This is my pocket watch and I cant thank Chris enough for the fantastic job he did on this Ball. His skills are a thing of beauty and having him as a resource to keep these beautiful timepieces running strong is invaluable. We need more skilled craftman like Chris.
With my late fathers demise, I inherited his Waltham Railroad Watch. Working extra hours on a tobacco / cotton farm, he dreamed of becoming an engineer on the ACL in North Carolina. His pay was a bail of cotton, which he sold at .25 cents per pond or $125. He spent it all on the movement and works in 1925. It keeps excellent time. He became a Navy Medical Service Corp Officer, surviving one of the Saipan banzi charges, and helping to create a separate rating group for Navy Dental Technicians. Thanks. Narragansett Bay.
Beautiful piece (and a beautiful job). I obtained my first Ball timepiece from a conductor whilst riding the train some 30 years ago. They knew me and knew I would want it. I am old enough to remember when a timepiece was referred to as a "potato." ("What time you got on your potato?") Looking at the heft of an 18s and one can see why.
Such a beautiful example of an ornate time piece that only those who service them get to see. The main spring barrel mechanism was truly unique and I loved learning something new. Thank you 😊
Another nice job! Glad to see you testing the balance prior to complete assembly. One more step that I take when testing the balance at this point is to use a very fine artist brush to gently begin the motion. I used to use a puff or air but I like the brush better. I also use rodco on the full plates to keep the fork in place but I use it on the other side down toward the lower jewel. For me it is easier to remove once together. Interesting to see the difference with the new spring also. Happy to see the respect that you give to these pieces.
Wow I just serviced one of these 999s recently myself. Mine is only 17 jewels not 19 (it doesn't have the barrel arbor jewels) and its missing the setting lever spring, but it is pretty much flawless otherwise. These are great timekeepers for their time period, and even today. Great job and keep it up!.
I inherited my great uncles Ball pocket watch. He gave it to my dad in 1960 when he turned 18. He was a retired engineer and included a note on how important the watch was to his safety.
I’m a finishing watchmaking student here in Canada, this is awesome stuff, very detailed and comprehensive! Cheers! As the pallet fork, only the exiting stone needs lubricant if I’m correct, the other one will spill oil into the movement! Contact stone with the escape wheel is only at the tip, My two cents!
I really ❤ learning history as I watch you interact with these elegant examples of fi e technology. And of course, your voice over just caps the experience. 😂
@@WatchRestorationCottage Thank you :)! Basically I'm 17 and I hope one day I will be enough professional to service more complicated watches. But it still remains just a hobby :).
@@WatchRestorationCottage Thanks Sir! I checked your channel, and you are also a man who deserves respect! Quality repairing and beautiful camera work! So I've subscribed! :) Keep doing it! These are so inspiring for me!!
Beautiful watch, and a magnificently produced video, Chris! Great photography and storytelling...and BONUS POINTS for the guitar string click spring. 😁
My grandfather and father were watchmakers and held that only European watches had any merit. I am pleased to say the American railroad watches you have featured prove them totally wrong!
There was a time when American (NA) watches were held in higher regard than Swiss watches (or European). Nowadays, even if some say it's back in Swiss pockets, the truth is... there is no center of the watch world anymore. That said, one of these (and plenty other - even normal, time pieces) is more than equivalent to European watches, and i say that as an European.
Chris, awesome work and quality video. Thanks!!! When you made springs in the past, what is the range of the gauge that you have used for a click spring? In this video, looks like 11 gauge? Trying to figure out what to use because I need to make a click spring. Although I was able to remove the spring without launching it, the really infuriating thing was that the spring disappeared when I inadvertently bumped my parts tray. That’s what happens when a moment of distraction happens. Thanks for the help!!!
Most of the time I’ve used the high e acoustic string, which is 12 in my case. However in this case, I used my B string since it was a closer match in strength
Excellent work! I just inherited my great grandfather’s Ball 999 with a table stand. I’m pretty sure it will need a service. Any recommendations for where?
Very nicely done! I do have one question: I usually peg pivot holes after running parts through the cleaner. It seems to me that the cleaning step would remove most crud so that there would be less possibility of anything abrasive in the holes scratching the bearing surfaces. I realize that the hardness of the jewels makes this unlikely, but it seems that for brass bearings it's a possibility. It also seems like having the pegging as the last cleaning of the bearings that it would give a final clean and polish to their surfaces. Any comments on the relative merits of each method? Thanks!
The jewels would be unaffected by the pegging process. Good point on the non-jeweled bearings though. However, I think anything super abrasive would be more likely to embed itself into the wood vs destroy the surface of the bushing. The reason why I don’t peg after cleaning is I’m concerned about small particles of wood breaking off and fouling the bearing
16:43 "(...) but before we get to that, I'll reinstall the ballance jewels (...) and use my bergeon A1 Automatic Oiler (...)" Watchmakers always take advantage of any opportunity to show their beloved toys 😂.
If you have oil that's reluctant to give up its arbor, warm the action a bit. Not much, just enough to make the oil fluid again. The older it gets, the more viscous and heat's about the only way that's not going to introduce a solvent. I have a hair drier with 4 settings, the lowest is so low that i can hold my hand against the heat vent at about 2 cm and it won't burn, perfect for this. 10~20 seconds is usually more than enough and all the arbors are released.
I tried using Rodico to hold my pallet in place, but it tilted heavily, making me fear I would snap the pivot in the jewel. The one in this video appears to be fairly close to the plate, whereas mine sat up a bit and applying the Rodico put a lot of tilt into the pallet. Just wondering if there's a better way to do this. Also, how did the watchmakers hold the pallet in place when these were made? I doubt the had putty, and I would think other adhesives would stick to the movement and be a real pain to remove.
After watching this a bunch of times, I think I see how this is done. You don't stick the rodico to the pallet, but instead just lay it over the top. Then you press the side closest to the end of the plate to the plate itself. That way, the pallet simply rests against the rodico, and can't fall out. Since there's no pressure on the pallet, it doesn't bend or tilt inside of the jewel. Does this sound about right?
@@k-ozdragon100% it just rests on the pallet and the pallet is still allowed to tilt a bit, which is fine, as long as the top pivot doesn’t come out. I still need to situate the lower pivot once the two plates are together
@@csspinner Awesome, thanks! I have done this once, & had pushed the rodico onto the pallet. Seeing the pressure on it, I took the pallet out, stuck it to the rodico, & then put the pallet in place while stuck to the rodico. Thankfully nothing broke. After watching the video a few times, I noticed the technique was to just let it rest against the putty instead. I'll have to try this on my next service. Of course, I got everything back together & was putting the balance wheel back on after oiling it, & I bumped the balance. SNAP, & off went my pivot. Literally the last step & I goofed lol.
Would love to see you heat blue the spring you made to blend on with such a beautiful movement. Also, did you polish the ends that you snipped off? I saw one of them was in dorect contact with the click and those sharp edges would likely score that part. Great work otherwise!
Me personally I prefer the Hamilton 940 over the Ball 999. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Ball watches, don’t get me wrong. Every collection is incomplete without this Private Label brand, especially if you like private label watches.
I wonder how they measured these "30 or less seconds a week" back then when the only source of precise time was the stars. I can imagine measuring a year precisely with these methods, but tuning a watch to that level of precision without a modern timegrapher?
Really enjoy the Ball pocket watch series. Great work on getting it serviced, love the guitar string fix. 😊 Have you ever had to de-magnetize a watch to fix the amplitude?
I am curious why you press out the hole jewels on the capped jewels in these watches. Doesn't that make for a lot of extra work when the jewel could be pegged and cleaned while still installed in the baseplate or bridge? How do you go about making sure you reseat the jewel at the correct depth?
They need to be staked out so they can be separated for cleaning. Otherwise, all the old oil residue will remain in between them. Most of the time, depth isn’t adjusted (just stake them all the way back in), but occasionally it needs to be. This can be determined by test fitting the balance before proceeding with installation
Hi there CS, I have an 1899 Elgin 0s hunter watch that I would very much like to get up and running. It is beautiful and has a 14k body and case. How can I contact you? Keep up the amazing videos!
This is my pocket watch and I cant thank Chris enough for the fantastic job he did on this Ball. His skills are a thing of beauty and having him as a resource to keep these beautiful timepieces running strong is invaluable. We need more skilled craftman like Chris.
Fantastic...
With my late fathers demise, I inherited his Waltham Railroad Watch. Working extra hours on a tobacco / cotton farm, he dreamed of becoming an engineer on the ACL in North Carolina. His pay was a bail of cotton, which he sold at .25 cents per pond or $125. He spent it all on the movement and works in 1925. It keeps excellent time. He became a Navy Medical Service Corp Officer, surviving one of the Saipan banzi charges, and helping to create a separate rating group for Navy Dental Technicians. Thanks. Narragansett Bay.
I thank him for his service in the Navy. 🇺🇲
Lindo relògio , belo trabalho parabéns, Graciez ( Brésil)
Beautiful piece (and a beautiful job). I obtained my first Ball timepiece from a conductor whilst riding the train some 30 years ago. They knew me and knew I would want it. I am old enough to remember when a timepiece was referred to as a "potato." ("What time you got on your potato?") Looking at the heft of an 18s and one can see why.
Such a beautiful example of an ornate time piece that only those who service them get to see. The main spring barrel mechanism was truly unique and I loved learning something new. Thank you 😊
Thanks for all the info
My goodness, it isn't often you see a watch that old running to its original specs. Well done, sir.
What a nice explanation and bit of history . Keep up
Very instructive and educational video, thank you for sharing and helping us to understand the beauty of this art.
Another nice job! Glad to see you testing the balance prior to complete assembly. One more step that I take when testing the balance at this point is to use a very fine artist brush to gently begin the motion. I used to use a puff or air but I like the brush better. I also use rodco on the full plates to keep the fork in place but I use it on the other side down toward the lower jewel. For me it is easier to remove once together. Interesting to see the difference with the new spring also. Happy to see the respect that you give to these pieces.
Amazing video!
Great work!
Wow I just serviced one of these 999s recently myself. Mine is only 17 jewels not 19 (it doesn't have the barrel arbor jewels) and its missing the setting lever spring, but it is pretty much flawless otherwise. These are great timekeepers for their time period, and even today. Great job and keep it up!.
I really enjoy watching you service these pieces of history and art as they are wonderfully made. Thanks for the great content!
I inherited my great uncles Ball pocket watch. He gave it to my dad in 1960 when he turned 18. He was a retired engineer and included a note on how important the watch was to his safety.
I’m a finishing watchmaking student here in Canada, this is awesome stuff, very detailed and comprehensive! Cheers! As the pallet fork, only the exiting stone needs lubricant if I’m correct, the other one will spill oil into the movement! Contact stone with the escape wheel is only at the tip, My two cents!
Wow what a beautiful timepiece, inside and out. Excellent video!
I really ❤ learning history as I watch you interact with these elegant examples of fi e technology. And of course, your voice over just caps the experience. 😂
Great work again!
This is the best video I've seen on railroad grade pocket watches ever. Thanks!!!
Great work Chris! It's always a joy to watch your work, especially with the click spring!
I love old pocket watches, and this one did not disappoint! Another great video, thank you for sharing your work.
From one Spinner to another Spinner you did a fantastic job on a great old watch 👍
These scenes inspire me to learn day after day and practice watchmaking as accurately as I can. I like your videos!
What a great attitude! 👍
@@WatchRestorationCottage Thank you :)! Basically I'm 17 and I hope one day I will be enough professional to service more complicated watches. But it still remains just a hobby :).
@@akoskendehevesi3062 wow! So young. You have a bright future ahead of you sir! 👍👍
@@WatchRestorationCottage Thanks Sir! I checked your channel, and you are also a man who deserves respect! Quality repairing and beautiful camera work! So I've subscribed! :) Keep doing it! These are so inspiring for me!!
@@akoskendehevesi3062 you keep watching this channel and you're going to learn a lot. Chris produces some of the best work on UA-cam.
Beautiful watch and amazing work my friend! Nice improvising with the click spring! 👍😉
Beautiful watch, and a magnificently produced video, Chris! Great photography and storytelling...and BONUS POINTS for the guitar string click spring. 😁
Nice work. Got a couple of em. Beautiful piece. Pocketwatch prices continue to rise.
The clarity with which you explained the whole process from beginning to end I enjoyed immensely.
Thank you so much. Hugh. Somerset UK
What a beauty! American pocket watches was at that time like todays Patek!
My grandfather and father were watchmakers and held that only European watches had any merit. I am pleased to say the American railroad watches you have featured prove them totally wrong!
There was a time when American (NA) watches were held in higher regard than Swiss watches (or European). Nowadays, even if some say it's back in Swiss pockets, the truth is... there is no center of the watch world anymore. That said, one of these (and plenty other - even normal, time pieces) is more than equivalent to European watches, and i say that as an European.
Beautiful work on the video. Love these watch movements with every edge and part being a work of art.
It's a pleasure to watch you work
Another great video
Excellent video. I doubt I will ever have the opportunity to wonk on a movement like this so I really enjoyed watching it, Thanks
Great job as usual Chris! Lovely movement and watch. The movement is interesting and in great condition, and running spot on!
Another excellent video
Já vi muitos vídeos de relojoeiros,mas vc faz essa profissão ser magnífica !! Parabéns!!
Nice video and work, as per usual. Is it just me, the circular decorations and deep base plate remind of the bottom of a cat food or tuna can! :D
beautiful mechanism 🤤
Nice watch, very interesting mechanicals; I've never seen one like it before.
Very beautiful watch. Great video.
Great video, very well done Sir!
Thanks!
Steve! Thank you for the super thanks! I really appreciate it :)
That's gorgeous 👏👏
Good watch.
I have a Hamliton 992 that has kept perfect time for 3 months with out resetting. It hasn't gained or lost time.
Chris, awesome work and quality video. Thanks!!! When you made springs in the past, what is the range of the gauge that you have used for a click spring? In this video, looks like 11 gauge? Trying to figure out what to use because I need to make a click spring. Although I was able to remove the spring without launching it, the really infuriating thing was that the spring disappeared when I inadvertently bumped my parts tray. That’s what happens when a moment of distraction happens. Thanks for the help!!!
Most of the time I’ve used the high e acoustic string, which is 12 in my case. However in this case, I used my B string since it was a closer match in strength
Thanks for the quick response.
I'm a new subscriber and luv watching your videos my friend thanks for sharing 👍 ❤❤
Excellent work!
I just inherited my great grandfather’s Ball 999 with a table stand. I’m pretty sure it will need a service. Any recommendations for where?
Drop me a line. My contact info is in the description
Very nicely done! I do have one question: I usually peg pivot holes after running parts through the cleaner. It seems to me that the cleaning step would remove most crud so that there would be less possibility of anything abrasive in the holes scratching the bearing surfaces. I realize that the hardness of the jewels makes this unlikely, but it seems that for brass bearings it's a possibility. It also seems like having the pegging as the last cleaning of the bearings that it would give a final clean and polish to their surfaces. Any comments on the relative merits of each method? Thanks!
The jewels would be unaffected by the pegging process. Good point on the non-jeweled bearings though. However, I think anything super abrasive would be more likely to embed itself into the wood vs destroy the surface of the bushing. The reason why I don’t peg after cleaning is I’m concerned about small particles of wood breaking off and fouling the bearing
16:43 "(...) but before we get to that, I'll reinstall the ballance jewels (...) and use my bergeon A1 Automatic Oiler (...)"
Watchmakers always take advantage of any opportunity to show their beloved toys 😂.
13:22 Now I have to go find that other video where you sing 🤣
Here you go! ua-cam.com/video/fmLGdCfd_qs/v-deo.htmlsi=FL9IOPhHTJiaP8Qr
If you have oil that's reluctant to give up its arbor, warm the action a bit. Not much, just enough to make the oil fluid again. The older it gets, the more viscous and heat's about the only way that's not going to introduce a solvent. I have a hair drier with 4 settings, the lowest is so low that i can hold my hand against the heat vent at about 2 cm and it won't burn, perfect for this. 10~20 seconds is usually more than enough and all the arbors are released.
Great tip
I tried using Rodico to hold my pallet in place, but it tilted heavily, making me fear I would snap the pivot in the jewel. The one in this video appears to be fairly close to the plate, whereas mine sat up a bit and applying the Rodico put a lot of tilt into the pallet. Just wondering if there's a better way to do this.
Also, how did the watchmakers hold the pallet in place when these were made? I doubt the had putty, and I would think other adhesives would stick to the movement and be a real pain to remove.
After watching this a bunch of times, I think I see how this is done. You don't stick the rodico to the pallet, but instead just lay it over the top. Then you press the side closest to the end of the plate to the plate itself. That way, the pallet simply rests against the rodico, and can't fall out. Since there's no pressure on the pallet, it doesn't bend or tilt inside of the jewel. Does this sound about right?
@@k-ozdragon100% it just rests on the pallet and the pallet is still allowed to tilt a bit, which is fine, as long as the top pivot doesn’t come out. I still need to situate the lower pivot once the two plates are together
@@csspinner Awesome, thanks! I have done this once, & had pushed the rodico onto the pallet. Seeing the pressure on it, I took the pallet out, stuck it to the rodico, & then put the pallet in place while stuck to the rodico. Thankfully nothing broke.
After watching the video a few times, I noticed the technique was to just let it rest against the putty instead. I'll have to try this on my next service.
Of course, I got everything back together & was putting the balance wheel back on after oiling it, & I bumped the balance. SNAP, & off went my pivot. Literally the last step & I goofed lol.
Would love to see you heat blue the spring you made to blend on with such a beautiful movement. Also, did you polish the ends that you snipped off? I saw one of them was in dorect contact with the click and those sharp edges would likely score that part. Great work otherwise!
Wonder if Ernie Ball ever intended their Extra Slinky to become spring materials?
Me personally I prefer the Hamilton 940 over the Ball 999. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Ball watches, don’t get me wrong. Every collection is incomplete without this Private Label brand, especially if you like private label watches.
I wonder how they measured these "30 or less seconds a week" back then when the only source of precise time was the stars. I can imagine measuring a year precisely with these methods, but tuning a watch to that level of precision without a modern timegrapher?
Really enjoy the Ball pocket watch series. Great work on getting it serviced, love the guitar string fix. 😊 Have you ever had to de-magnetize a watch to fix the amplitude?
Yes magnetism can be an issue and it’s pretty obvious when it happens. I have a cheap device from Amazon I’ve used for that when needed
I am curious why you press out the hole jewels on the capped jewels in these watches. Doesn't that make for a lot of extra work when the jewel could be pegged and cleaned while still installed in the baseplate or bridge? How do you go about making sure you reseat the jewel at the correct depth?
They need to be staked out so they can be separated for cleaning. Otherwise, all the old oil residue will remain in between them. Most of the time, depth isn’t adjusted (just stake them all the way back in), but occasionally it needs to be. This can be determined by test fitting the balance before proceeding with installation
Hi there CS, I have an 1899 Elgin 0s hunter watch that I would very much like to get up and running. It is beautiful and has a 14k body and case. How can I contact you? Keep up the amazing videos!
where do you get your new mainsprings from?
@@Sandman783 esslinger, Otto frei and eBay
❤ Does anyone know when the very first clock and watch was invented? Id love to know. ❤
Hey, do you want a song recommendation? Search for Coisa 2 by Moacir Santos. He was a Brazilian musician.
Another real Beauty! Thanks for your time and skills.Always enjoy!