Ball EMII Skindiver II Review

[Samanator]

Let’ me start by saying the 40mm Skindiver is one of my most recommended Ball watches. I took mine on a 30 day, five-country Asia trip two years ago as my only watch on the trip. It handled everything from business dinners to trekking in the jungles of Cambodia like a champ. This is a watch that could eat up weeks of wrist time comfortably. Call me skeptical, but when Ball talked about making a larger version I did not see the point. When Ball announce at Basel that not only was the larger 43mm version coming out, but it was going to replace my beloved 40mm version. How can this be? So I took a little time to analyze the press releases and specs. I’ll go over those in a bit since there are really a lot of improvements even beyond the specs. My biggest concern is that the 40mm was very Rolex Sub like in its ability to fit any wrist size. It was very balanced and nearly identical to the Sub in weight on a bracelet at 156 grams. The Skindiver has the potential of being a long-term brand standard like most Rolex, Omega Seamasters and such. These watches have universal appeal due to keeping the size not too big or small, and comfort is key. They also seem to have history, which the Skindiver roots go back to a Ball diver from 1962. So I did not understand the need for a change that messed with these things.





The 40mm Skindiver I for reference (Four pictures above)




So here is what changed including a few things not mentioned elsewhere. First along with the gain of 3mm in case size the depth rating has gone up 200m to 500m from the previous 300m-depth rating. On the left side it has gained an automatic HEV valve. Gone is the domed crystal replaced with a Sub like flat crystal, but without the Subs Cyclops. With the upgrade to a COSC movement the split day/date is now just a date window, but still located at the 4:30. The crown that was shared with other EMII watches has given way to a new multi row knurled one. This knurling is carried up to the edge of the bezel replacing the alternating patter of the 40mm. The ceramic bezel insert has a thinner font that goes well with the thinner index marks. The 40’s was always just a bit to thick. This glows blue at night like most of the newer Ball watches with external bezels. The basic lines of the 40 have been scaled up a bit while keeping the thickness of the 40mm. The red second hand has now become a yellow/orange one. Surprisingly the dial has actually lost about two rows of text while keeping the bead blast texture black- grey dial. The dial tubes have gone back to the green at all indexes except for orange at the 12 and a bit larger in length and width. This was the color scheme for the first 6 months of the 40mm version. The dial is now surrounded by a chapter ring with cut-outs for the tubes and the minute track is pushed to it’s outer edge. The hands have far more detail then the 40’s SS stick hands. They now have a fine tip at the end, are now white outlined with a small inner black-grey area that makes them appear to float over the dial. These are lighted at night by yellow tubes. The 20mm bracelet has grown in width to 22mm. The kit also includes a high-grade rubber strap with spring bars and tool to swap between the two. The stamped clasp is gone, and has been replaced with a heavy duty machined one that is 3-4 time thicker in every component. The US Coast Guard Reserve crest has replaced the frogman on the case back. Currency fluctuations also helped keep all this net adds at the same retail price of $2799.









With sized gains comes weight. In this case the unsized weight of the 40mm was 156 grams where the 43mm has grown to 204 grams. The thing I always found with the original Skindiver was the weight was just about perfect for a steel watch and the design had great balance. It also seemed to fit a wide variety of wrist sizes form 6”-8”. The 40mm always wore bigger than it’s actual dimensions. Very few watches pull this similar feat off better than the Rolex Sub C which seems to fit more people regardless of wrist size. One thing I’m happy to note on the Skindiver II is that it has bucked the trend of watches getting thicker. While wider and longer (52mm up from 50mm) the case is now .3mm thinner. Because of the gained length it now stretches the size to the very edge of what I can wear on my 7.25” wrist. Taking the size and weight into consideration this watch is very close to my Omega Good Planet except that one is 17mm thick and is about 14 grams heavier. Because of this it is far more balanced even against other similar sized Ball watches like a EHC Spacemaster. It continues the trend of wearing bigger then it’s size would indicate from the previous generation. I believe if it was 1mm larger (44mm) it would exceed fitting me properly. One thing we’ll learn in time is if it can accommodate smaller wrist sizes below 7”. I’m pretty certain it has the greater than 8” wrist group covered.






More Swiss companies seem to be joining the chapter ring trend. This is one of several new Ball watches announced this year that has this feature. It really helps complete the dial around the tubes for Ball watches that don’t have the applied indexes around the tubes. This also makes the watch look really 3D and deep at night that seems to be an effect that only GTLS watches seem have. The other thing that is nice is how the use of several colors in the lume allows the watch to better communicate information. Omega uses blue and green on it’s current divers to separate the hour and minute components. For my eyes after 10 minutes in the dark I can no longer tell the difference between these colors. I never have this issue with Balls coloring. The orange tube at the 12 helps quickly orient the watch and the other green indexes are crystal clear. All the hands are yellow and the lume on the bezel insert is blue.



This model remains very toolish. The 40mm was very good at resisting bumps and marks including the bracelet. I expect this to be very similar. The crown seems to have learned a few things from it’s bigger brother the DeepQUEST. The DQ may still be a touch better, but this one is probably better than 99% of the watches on the market. Smooth and positive are defiantly in this ones portfolio. This could never have been said about the 40mm non-COSC version.



I’ve been collecting since the early 80’s and I can’t say I’ve every seen a watch gain nearly a dozen upgraded features and not a penny of cost. Ball’s leveraged the currency imbalances better to allow a much-upgraded piece to come out just a few years after the original. The previous was pretty dam good, but the newer version has raised the bar a few notches and should be hard to beat assuming it can fit your wrist.