The coveted Fireman Victory is back in an updated form! It's the value proposition model from Ball Watch Company. But it does not mean that the quality has been compromised. The finishing of the watch is still the same high standard one will expect from Ball Watch Co. It’s tough, understated, and has tritium gas tubes in the hands and dial to shine brightly at night.
The Fireman Victory is powered by the Ball RR1103 automatic movement, which is a ETA 2824-2. Ball puts an emphasis on accuracy under adverse conditions. The Fireman is ISO1413 certified to withstand up to 5,000g of shock resistance.
| Ball Fireman Victory Black Ref. M2098C-S4J-BK |
The Fireman Victory has a unique case design that is synonymous with other models from the Fireman classic collection (like the Enterprise) that is an evolution of Ball watches from the past. Measuring 40 x 48 x 11.6mm the stainless steel body has a robust feel and weight that is meant to make it more of daily wear with some sporty desire, despite its dressier outlooks. The mid case is made of several parts to give it more dimensions. The polished bezel has a bevel with a sapphire crystal attached to it without a magnifier cyclop this time for a cleaner look, finishing with anti-reflective coating underneath.
The 20mm lugs; polished on the side and fine satin brushed on the top are contoured for a comfortable fit. The screw-down crown at 3 is engraved with Ball's “RR” logo. Making this a good 100m water resistant, good enough for everyday wear.
| Unique lug's design on its mid-case |
The Fireman Victory has a clean no nonsense matte black dial with multi-finishings. First of, the matte black background is sectored by circular lines in-between the hour markers, before its minute rehaut, resulting in both classy and utilitarian at the same time. One of the unique aspects of the Ball watches are their use of tritium gas tubes. The tubes have tritium gas inside which is radioactive, emitting electrons which react with a phosphor layer that coats the inside of the tube. The result is a constant emission of light. No more charging them by external light sources like conventional SuperLuminova. The Fireman victory features 14 X T-25 tubes, one per hour marker and one per hand. Hours 1 – 11 and hands all glow blue, while at 12 glow orange. Thanks to the difference in luminous color, time reading is easy in the dark.
The Fireman Victory is fitted with dauphine hands for the hours and minutes. Both are polished steel and feature long tritium gas tubes. The seconds hand is a thin steel stick with a tritium tube on one end and a "RR" logo on the other end. The attention to details throughout the watch are also shown in the 3 hands.
| 14 micro gas tubes on hour, minute, second hands and dial for night reading capability |
The attention to details continues through to the stainless steel bracelet. Each link is made out of 2 parts. A "U" part which is satin brushed and a high polished insert. The links are also fitted together by means of screw pins. The double fold clasp is also finished with a "RR" closure.
With the Fireman Victory, Ball has created a very good everyday watch in a classic size. Thin enough to fit under the sleeves for formal occasions and smart looking when you fold up the sleeves for the weekend.
