# Ball vs Deep Blue



## masterjedi116 (Dec 21, 2011)

I have a 1st generation night train, which is by far my favorite watch. I also have a Deep Blue Daynight T100 diver, which is a close second. Ball beats out the Deep Blue in just about every category, having DLC vs PVD plating, a swiss movement, etc. However, the brightness of the Deep Blue tubes far, far, far surpasses anything I have ever seen personally on a T100-rated Ball watch, and I have seen probably a dozen different kinds. I am aware that our eyes perceive green the easiest, and my night train, as well as many other Balls, has green tubes on the minute and hour hands. However, they are still much dimmer than that of the Deep Blue hands. I was just wondering which Ball has the brightest INDIVIDUAL tritium tubes, and if anyone else has a Deep Blue and a Ball as well, if they can compare their lume. Thanks!


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## bg002h (Mar 28, 2010)

Post a Lume shot for us!


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## ~tc~ (Dec 9, 2011)

Interested in seeing responses to this topic also. Was thinking of Deep Blue for a "traditional" diver style. Tritium and good prices.


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## stew77 (May 15, 2009)

bg002h said:


> Post a Lume shot for us!


*+1 ....fully agree...if you have the opportunity, would love to see Lume shot with both the Ball and Deep Blue in the same pic, at the same exposure.:-!*


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## Fatz028 (Mar 14, 2009)

I just got the new wrist watch annual book and the deep blue watches caught my eye. I like the look of them.


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## lvt (Sep 15, 2009)

Deepblue


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## lvt (Sep 15, 2009)

Ball


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## bg002h (Mar 28, 2010)

Whips out his wristwatch annual....page 115, model 3 (of 3). 

It's marked T100. Not terribly fancy, IMHO, but tritium lume.


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## Fatz028 (Mar 14, 2009)

That's the one I like.


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## Fatz028 (Mar 14, 2009)

I think that aviator is ugly no offense to the people who own one. Just not a pilots watch to me.


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## roberev (Mar 15, 2006)

I cannot speak as to last year's releases, but the Engineer Master II Classic was the champ for having the most tritium-packed tubes. ... before it was discontinued last year.










I also have the Deep Blue DayNight Ops T100. The individual tube brightness is identical between both watches.

Rob

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk


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## darren2how (Jun 25, 2009)

Just like my step bro's opinion.He hates pilots watches of any kind from Breitling to Aviator.


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## 13gsc13 (Oct 7, 2006)

I have both a Deep Blue T100 diver and a Ball Aviator T100
Here's a picture at f2.8 for 1 second - I did a bunch at a slower shutter but this was the most accurate to seeing it in real life
I have previously owned a 1st generation Nighttrain (sorrt I sold this one), an EM II diver and a Mad Cow
The Deep Blue out-lumes all these and the Aviator is the closest to it
I always pick my Deep Blue to wear to sleep and also for nighttime activities like sitting around the firepit
Deep Blue is decent quality with fantastic lume
Ball is high quality with good lume - the T100 and T Swiss ones
I will always own my Aviator but I'll probably always have my Deep Blue also


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## 13gsc13 (Oct 7, 2006)

Here's an exposure of f2.8 at 2 seconds for comparison


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## Muslickz (Nov 1, 2011)

masterjedi116 said:


> I have a 1st generation night train, which is by far my favorite watch. I also have a Deep Blue Daynight T100 diver, which is a close second. Ball beats out the Deep Blue in just about every category, having DLC vs PVD plating, a swiss movement, etc. However, the brightness of the Deep Blue tubes far, far, far surpasses anything I have ever seen personally on a T100-rated Ball watch, and I have seen probably a dozen different kinds. I am aware that our eyes perceive green the easiest, and my night train, as well as many other Balls, has green tubes on the minute and hour hands. However, they are still much dimmer than that of the Deep Blue hands. I was just wondering which Ball has the brightest INDIVIDUAL tritium tubes, and if anyone else has a Deep Blue and a Ball as well, if they can compare their lume. Thanks!


That is so true.... I have never agreed more 

-M


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## nairb-ca (Jun 10, 2010)

Also take a look at this thread..
Deep Blue Day/Night Orange vs. Green Tritium Vials?


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## fuzzyb (Feb 21, 2009)

One thing to keep in mind is the size of the tubes. When comparing two T100 rated watches, the watch with 12 regular sized tubes will seem much brighter than the watch with 12 double sized tubes because of the way the light is concentrated in a smaller area (or dispersed throughout a larger area).

A T100 with a tube configuration like the Night Train spreads that illumination out through more than 60 tubes around the entire dial, which spreads out that light much more.

For the brightest "looking" watch, a T100 rating with the smallest number of tubes with the smallest size would have the brightest appearance. Increasing the number or size of tubes will make the watch appear less bright.


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## over2land (Jun 22, 2010)

lvt said:


> Ball


What is that one in middle?

And what part of that lume is tritium, and what isn't?


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## bg002h (Mar 28, 2010)

From left to right...aviator, SpaceMaster XLume, and ehc diver. For the XLume, the bezel is paint, not tritium.


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## Perseus (Mar 25, 2010)

Are you comparing Deep Blue's T100 tubes to Ball's T25?


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## bg002h (Mar 28, 2010)

T vs T25 refers to the total amount of radioactivity on the dial...a three handed watch with just 1 tube per hand would be very bright per tube regardless if it was T25 or T rated.


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## samanator (Mar 8, 2008)

Perseus said:


> Are you comparing Deep Blue's T100 tubes to Ball's T25?


Let's clear this right now. There are no T, T100 or T25 tubes. These are Tritium content amounts not tube types.

In these cases it is arrangement, color and size. Notice the DB is a different color. Not what Ball chose. Ball has made choices to not go over board on intensity on some pieces. As an example the Arabic version of the DQ was not delivered where the simple index was. If you saw the photos it was a true torch.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


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## Perseus (Mar 25, 2010)

samanator said:


> Let's clear this right now. There are no T 100 or T25 tubes this is total content. Arrangement and sizing is the only real difference
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Huh? I thought T100 had more juice. If their isn't any difference in the tubes why do they have different names?


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## samanator (Mar 8, 2008)

Perseus said:


> Huh? I thought T100 had more juice. If their isn't any difference in the tubes why do they have different names?


T, T100 and T25 are license for a predetermined level levels of Tritium.

T was the original less than or equal to 100 mci of Tritium license that Ball had. T100 is the same thing only not Balls license but otherwise no difference. T-25 is for less than 25mci of tritium or less. 

Note that the exact same tubes can be on a watch with any of these license. The T and T100 just can have more. While there can be a T or T100 tube on a watch it might not be ideal since there would only be one and then the watch would be at the legal limit for some counties. I say some countries not that there is currently any higher limits, but that some countries only allow up to 25mci watches and one that I am aware of does not allow tritium watches to enter their country at all. 

As I said earlier what you are perceiving as a difference is color variance (Brighter green and orange), tube size size and placement (doubling up). The is a chance that a few of these options where not available when a few of these models were developed.

Sorry for not having a better reply earlier, I was fighting a bad internet connection at hotel and little to no bandwidth.


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## ~tc~ (Dec 9, 2011)

samanator said:


> one that I am aware of does not allow tritium watches to enter their country at all.


as someone who travels a lot, where would that be so I don't get my watch confiscated?


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## darren2how (Jun 25, 2009)

Denmark and Japan will hold you for questioning.


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## samanator (Mar 8, 2008)

Denmark is the only one I know that on last check does not allow Tritium watches.


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## masterjedi116 (Dec 21, 2011)

I am having the hardest time uploading images on here....For those that care to look, here are some links to the comparison shots. Just took the pictures, nothing fancy with exposure time or anything like that (which I have no idea why everyone does anyway because it misrepresents the brightness of the watches).

http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj636/masterjedi116/TritiumWatches.jpg
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj636/masterjedi116/BallLuminox.jpg
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj636/masterjedi116/BallDeepBlue.jpg


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## bg002h (Mar 28, 2010)

masterjedi116 said:


> I am having the hardest time uploading images on here....For those that care to look, here are some links to the comparison shots. Just took the pictures, nothing fancy with exposure time or anything like that (which I have no idea why everyone does anyway because it misrepresents the brightness of the watches).
> 
> http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj636/masterjedi116/TritiumWatches.jpg
> http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj636/masterjedi116/BallLuminox.jpg
> http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj636/masterjedi116/BallDeepBlue.jpg


Nice side by side compares. I think this is good evidence that the deep blue parses their licensed radiation dose over fewer tubes and hence are brighter on a per millimeter basis (I'm sure it's cheaper too).

It would be nice to see at least two different exposure values (this simulates your eyes adapting to the dark).

Great shots and nice collection. Thanks!


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## SgtClaymore (Feb 2, 2012)

That looks pretty nice my friend! I like the deep blue for sure.


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