Anyone who collects or attempts to research Webb C. Ball watches soon realizes that this is a vast and complex subject area. Much has been written and much more is being learned every day. This article has a very narrow focus. As the title suggests, it deals with early 18 size Hamilton and Hampden Ball watches. (I can't afford Howards!) The watches referenced are all lever set and are 15, 16 or 17 jewel watches intended for railroad service in their day(except the grade 999F). It also deals with a group of watches that are very difficult to find. There just aren't that many of them. Initialy the online auctions brought a lot to the surface. 10 years ago, I only knew of three grade 936 Hamilton Ball's, today I know of ten. I do get a sense that the law of diminishing returns is beginning to take effect as new discoveries seem to be getting further apart.
One of the difficulties collectors face is determining original or correct combinations on their acquisitions. I am proposing to state a series of facts and expectations that might be of use to both the novice and some of the more experienced collectors. For the most part, I have deliberately left the movement serial numbers out of different captions as I want them to be thought of as generic representations of a range of dials or watches, not as individual watches.
BALL HAMPDEN WATCHES:
The earliest Ball watches were manufactured by Hampden. The first known example was actualy a Ball Whitcomb serial number 9192. (footnote 1) The watch is presently in the NAWCC museum collection. Two Hampden movements (346262 and 372594) have been reported with Webb C Ball marked dials.
The first Ball Standard came a bit later. As seen in figure 1, the earliest known ad for Ball watches, the Ball's Standard was advertised as being of Hampden manufacture. These ads ran from July 1890 and into 1891. Note that the ad depicts a watch with a Hampden dial! All known survivors actualy have a Webb C Ball marked dial! From the 33 survivors known to me, I guestimate that between 300-600 were produced. This unscientific estimate is calculated by comparing reported sightings to actual production numbers. As there are no surviving Hampden production records, I used known early Hamilton Ball watch production totals and assumed the percentage of known survivors of these early Ball Hamilton watch runs would be similar for Hampden. It would seem that approximately 5 to 10 percent of these early watches have surfaced.
fig 1, Ad from July 1890 Brotherhood of Locomotive Figure 2 plain Webb C Ball dial
Engineers Journal (BLE)
Dials on these watches ran from the plain (fig 2) to very fancy. Many were similar to the Moorehouse dials seen on Howard watch's but were unsigned, leading me to believe that they were in the style of Moorehouse but probably not done by Moorehouse. (fig 3)
Movements were signed Ball's Standard, Adjusted and Hampden Watch Co. (fig4) There were 3 styles, High grade (3known) ,Cleveland O (5known), (one of which is the only known hunter! ) and Superior Grade (25 known).
HAMPDEN BALL LIST
BS = Ball's Standard HG = High Grade SG = Superior Grade CO = Cleveland O
SERIAL SIZE JEWELS MVMT MARKED DIAL MARKED
410538 18 15 B S H G Fancier style
444731 18 15 B S H G FANCIER STYLE
454237 18 15 B S S G Fancier style DS
480814 18 15 B S S G
480872 18 15 B S S G FANCIER RED 5 MIN MRKR
481080 18 15 B S S G FANCIER DIAL RED 5 MIN
481239 18 17 B S S G
481259 18 17 B S S G
481303 18 15 B S S G Fancier style
626754 18 17 B S S G
657953 18 17 B S S G
657973 18 17 B S S G
721071 18H 15 B S C O
759542 18 B S S G
759593 18 17 B S S G
759597 18 17 B S S G
759610 18 17 B S S G
759631 18 17 B S S G
759637 18 17 B S S G
759657 18 17 B S S G
759720 18 17 B S S G
759740 18 17 B S S G
759760 18 17 B S S G
760503 18 17 B S S G
761624 18 17 B S S G ?
761660 18 17 B S C O
761682 18 17 B S S G
761715 18 17 B S S G
761742 18 17 B S C O W C B HOLLOW ARABIC
761780 18 17 B S S G
761781 18 17 B S H G
761845 18 17 B S C O 866973 18 17 B S S G
fig 3 Moorehouse style dial fig 4 High Grade style 15 jewel movement
No other Hampden private label watch that I have seen has both the contractors name and the Hampden name on the movement! I would expect to see only the contactor's name on a private label movement. Another unusual aspect is that the Barrel bridge seems to be a replacement and added later to the movement! This can be seen from noting that the underside of the barrel bridge of the five that I have been able to examine have no serial number and that the damasceening is slightly misaligned. (fig 5) The usual practice on Hampden movements is to have each serial numeral individualy stamped unevenly on the lower left of the brige(underside).(fig 5A) As the watches are advertised as being of Hampden manufacture, it is reasonable to assume that Hampden took existing stock and replaced the barrel bridge to fill Ball's order. As the watches seem to appear from earlier random runs, I would further speculate that the movements were selected from older unsold inventory.
Fig 5 (Courtesy of Eric Engh) Fig 5A (Courtesy of David Abbe)
Underside of barrel bridge from Ball Hampden movement Underside of barrel bridge from non ball Hampden movement
BALL HAMILTON WATCHES:
Over the years, many of the earlier Ball Hamilton watches have undergone repairs for hands and dials. While it is impossible to declare that the foregoing is absolutely true, it is my opinion from observations, readings, ads and factory brochures that correct and/or original watches would have the following.
Grade no. 936 Ball Hamilton watches of which 87 were produced and 10 are known by me to have survived would have dials and hands as seen in figure 6. The hands are a variation of Webb C Ball patent designed hands that are seen on early Ball Howard watches, in that the ball is further up the hand shaft (fig 7). This patent was applied for in April and granted in August 1893. The pierced hand patent was applied for in March and granted in July 1895. (fig 8) Both designs are still shown in the 1902 Ball company catalog.(footnote 2) Original pierced hands would be plum coloured. New Old Stock has been circulated with a different colour. I am not sure when the pierced hands gave way to other designs but I have observed very few after the run of movements bearing the serial numbers 42001-43000.
Fig 6 (courtesy Joel W Sarich)
grade no. 936 Hamilton Ball serial # 608
fig 7 Courtesy of US Patent office Fig 8 Courtesy of US patent office
( used on Ball Howard watches) (pierced hands as seen on early Ball Hamilton
grade no. 938 and grade no 999 watches)
Grade no. 938 Ball Hamilton watches would be expected to have the pierced hands as shown above in fig 8. There is only one run of 100 of these, from 8701- 8800 and only 9 are known by me to survive. Examples of private label dials in this early run have been seen in many bulletins. I am not aware of any surviving original dial marked Ball & CO.
Grades no. 937 and 939 Ball Hamilton hunter movements are extremely rare and I only have one report of each in my data base. Don Dahlberg at our fabulous NAWCC library research found records of 18 (937's) and 6 (939's) shipped to Ball. Rhett Lucke has records of a 7th 939. There is speculation that not all are signed Ball's. This is quite possible as I have seen at least one 936 shipped to Ball that was not signed Ball. The ultimate proof will be if a 937 or 939 shipped to Ball eventualy is reported without Ball markings. I have not seen hands or dials for these but would expect that they would conform to their respective open face counterparts.
I would expect the first Grade no. 999 Ball Hamilton run from 13,001 -13400 to also have the pierced hands. 29 from this run are known by me to have survived. The patd dial with the wavy 3 as seen in fig 9 and the fancy "A" in Cleveland as seen in figure 10, an Official RR Standard dial, are not found in subsequent runs! It is possible that this dial was used on the Ball & Co watches in the 938 run also.
Fig 9, Dial from a 13k first run 999 Ball Hamilton watch fig 10 Enlargement of logo to show the fancy A in
Cleveland
Dials with the wavy top 3 would not be expected to be seen past the run of watches bearing serial numbers 28001-29000. (fig 11) Two Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen (BLF) dials with that wavy 3 design have been reported early in the run of watches bearing the serial numbers 42001-43000. Unless future observations discover a BLF flat 3 dial earlier in the run than those two, It is possible to say these were original "left over" dials. I would expect most replacement dials to be newer than the one being replaced, not older as is the case in this instance. Later in the run other BLF dials have the flat top 3. The flat top 3 dial is the style to be expected in the 42k and the run bearing the serial numbers 118001-119000. (fig 12) It and a double sunk version is also seen in the run bearing the serial numbers 170001-171000. Ball and Co marked dials and movements are not found after the 170k run. They are marked Ball Watch Co after 170400. I would not expect to find any Private Labels dials or movements after the 42k run. One has been reported in the 170k run.
While one would like to deal in absolutes, variations that do not meet expectations are always possible. Most of these variations (in my opinion) can be explained by understanding that a great many repairs and replacements have occurred over the last 115 years. Movements can be checked for matching serial numbers under the plates but dials do not have serial numbers.
fig 11, dial found on 14k and 28k Official RR Standard fig 12 flat top 3 design
watches
Railroad Watch CO:
There was a small run of 200 of these grade no 999F Hamilton made for Ball watches (20801-21000). This was a 16 jewel watch with no Ball signature on the dial or movement. (figs 13 & 14). Kent Singer and Ed Ueberall in Bullerin whole number 338 have picutres of a Ball's Standard Railroad Watch Co (grade no. 999E) from the preceding run. (28501-28800). According to Dr. Laser's list a few hundred more Railroad Watch Co movements were produced in the mixed run of movements bearing the serial numbers 90001-91000 but examples of those have been observed to be marked Ball and Co on the movement and have 17 jewels.(footnote3) The 90k run was comprised of Brotherhood's, 999E's, 999F's, commercial standards, ORRS marked single roller watches and ORRS movements marked "A" and both single and double sunk dials. I haven't seen enough watches in this assorted run to competently discuss them.
Fig 13 grade 999F dial fig 14 grade 999F Mvmt
Two final observations:
(1)
Hamilton factory and finishing room records have often given Ball's 999 production designations such as A,B,C,D,E,F.
Early Ball Hamilton grade 999 watches can be divided into 3 groups. Ball and Co Official RR Standards (ORRS), Private Label Official RR Standards (ORRS) and Brotherhoods. The Private Label watches all have the ORRS marked on the movement and on the dial along with the various Jeweler/retailer names and the city and state the jeweler is located in. ( In a sense Ball and Co are also Private Label's!) Brotherhood watches have the initials of different railroad employee unions marked on the movement and the dial. Thus the Brotherhood of Railway Trainmen, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers or Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen would be marked BRT Standard, BLE Standard or BLF Standard instead of ORRS. Brotherhood watches also Have Ball & Co marked on their dials and movements.
The grade 999 first appears in Hamilton records for Ball beginning with the run of movements bearing the serial numbers 13001-13400. I refer to that run as the 13k run, and the second run of 999's (14001-15000) as the 14k run, subsequent runs (28001-29000) & (42001-43000) as the 28k and 42k run.
I see a high correlation for some after reading Dr Laser's list that compiled these production numbers in a meaningful way.
999A has too few sightings to reach any meaningful conclusions.
999B would appear to be ORRS, either Ball and Co or Private Label. This appears to be true thru the 28k run.
999C would appear to be brotherhoods, most likely BRT in the 13k and 14K runs.
999D would appear also to be brotherhoods, most likely BLF in the 13k and 14k runs.
999E's & 999F's have long been understood to be Ball's Standard Railroad watch and Railroad watch Company grades
The 28k run is less clear. All the 999B's are still Private Labels or Ball and Co, but 999C's and 999D's seem to randomly carry different Brotherhood Official Standard markings in this run.
By the 42K run, they all seem to be designated only as 999's.
With over a century of repairs and alterations it is difficult to say anything with absolute certainty, but I have enough confidence in the mathematical probability of these correlations to want to inspect the bottom of the plates for serial number matches before purchasing a watch that did not conform to my expectations.
(2)
Thru the 42K run (excluding the five hundred 999E's and 999F's found from 20501-21000 ), judging from my data base, the three groups seem to be almost equaly divided! The run of 100 938's (8701-8800) has no Brotherhoods reported and the 42k run has only two private labels reported but the proportion of these 3500 watches seems to be about 1/3 of each! My data base has only a few hundred observations of approximately 4100 Hamilton Ball watches produced thru the 42 k run, but just as polls rely on a small percentage to predict mass behavior, so have I. I note that the data may be skewed. The Brotherhoods and Private Labels are considered much more desirable by collectors and are less likely to escape notice. However, Ball and Co marked watches are known to be rarer than Ball Watch Co marked watches. Dealers at marts and regionals and internet auction sites are generally sophisticated enough to realize this and point out the distinction when attempting to make a sale. Early Ball watches are not in plentiful supply at regionals nowadays and it is fairly easy for me to record examples at the events I attend. However, I realize that this is my special interest area and that others who maintain data bases have a lot more information to process and record.
In the several years I have maintained my data base, the proportion has held remarkably steady. Hopefully articles like this along with feedback and an increased willingness to share information on internet message boards will lead to an expanded knowledge base and a better sample group!
Summary:
Lamentably there have been so many alterations and repairs that some use the sheer volume of mismatches as proof of their "originality"! I believe that the burden of proof lies more on the holder of the mismatch than the beholder! Just as you wouldn't accept that a Ball Watch Co dial belongs with a Ball & Co movement, be skeptical about other immagnitive substitutions. Ball after all was a great believer in uniformity and "standards". When you see a more subtle mismatch, ask yourself if it is more likely to be a post market repair than an original issue abberation. Repairs could have been done many decades ago by salvaging parts from one watch (including bridges) to repair another. It is doubtful that anyone in 1915 would concern themselves with future collectors sensibilities about an 1895 watch. Additionaly, as collectors started placing such a high premium on "mint", there has been a temptation to "improve" these older watches.
Fortunately with the advent of better means of communication, we have been able to improve our knowledge of watches and their history. The NAWCC message board enables us to seek and share information with amazing speed and online auctions show us more watches in a week than we used to see in a year or more. As one of the main purposes of the NAWCC is the preservaton of watches and dissemination of horological knowledge, it is important that we get the record as correct as possible.
Acknowledgements
My thanks to the many posters on the NAWCC message board who have contributed to my data base and understanding of the earlier Ball watches. These include but are not limited to Rhett Lucke, Kent Singer, Ed Ueberall, Jeff Hess, Greg Frauenhoff and Fred Hansen. My apologies to those whose names I may have forgotten to list. My thanks also to Tom Brown and Gerald Zimmerman for showing me the way to the US patent office and locating those design patents for me and to Eric Engh, David Abbe and Joel Sarich for permission to use their photo's. All photo's without attribution are from the Bill Kapp collection. Don Dahlberg has been amazingly generous in his efforts to make old Hamilton records available.
Additional data base input has been culled from numerous bulletins, price guides, and misc publications. Observations at marts and internet auction sites has also contributed to the data base.
Where possible I have given attribution in the text. For the most part this article correlates mine and other's observations in a statistical analysis and is not heavily reliant on citing facts already in print.
All knowledge by necessity has to be derived from others, but the interpretations in this article are the authors and any errors or omissions are my sole responsibility. Corrections or comments can be addressed to william_k_93420@yahoo.com. or discussed on the NAWCC message board that I monitor almost daily.
About the Author
Bill Kapp is a 19 year NAWCC member who has contributed two previous articles to the Bulletin. He is a graduate of UCSB in Economics and has been employed in both finance and law enforcement. Besides watches and clocks he and his bride of 40 years enjoy travel and Tennis.
Notes:
1. T. William Schroeder, "Mr. Whitcomb and Mr. Ball", NAWCC Bulletin 199, April 1979 PP 179-181
2. Roy Ehrhardt, "American Pocket Watch 1977 Price Indicator" , Heart of America Press, pp 59-65
3. "Lasser's List-The Hamilton Watch Company American Production", Dr. Howard Lasser, NAWCC, Columbia, Pa. Serial no's 601-171000