First some specs. The Ball Fireman Classic measures 40mm, about 48mm lug to lug, 20mm lug width, and has a screw down crown. The bracelet is all solid including end links and has a double fold butterfly style clasp. The movement is the RR1103, which is a ETA 2824 with a Ball signed rotor. Apparently they regulate all of their non COSC watches in 4 positions and it seems to have worked well because it’s accurate within 2 seconds a day. It has a very lightly domed sapphire with inner clear AR. The lume is 11 green tritium tube pips and one orange for the 12 o’clock position. The hands illuminate yellow. The hour markers and hands are very highly polished.
Over the last couple of years I just haven’t gravitated towards divers even though I’ve owned a few popular ones in that time, but I’ve always liked the capability of divers for the ability to not worry about them no matter how bad the weather gets, not to mention my job with the railroad get my watches dirty and it’s just easier to hop in the shower with them to clean them. I feel a lot more comfortable doing this with a screw down crown. I work extremely long days, mostly through the night and Tritium is a huge plus since it’s always visible not needing a charge. I have to remember to hit my standard lume watches with my lantern time to time to keep them visible, because with the light sources I use it’s hard to adjust to low light to see the lume quickly on a regular watch that isn’t charged up. The bracelet is so well made I haven’t even bothered trying any other straps. I bought this watch on a whim when I found a good deal, with the only Ball watch I had ever saw in person being the Ball Engineer Master II diver, and though it seemed nice I just never paid attention to the small details really since at the time the brand didn’t really appeal to me. I’m just surprised how well made it is for the price, especially the bracelet.
