Here's one my Dad got 35-40 years ago. I've been told that it's a Hamilton-Ball.

18-size BofLE, dial has a repair at 6 minutes and there is a small scratch beside the 1 in 12.

Closeup of the BofLE marking on the dial.

The movement, difficult to photograph using the light I have avaiable.

Crop of the previous image. "Trade Mark, Official BofLE Standard, Adjusted, Ball & Co, Cleveland".

Hi John:
This is a Hamilton - Ball brotherhood. It is a rare and valuable watch.
Cheers!
Joel Sarich

I knew what he paid at the time, but I've forgotten. It may be written down somewhere. We both had notebooks that we used to keep track of what we spent back then. Maybe I will run across his sometime,

Pretty watch.

IMO:

The watch left the Hamilton Factory June 1902 as an ORRS. The early Ball and Co line was discontinued after 170,400. Up till then Ball was still advertising the BLE and ORC Howard watches as available.

Much like the plugs found on 16 size watches, Ball ordered Barrel bridges marked with the BLE and ORC logo's for later sales. Your barrel bridge is one of these. It should have no serial number stamped on the underside. If it has any serial number, it was most likely added later as an "improvement". On earlier examples , a correct dial is imperative to be a credible Ball replacement VS a later collector/dealer substitution.

The dial has the pat pending inscription below the 6 hour markings. That was typical of dials made pre 1905ish. I am not sure of the exact time these dials ceased having this marking as I haven't paid much attention to watches post dating Ball and Co. This greatly increases the odds that Ball was responsible for the replacement barrel.

These dials and bridges surfaced decades ago in unsold inventory when the last remnants of the Ball Co were disposed of.

I don't believe anyone can tell when the replacement barrels and dials were installed. Whether or not Ball would continue to use a Ball and Co barrel bridge after 170400 would probably depend on whether or not he had Ball Watch Co 18sz replacement bridges. Not having studied these later watches, perhaps someone with A Ball Watch Co BLE could enlighten us.

happy hunting