iW Magazine Spring 2020 | Page 44

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