maybe i mis-spoke in the first post. after the flare rings pass by the thumb, they cut away from it instead of back in towards it.
the bowtie, i can't pinpoint exactly right now. but in a general sense, let's say i'm holding the ball in both hands and looking down on the grips and thumb. if i rotated the ball forward so that the thumbhole now faced away from my body, the bowtie would be clearly visible.