Comments on: ‘On the Ball’—Webb C. Ball’s Contribution to Railroad Watches and Timekeeping

By: Scott Kramer

Scott Kramer — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 16:13:02 +0000

Mike,

Was your father Allan?

Scott

By: mike howell

mike howell — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 09:55:58 +0000

my father left me his ball 999b 21 j pocket watch. it is after 50 years still very true to time keeping( runs about 2 min. fast a month. i would not sale it for any amount as my son will have it one day. the secret to keeping one running well is find a watch repair man you trust. mine is a fourth gen. watch repair man. have it cleaned at least every 2 to 3 years, wind it at the same time every morning. and do not run it in the washing machine as a friend of mine did. you cannot go wrong with a ball. you will pay for an old one but worth it

By: Jeff Hess

Jeff Hess — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 19:26:04 +0000

Thanks Mr Mycko,

The gnetleman actaully met Webb C. Ball II who ran the company until turning it over to his son George and his nephew R Burgess.

Webb C. Ball II is often confused with his grandfather Webb C. Ball.

jeffrey p. Hess

By: David mycko

David mycko — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:52:12 +0000

Hello Mike,

I don’t think you met the original Web C. Ball unless you went through a time portal, he passed away in 1922. There was and still are quite a few decendants of ‘ol Webb C. Honestly, I have only a working knowledge of the Ball Co. The “expert” is Jeff Hess of Hess Fine Art in St. Petersburg, Fla. But being a direct decendant of an employee of W.C.B.& Co., he may have more questions for you than visa-versa. Mr. Hess purchased the last of the watches from the estate of W.C.B. from the remaining family members. Yes, I would love to see that series of pictures you have. Please email me a copy Rolxrr@Yahoo.com and thank you for using Worthpoint!

By: Mike Knights

Mike Knights — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:16:00 +0000

Dear David,

I was doing a little research on the Ball Company and came across this article. My father and grandfather worked for the Ball company in Chicago. I believe the original Ball company bought or merged with a Chicago company in the early 1900′s. The main office moved to Chicago soon after and the Ball Company was headquarter there. My grandfather worked for the Ball company in Chicago from the 1920′s until the late 50′s. My father worked for them in the early 50′s, left the company for about 10 years and returned to work for them from 1965 until he retired in about 1980. I know he worked for Webb Ball, whether he was the son or grandson of the original Webb C. Ball, I don’t know. I did meet him once in the early or mid 70′s when I was about 12 years old. I have been trying to piece together some history of the company but there seems to be little information about the years when I believe they moved to ?Chicago. Unfortunately, my father passed away back in 1990 and I did not get into much history about the company. I do still have a series of 6 pictures from 1940-1945. Railroad scenes. I think they were sent to jewelers as sort of a promotional photo. I have not found anyone who has a full series of these as I do but would be interested to know if you do. I can send you a picture of one if you would like.
Sincerely, Mike Knights