Ballast BLD-7001-01 chronograph

this is a brand that i have never taken any notice of before, i think i was put off by the huge crown and figured the watch must be massive too, but i got the chance of a cheap NOS one and figured if i didnt like it i could easily get my money back.............I love it !!
Ballast are keen to promote the Swiss Made side of things, its on the case back and all over the box, however the brand appears to be based in Germany but distributed out of Hong Kong which tells me thats its primarily of Asian origin although it does run  genuine ISA 8172.220 Swiss movement
maybe this belongs in the "Swasian" section
its a big watch, but the crown makes it look bigger than it really is.....without the crown it measures 45mm and 55mm with but it wears so much smaller and its very comfortable as well
the dial being black with white detail is IMO excellent and very very easy to read, i do like a high contrast dial
dial wise my only niggle is the over sized date window, i dont know why manufacturers do this as its has ruined what for me would be the almost perfect dial, its easy to see the date though as the 4 o'clock marker doubles as an arrow pointing towards the date so a little forgiveness there, but surely easier to just make a standard date window?
the watch comes with 2 very good quality leather straps, one black the other brown both with big chunky buckles
all things considered, its a very well made watch and well worth what i paid,but would now seem to be out of production, but there will be some kicking around eBay i am sure

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