroad standard, est1891" from the dial in favor of a cleaner layout. The logo under "Ball" seems redundant since it is also featured on the seconds hand.
Strap
My model features the rubber strap. I feel it fits the design of the case better than the bracelet. The strap is made of real leather and has the typical vanilla aroma. The strap is thick. I don't have a caliper, but I suspect it is equivalent in thickness to an isofrane. The tang is nicely machined with screwbars. It is probably the best engineered tangs of any Ball I've owned.
The rubber has a retro feel to it, reminiscent of that which would have been common in the 60's or 70's, which this is a throw-back to. Unfortunately, Ball decided to give it faux breathing holes for appearance, not function. I don't understand why they went this route as I feel it detracts from the look and comfort of the strap since it is less breathable.
Movement
The Skindiver has ETA 2836-2 Swiss movement. It is not COSC certified, but adequately keep good time. I haven't had a chance to time mine yet, but most of my Ball's have kept excellent, reliable time in the past.
Overall impression
The Ball Skindiver is a solid watch and a huge step in the right direction. It has a the build and heft of a more expensive watch and has extra features not typically found in other brands. I do feel Ball would have done better with a more minimalist design on this watch, but the execution is still very good. I feel the asking price for the watch on rubber is fair, but I think it would be a better value if sold for around $2000-2100. I do not think the bracelet is worth the extra cost, but that is solely because I find it to be an ugly design. I would certainly encourage others to see the watch in the flesh. It is a stunning piece when on the wrist.
