These two watches are the BL-3135 (slate grey, $750 / ~£535) and BL-3134 (anthracite, $520 / ~£370), both of which are part of the Trafalgar collection. One of the most recognisable features of this range is the canteen crown guard reminiscent of U-Boat watches, with a cap that screws over the crown which is attached to the case via a small articulating arm. However, that’s not the most noteworthy part of the watch. 

The crown isn’t actually a crown. In fact, the crown is just a pusher, and the bezel acts as the crown. What, I hear you say?

The Trafalgar collection features patented bezel control engineering, which is interesting to use. Once you’ve removed the crown guard cap, you push in the button, and then you simply rotate the bezel to set the time. Once you’re done, you press in a disc on the side of the case at 3 to push the crown button back out, and put the cap back on. 

Ingenious? Yes. Does it make setting the watch interesting? Sure does. Is it worth the money? At full RRP, I don’t feel it is. Personally, I’d prefer a standard crown within the canteen guard and a cheaper watch. 

At $750 / ~£535, the slate grey is my favoured out of the two; not only for overall looks but also the fact that it’s a stone cool blasted titanium case. The anthracite at $520 / ~£370 offers better value for money, but I’m just not as keen on it. In any case, both house unspecified “Japanese movements” according to the site, but more on them later.

They’re not a particularly easy wear for me and my 7” wrist. The diameter is large in itself at 47mm, but that doesn’t take into account the oversized canteen crown guard. 

The watches come loaded with a supremely thick and high-quality leather strap and feature a heavy-duty pre-v style buckle which has a hollowed-out top bar with a silhouette of a submarine. Of course. 

There’s a plaque on the side of the case opposite the crown, which appears to be not only real but secured in place with proper screws. Often these plaques are completely fake, but these look and feel like the real deal. 

The slate grey dial heavily features a turbine-style disc where the date window is. There are some epic raised hour markers at 1, 3, 5, 7 and 11 which raise right to the crystal; and indeed, there is great depth all over. The big Ballast logo counterweight on the seconds hand draws the eye, whilst the blue section provides a splash of colour and matches the bezel insert.

The anthracite dial is all about that amber window to the skeletonised movement. I appreciate it, as I always love seeing movements, but I am not too keen on the colour; it looks too much like faux patina / aged glass and just doesn’t look right to me. Apart from that, it’s a great balance of being detailed and interesting, yet simple – with an array of screws, pips and applied elements. 

Both watches have an interesting knurled rehaut surrounding and framing the dial with detail. 

The bezel grip is very good and easy to use. Interestingly, whilst the watch is in standard mode, you can rotate the bezel anti-clockwise to hand-wind it. The colour-matched bezel insert is also eye-catching and tastefully done.

Finally, the movements. Ballast doesn’t specify what they are, but after some digging, I believe the movement found within the slate grey is the Miyota 9015 (https://miyotamovement.com/product/9015/), whilst the Miyota 8N24 Gilt (https://miyotamovement.com/product/8N24+Gilt/) is in the anthracite. Neither of these movements exudes top quality, but they are rustic with very good reputations, particularly the 9015, which has a high beat rate of 28.8k bph (8 ticks per second) and demands a higher price. It is good to see proper custom rotors too – the turbine rotor on the slate grey is particularly impressive, especially when it starts to spin. Both movements have clearly been regulated and are impressively accurate; the Slate grey running at +5.3 sec/day; the Anthracite at +2.8 sec/day.

Final comments

I’ve had these watches for a little while, and I’ve not really been excited enough by them to rush into a review. The patented bezel control is a great feature, and I applaud Ballast for creating something with genuine ingenuity. However, the price is higher than expected and the overall build quality leaves some to be desired. Whilst they’re ultimately very interesting watches with a lot going on and a lot to appreciate, I don’t find myself excited by them. If you can find one on offer, then it would be a good buy, but at full RRP, I’d rather spend my money on something else.

The specs

• Dimensions: 47mm diameter x 14.5mm height x mm lug to lug
• Weight: Slate grey: 114g; Anthracite: 132g
• Water resistance rating: 10ATM / 100m
• Movement: Slate grey: Miyota 9015; Anthracite: Miyota 8N24
• Accuracy: Slate grey: +5.3 sec/day; Anthracite: +2.8 sec/day
• Lug width: 22mm
• Warranty: 2 years
• Price: Slate grey: $750 / ~£535; Anthracite: $520 / ~£370
• Available from: 
  • Slate grey: https://www.ballast1903.com/collections/all/products/bl-3135-01-trafalgar
  • Anthracite: https://www.ballast1903.com/collections/all/products/bl-3134-03-trafalgar

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It’ll cost you $499 / £345, which is a fair whack of money. But you’ll see that it’s a whole lot of whack of watch. It also features a cool patented system that means you set the time and date using the bezel. 

So let’s take a closer look to see if it’s any good for the price. 

The specs

• Dimensions: 46.5mm diameter x 14.5mm high x Lug to lug length: 54mm
• Lug width: 22mm
• Movement: modified Miyota 8215 running at 21,600bph
• Crystal: Double-domed sapphire with anti-reflective coating
• Weight: 131g (with strap)
• Water resistance: 3ATM

The case

The case is large, over-engineered and has lots of features – the most noticeable is the canteen lock, made of 10 different pieces. This hides the setting buttons – but more information on how that works in the movement section below.

The case comes in a couple of finishes – namely standard stainless steel, a black IP coated, and this one – rose gold plated. The finishing is all pretty reasonable – mainly brushed bar the polished top shoulders of the lugs.

With a 46.5mm diameter it’s by no means a small watch – it also has a large height and lug to lug length. Surprisingly, though, it’s not as heavy as you might expect, which is good – so at least it keeps a measure of comfort. My wrist is 7.25″ for reference.

There is a plaque on side with the Navy motto “we come unseen” – this is secured with screws. It is surprisingly well made and is a neat addition.

The rehaut / inner ring is stamped, polished and inlaid inside the case, again adding more detail.

The caseback is a simple affair, with a exhibition window displaying the whole movement and details surrounding it. I think the glass is crystal (rather than sapphire) and features a subtle “B” logo laser etched on it.

The dial

Just like the case, the dial is crammed full of intricacies. It’s multi-layered, with applied elements and cut-outs all over.

The hour and minute skeletonised hands have a lumed filling and a brushed top, whilst the second hand is a straight point with a red tip.

The dial is a multi-layered “sandwich” type, with a top level, a next step down which houses the lumed hour markers / minute track / B motif at 9, and then at an even lower level is the date wheel (which three quarters is visible).

The applied 12 and 6 numerals are a brushed gold to match the case, and have a channel down the centre of the digit (think Hublot Big Bang). They’re really well made and applied – nice and thick and look quality.

The lume is decent enough, and is great to see in the dark too, as there’s so much going on thanks to the B motif.

The strap

The two tone Buffalo hide leather strap is made from leathers tanned in Italy, and is pretty hefty to match the rest of the watch – it’s 4mm thick.

It’s also well made: it’s cross stitched by hand and features quick release pins – which I love and thick should be on more straps. 

It features a huge buckle with a submarine punched through. I don’t like it at all – personally I think a standard pre-V buckle would look great. But I see where they were coming from with the submarine tie. 

The movement

The movement powering the Trafalgar Valiant is a modified Miyota 8215 automatic. Specs include non hacking, 40 hours power reserve, 21 jewels, and uni-directional winding. It runs at 21.6k bph (6 ticks per second).

The movement is operated by Ballast’s patented bezel control system. View the video review to see it properly, but in essence you undo the canteen lock, and then push in the exposed pusher. There are two steps: one allows you to change the date, one for the time. When the pusher is in place, you simply move the rotor left or right to alter the time or date.

It’s a cool system and is easy to use; however I’ve not found it mind blowing or life changing. It’s more of a gimmick than a revolution. 

Final comments

There’s no doubt about it, the Ballast Trafalgar Valiant is certainly a lot of watch. I think the look and feel of it will only appeal to specific people, but for those who appreciate a big, over-engineered and designed watch then it’s a good option. The price is probably a tad too high for my liking at the moment, but the amount of features it offers is still impressive. I hope in the future the price will drop a little – and then it’ll be a great buy.

The post Ballast Trafalgar Valiant Watch Review appeared first on 12&60.

The case

The case is a whopping 47mm diameter, so it’s not a small watch by any means. It also packs a meaty 54mm lug to lug length and 13mm height.

The shape of the case is dominated by the angular lugs, proving a very aggressive appearance. These sharp angles have thankfully been well machined and are smooth to the touch, otherwise it could be used as a dangerous weapon.

The canteen crown is an obvious feature of the Ballast 1903 Valiant. It looks unusual, and gives the case an interjection of creativity. It operated very well, the screw threading being very good, and the arm which holds it to the case is well made and rather intricate. I like the Ballast name engraved in the top of the arm, and the logo engraved at the end of the crown. Both engravings are of very high quality and reassuringly deep. These can collect dirt though due to the depth of the engraving.

A nice little feature is the four holes in each corner of the case. Obviously they don’t serve any sort of purpose from a practical standpoint, but they look good and break up the large outer shoulders of the case well.

Sitting atop the case is a sapphire-coated mineral crystal. They’re a bit harder than mineral, but not as hard as full sapphire. Obviously it would have been better if it was a full sapphire crystal, especially being you can get watches nowadays at a third of the price of the Ballast Valiant with them. But anyway, the crystal is flat, very clear, and with an effective layer of anti-reflective coating on the underside. This works remarkably well to reduce glare and reflections, which improves the overall appearance of the watch.

The general finishing of the case is very high quality, as you’d expect of a watch at this price. The gold plating is good too, it feels high quality to the touch and gives the impression it will last some time.

The whole of the case is a brushed finish, bar the outside edge of the bezel, which is polished. This small shiny segment does a good job in keeping the case interesting and breaking it up.

There is also a slight indent in the side of the case at 9. This is another small design feature of the case to keep things interesting. All these small little things are of vital importance to the case; it could have easily been a large slab of gold plated steel, which would have looked very gaudy and distasteful. But, with it being largely brushed, and with it’s little features, it does a good job of being able to pass it off and look acceptable.

The dial

As I’m sure you’ve noticed already, the dial is mostly taken over by the skeleton movement. More on that later, but it looks good and is appropriately finished for the style of watch.

The hands are probably the one thing that I think could so with the most change. Firstly, they look slightly out of proportion, being a bit too small. Secondly, I think they could have been of solid construction rather than being a skeleton design, as this would increase legibility. Personally, I haven’t noticed too much difficulty in reading the time, but I believe a few people have mentioned this. Finally, I think the red second hand is a little out of place. I understand that it needs to be a bold colour to be able to be seen, I just think that it’s colour doesn’t quote go with the watch as a whole.

The hands are all very well made and finished. The hours and minute hands are polished gold with a lumed triangle at their point. The second hand is a shiny plastic, which I believe would have looked nicer if it was a metal.

The lume used on the hands and hour markers isn’t the best, but it’s not as if it’s completely non-existent either. It charges as you’d expect and you can see it for a short whole in darkness, albeit rather weak.

On top of the movement is a black plastic detail with thin strips with “Ballast” and “automatic” printed on. It also features the logo moulded above the balance wheel.

Surrounding the movement is a large outer index, with a minute track and applied hour markers. I like what Ballast have done with this, as it enlarges the dial past the size of the movement in an effective but practical way.

It is two-layered, with the outer minute track being higher than the inner track with the hour markers on. The minute track is quite bold, with large printed white lines at every minute, and a large, chunky number at 5 minute increments. Moving on to the lower level, the hour markers are perfectly applied and very well made – they have polished gold edging with lumed centres to match the hands.

The markers at 12, 3, 6 and 9 are trapezoid shaped, whilst the remaining are circular. The marker at 12 is larger, with a divider down the centre.

To conclude, the dial is nicely designed and well manufactured – if only the hands were a little different.

The strap

The strap is very well designed and executed. I like it when you have a rubber strap moulded to the shape of the case, much like an Audemars Piguet does. It’s a very sporty look, and due to the size of the case it gently reduces to the size to the buckle rather than having a massive case and then a larger step down in size to a normal sized strap, which would look stupid. It isn’t a thin strap by any means, being a chunky 30mm wide at the buckle.

The rubber of the strap is very soft, resulting in a very pleasant and comfortable wear. It doesn’t feel rough or squeaky on the wrist, and doesn’t irritate the skin after wearing it for some time either.

It’s well designed too, with two channels running down its entire length, with 3 small holes in at the top end of each. This breaks up the large amount of silicon well and looks good at the same time.

The buckle is large and is also gold plated brushed stainless steel, matching the rest of the case. It is well finished and has the Ballast name printed on the top. This engraving is deeper than your usual laser etching, however I think I would have preferred it to be engraved a little deeper.

The strap as a whole is a very good aspect of the watch, and does it justice.

The movement

I’ve searched high and low to find out exactly what movement is in the Ballast 1903 Valiant. It appears to be made by a company based in Hong Kong called Swiss Tech, the movement being a ST1188-SK1. There’s very limited information on this manufacturer, let alone this movement itself. It runs at 21.6k bph, which equates to 6 ticks per second. It also features the usual suspects of a reasonable quality automatic movement: hacking seconds, hand wind and approx 40 hours power reserve.

It does it’s job well, looking pretty good in skeleton form, albeit a bit plain – but I think the industrial look of the movement suits the watch well. It keeps reasonably good time, and feels reassuringly sturdy in the hand whilst winding and changing the time. Only time will tell how good this not very well known ST1188-SK1 movement is though, and if it’s reliable in the long run.

Final comments

As I mentioned in the intro, the Ballast Valiant isn’t a watch for everyone. Some will feel that it’s a bit too large and brash, whilst others look for exactly what this watch offers – something that stands out. And it certainly does stand out. It’s very well made and finished and sits surprisingly well on the wrist for an oversized watch.

Would I personally wear it? Probably not. But not because it’s too “bling” or brash. It actually looks pretty impressive and not gaudy at all on the wrist. But rather because it takes over size-wise a bit, and it doesn’t fit under any cuffs whatsoever. But I have a close friend who absolutely loves it, and it’s exactly what he looks for in a watch. So it really is a matter of personal taste.

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