Oracle Time teams up with Ball with dazzling results
Russell Sheldrake- Ball and our friends at Oracle Time have teamed up to create the Engineer II Dazzle.
- Its eye-catching geometric dial is inspired by World War I ‘dazzle’ camouflage.
- The watch is limited to 100 pieces and costs less than £2,500.
The British luxury publication Oracle Time has recently released its second watch collaboration, this time teaming up with Ball to produce the Ball x Oracle Time Engineer II Dazzle. This geometric execution brings historical naval references to a watch with strong links to the United States Navy in a way that feels incredibly modern and unexpected. Let’s dive into what makes this watch special and how it manages to stand out while covering its dial in camouflage.
The keen military historians among you will instantly recognise the dazzle camouflage for what it is, and for those that don’t, here’s a quick explainer. In World War I, German U-boats were targeting the Allies’ naval ships with deadly accuracy – using only fairly rudimentary periscopes in order to gauge distance and direction of travel. To throw off these observations, the British Royal Navy introduced this unique dazzle pattern that coated the entire ship with black, grey and white in angular shapes. These disrupted the Germans’ view of the boats, making it much harder for them to determine exactly where the ships were, where they were going or how fast. The US Navy also adopted dazzle camouflage (or, as they called it, “razzle dazzle”) for its ships.
While this pattern became defunct by the time World War II started, thanks to advancements in targeting systems, there is still a use for this pattern and others like it in the modern world, and that is in automotive prototypes. When these highly secretive prototype cars are driven around a track for the first time, it can be almost impossible to stop anyone else from catching a glimpse – but cover it in a dazzle pattern and all of a sudden the subtle differences in aero components or bodywork become very hard to distinguish, especially when a car is travelling at 150mph.
So that’s the backstory on the dazzle pattern, but what effect does it have on the dial of this new collaborative watch? I’m not sure two is enough to identify a trend, but if we consider this and the previous collaborative effort that Oracle Time has put out, that being the Christopher Ward Dune Shoreline, I think that dial texture is certainly a focal point of theirs. This time, deciding to create this distorting and contrasting effect using sharp black, white, and grey shapes makes this dial feel animated while on the wrist.
So distracting is this pattern that you might miss in the daylight that the baton markers are actually Ball’s signature radioactive H3 tritium gas tubes. These appear as just thick, white batons when it’s light out, but as soon as it turns dark, the hands and 12 marker will shine a bright blue, with the rest glowing white. The use of these gas tubes is something Ball has become known for, as it not only creates a unique glow, but an excellent talking point when down the pub with your mates.
The final point of difference here is the addition of a sapphire caseback. It’s a feature that many collectors love when buying a watch, but one that Ball has traditionally stayed away from on its watches, as it can decrease the amount of magnetic resistance a watch can have, especially if you do away with the soft iron dome that has acted as a Faraday cage in watches for decades. While the magnetic resistance in this watch is still more than suitable for everyday use, it won’t meet the same level as many other watches from the brand.
The rest of this watch is pretty much as you would expect for the Engineer II. The 40mm case is made from 904L stainless steel, with a flat, polished bezel. Inside is the calibre RR1101-C, an automatic movement based on the ETA 2892, which offers 56 hours of power reserve and is COSC-certified. This is all held together with a three-link Oyster-style bracelet that leans perfectly into the utilitarian nature of this watch’s origins.
It’s nice to see how this watch makes itself stand out using a historically important pattern and one that hasn’t been overused in the watch industry yet. It will be interesting to see if Oracle Time continue down this route of exploring dial textures in future collaborations, too.
Ball x Oracle Time Engineer II Dazzle price and availability
The Ball x Oracle Time Engineer II Dazzle is limited to 100 individually numbered pieces and is exclusively available to buy through Ball’s website. Deliveries are forecast for October/November 2025. Price: £2,480
| Brand | Ball x Oracle Time |
| Model | Engineer II Dazzle |
| Reference Number | NM9016C-S8C-BK |
| Case Dimensions | 40mm (W) x 11.5mm (T) x 46.6mm (LTL) |
| Case Material | 904L stainless steel |
| Weight | 150g (on bracelet) |
| Water Resistance | 100 meters, screw-down crown |
| Crystal(s) | Sapphire front and back |
| Dial | Black, white, and grey dazzle camo pattern, H3 tritium gas tube luminescence |
| Lug Width | 20mm |
| Bracelet | 904L stainless steel three-link bracelet, folding buckle |
| Movement | Calibre RR1101-C, ETA 2892 base, automatic, COSC |
| Power Reserve | 56 hours |
| Functions | Hours, minutes, seconds |
| Availability | Limited edition of 100 pieces, online exclusive |
| Price | £2,480 (incl. VAT) |