The latest dive watch from Ball, the Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU, flies in the face of recent trends in dive watches, and is quite proud to do so. Whereas most of the attention on new divers this year has been on midsize watches with conservative proportions and classic styling, the Engineer Hydrocarbon NEDU is, well, not conservative in any way. Even before diving into the specs, it?s easy to tell that this watch is overbuilt and targeted at pros, or at least at people who want a pro dive watch experience. The ?NEDU? designation here is key to understanding the watch: it?s an acronym for the Navy Experimental Diving Unit, the unit of the Navy that?s responsible for developing rules around diving and decompression, and assessing their own systems and procedures. The work of the NEDU moves diving forward in a real way for the Navy, and has resulted in many new safety protocols and technological advancements through the years. With that in mind, let?s take a closer look at Ball?s newest high performance diver. 
Ball tells us that considerable attention has been paid to the rotating dive bezel of the new Engineer Hydrocarbon. The bezel has deep grooves cut into it, which are meant to make it easier to turn while wearing diving gloves, and I suppose would make it easier to grip with a bare hand as well, if you?re not planning on taking the Ball underwater. Regardless of the functionality of the design, there?s no doubt that the implementation here gives the watch a dis...