"On the Ball"

Webb C. Ball was born in Fredericktown, Ohio on Oct. 6, 1847 and became a jeweler & watchmaker. When Standard Time was adopted in 1883, he was the first jeweler to use time signals, bringing accurate time to Cleveland.

After the infamous railroad collision locomotives belonging to the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern railways at Kipton, Ohio, which allegedly occurred because an engineer’s watch had stopped, unnoticed, for about four minutes, then restarted, the railroad officials commissioned Webb C. Ball as their General Time Inspector in order to establish precision standards and a reliable timepiece inspection system for railroad watches. His early inspection system was the beginning of the vast Ball network that would encompass 75% of the railroads throughout the country, and later extended into Mexico and Canada.

It was his system that resulted in railroad time and railroad watches being recognized as STANDARD, whenever accuracy in time was required.

The Ball Watch Company did not manufacture watches directly, but had watches manufactured to the specifications for use in railroad service. Webb Ball established strict guidelines for the manufacturing of sturdy, reliable precision timepieces that were resistant to magnetism and would keep accurate time in three positions (later five), isochronism and power reserve, accompanied with record keeping of the reliability of the watch on each regular inspection. All Ball watches are distinctively laid out and all marked “Ball Watch Co.” on the movement, case and dial, no mater which watch company produced the watch.

Ball watches are today some of the most collectible of the American railroad pocket watches. Ball also produced watches marked for various railroad unions, such as the B. of L.E.(Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers), the B. of L.F.(Firemen), the B. of R.T.(railroad Trainmen), and the O. of R.C.(Conductors). These watches were produced in very limited quantities and are highly prized by collectors today.

The colloquial phrase “on the ball” purportedly derives from Webb C. Ball’s watch standards and their reputation for accuracy.

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