By TLex Here's the previously unseen blue dial version of the Ball Watch Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU presented on a black rubber divers strap. Also unseen until now is its caseback (pictured bottom) which as been stamped with a diver logo reflecting the NEDU's official emblem.
BALL Watch have since tweaked the design of the EH NEDU in particular the 12 o'clock bezel marker, which you will notice now has a white outer ring. The chromed black ceramic bezel is exceptionally resistant to corrosion, scratches and ultraviolet rays. The numerals and graduation markers have been deliberately over-sized to make them more legible.
BALL Watch Co. have a pioneered a ceramic process, where they have used an innovative application for the lume on the ceramic bezel markers. Most ceramic bezels such as that of the Rolex DEEPSEA and new Submariners, and the Omega Seamaster Liquidmetal® models lack luminous bezel markings owing to ceramic's extreme toughness, which makes luming them very tricky.
The Engineer Hydrocarbon is world's first diving watch with a helium release valve incorporated into its crown. I'm not quite sure if there's a real benefit to the new HEV placement, but it's certainly unusual. Other dive watches with specialized HEVs include the CLERC Hydroscaph, which has its HEV located on its caseback and the Girard-Perregaux SHII Pro, which has two lateral HEVs on either side of its case.
The NEDU or Navy Experimental Diving Unit of the United States Navy is responsible for rolling out operational diving and decompression rules for the United States Armed Forces. In particular, the NEDU established the decompression timetables that are a vital reference for all divers.
