Right: The Ball Spring Seal Regulator
Anti-Shock System protects the regulator.
RAILROAD ACCURACY
Much of the development of the watch
industry in America can be attributed to
the expansion of its railroads. By 1883, the
railroad industry had agreed, at least among
rail companies, to divide the nation into four
time zones and had adopted Standard Time.
Ball Watch founder Webb C. Ball (left)
played an instrumental role in the adoption
of Standard Time in the United States.
Following the Kipton, Ohio, railroad accident
of 1891 that killed eleven postal workers and
two train engineers, Lake Shore train line
officials enlisted Ball, then a Cleveland-based
watchmaker and jeweler, to investigate
conditions throughout the Lake Shore Line
and develop an inspection system for their
implementation. He immediately put in place
frequent checks, by approved watchmakers,
of the watches worn by all railroad workers.
Ball established strict guidelines for
the manufacturing of sturdy, reliable
timepieces, including resistance to
magnetism, reliability of timekeeping in five
positions, isochronism, power reserve and
dial arrangement, accompanied with record
keeping of the reliability of the watch on
each regular inspection.
His early inspection system, the Railroad
Time and Watch Inspection Service, was the
beginning of the Ball network that would
encompass 75% of the railroads throughout
the country and cover at least 175,000 miles
of railroad. Webb C. Ball also extended his
system into Mexico and Canada.
Ball’s standards system that was accepted
on a broad scale and set the standard
for railroads, and it was his system that
helped establish accuracy and uniformity
in timekeeping in North America. Thanks
to Ball, the public soon tied accurate
timekeeping to ‘railroad standards,’ though
Congress did not officially sanction the
concept until 1918.
Source: Ball Watch
A Ball Watch Brotherhood
of Railroad Trainmen
Official Standard pocket
watch, circa 1922.
44 | INTERNATIONAL WATCH | SPRING 2020
BALL WATCH’S TECHNICAL ARSENAL
Self-powered micro tritium gas tubes are Ball Watch’s best-known
technical feature. The tubes are 100 times brighter than dial markers
or hands using luminous paints and stay bright for at least twenty-
five years. However, through Patrick’s Labs, Ball Watch Company’s
proprietary research and development division, the company has also
developed watchmaking technology to provide extra levels of anti-
magnetism and shock resistance. These include:
A-PROOF
Ball Watch utilizes Mu-metal to make the magnetic trench box inside
many Ball watchcases. Mu-metal is an alloy of nickel, iron, copper and
molybdenum with very high magnetic permeability, which enables
it to attract and deviate static or low frequency magnetic field lines.
Ball then devised a carefully machined 0.06mm-thick diaphragm
mechanism that extends or retracts (via the bezel) to lock in the
mumetal anti-magnetic protection cage. In the retracted position, the
diaphragm clears the view of the movement through a transparent
case back. The result: A-Proof protects a mechanical watch against
magnetic fields up to 80,000A / m.
CROWN PROTECTOR
Ball also developed a special crown protection system for the
Engineer Hydrocarbon series to guarantee its water resistance.
Ball places a protective plate around the crown, which ensures the
crown must be screwed-in to its original secure position after time
adjustment. Ball then tests the Engineer Hydrocarbon model crown
protector to ensure it will prevent damage to the crown and resists
water leakage. This means that the crown is tested with external
shocks to ensure its durability up to 7,500Gs.
SPRINGLOCK & SPRING SEAL
The Ball Watch SpringLOCK system protects the balance spring with
a cage that limits the unfurling of the coils in case of any external
impacts. This considerably diminishes the risk of a breakage to the
balance-spring’s link to the balance and also reduces the possibility
that a shock will deform the shape of the balance-spring itself. A
special SpringSEAL also protects a redesigned regulator assembly,
ensuring it does not change its position upon impact.
AMORTISER AND ROTOR-LOCKING
Another Ball Watch anti-shock system, called Amortiser, also protects
a mechanical movement against damages caused by external shocks.
On some models, this Amortiser system is combined with a rotor-
locking system that is enabled using a switch on the caseback that
locks or unlocks the rotor. This prevents the impact energy from
being transmitted to the movement, while the watch continues to run
by drawing on its power reserve. When the rotor-locking system is
engaged (in the on position), the rotor cannot spin, which protects
the movement in case of shock. In this setting, the watch operates
like a manually wound watch. When the rotor-locking system is
disengaged (in the off position), the rotor spins freely and can wind
the automatic movement.
Source: Ball Watch