00RED by Ball Watch Co. for CronotempVs Collectors Now Available for Pre-Order

The folks behind CronotempVs Collectors just keep ‘em coming! The collector group, which partners with brands to create special-edition watches – some members-only, others open to all-comers – has just announced its latest collaboration: The exceptionally high-vis 00RED by BALL Watch Co. for CronotempVs Collectors.

And it is available for all to pre-order now!

Over the past year, we have seen no fewer than four eye-catching bespoke editions made for CronotempVs Collectors, created by Oris, Chopard, Habring2, and Zeitwinkel. You add those together with today’s launch, that makes 18 limited or special editions the collector group has commissioned since it was founded in Madrid in 2009, producing nearly 600 watches overall at a combined market value of over €5 million.
 

The group’s latest limited edition, the 00RED, is the result of a collaboration with tool-watch master BALL Watch Co. Now headquartered in La-Chaux-de-Fonds, BALL Watch Co. was founded by Ohio jeweler Webb C. Ball following the Great Kipton Train Wreck of 1891, a fatal rail crash caused by an inaccuracy in a railroad employee’s watch.

Ball, the man, was subsequently appointed “Chief Time Inspector” for the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railway. And thus, BALL Watch Co. was established to ensure a standard of timekeeping reliability and accuracy to avoid a repeat of such a tragedy.

Nowadays, BALL Watch Co. isn’t just a byword for accessibly priced, rock-solid watches that are precise, sturdy, and resistant to magnetism. The company is also one of very few brands to make mechanically driven watches using high-vis tritium gas tubes for hour numerals and indices, which provide exceptional readability day and night.
 

Unlike Super-LumiNova, tritium tubes don’t have to be charged by an external light source. They continue to glow brightly even after being stored in darkness for sustained periods of time – we’re talking years, decades even. What’s more, the small amount of tritium used, coupled with BALL Watch Co.’s safe-seal mineral glass tube technology, ensures the radioactive risk posed by the tritium is negligible.

To make the 00RED, CronotempVs Collectors used BALL Watch Co.’s Engineer III collection as its starting point, working with the brand to create a unique twist on this anti-magnetic chronometer’s tritium-tube display.

“When we choose a project, we try to focus on one unique thing about the watch and the brand. Obviously, when you ask a collector what is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a BALL Watch timepiece, it is its tritium tubes,” explained CronotempVs co-founder @scaramanga__.
 

He continued: “Since it is in the dark of night when BALL watches’ readability comes into its own, we decided to replace the Engineer III’s usual ‘12’ with ‘00’ since this is how midnight is displayed on most devices today.”

The result is a joy to behold.

The 00RED’s “00” at 12 o’clock is duly displayed – as the watch’s name would suggest – using a combination of eight tritium gas tubes on red bases. Meanwhile, numerals at 3, 6, and 9 o’clock, and the baton hour markers in between, are made up of another 22 tritium tubes on black bases. The tritium tubes on the blackened hour and minute hands and on the red-tipped central seconds complete the visually arresting indications.
 

As for the dial plate, CronotempVs Collectors has chosen a frosted anthracite background, which is not usually found within Ball Watch Co.’s collection, but contrasts superbly with the glowing indices and hands. Plus, the dial’s matte surface helps legibility when viewing the watch from any angle, while the red, white, black, and gray colorway makes for a cool, contemporary aesthetic overall.