Drop + BALL Watch Co. Night Train DLC Automatic Watch

BALL watches stand out for many reasons—the Railroad Standard, tritium illumination, Swiss movements—but above all, they’re known for quality. Our first collaboration with BALL is a reboot of one of the brand’s most sought-after timepieces: the Fireman Night Train. Armed with a bevy of tritium tubes, the original was recognized for its radiant look. Our version is too, however we’ve redesigned the dial for a more contemporary look, and color-matched the crown to tie everything together. Like the original, our Night Train DLC features a Swiss-made Elabore-Grade ETA 2824-2 automatic movement, a sapphire crystal, and a 100-meter water-resistant stainless steel case that’s covered in Diamond-Like-Carbon coating. 

Tritium gas is a self-powered isotope of hydrogen that glows in the dark for up to 50 years without any external charge. Typically found in tactical military-inspired watches, it’s ideal in dark conditions when you need to read the time at a glance. Our Night Train DLC is fitted with a whopping 63 tritium tubes—and we’re not talking about any old grade, either. Compared to the T25 tritium on the original, our version is T100, making it up to four times as bright for even greater legibility. Plus, with the increased brightness, the transition from bright to dark environments is even easier on the eyes.

Before the development of railroads across the US, there was never a need for standardization in timekeeping. Suddenly, when trains needed to make connections in different cities, problems arose. Webb C. Ball realized this early on, and founded BALL Watch Company in 1891 to find a solution. Designated the “Chief Time Inspector,” he created a rigorous set of criteria for watches used on trains—a standard to which all BALL watches were held, and later formed the basis for the COSC Standard (by which many high-end watches are evaluated for accuracy today). Nowadays, BALL is located in Switzerland, where it produces a wide-range of high-quality Swiss-made timepieces suitable for extreme conditions.