My 1st Ball Hamilton

January 13, 2009, 20:46

Tom Brown

Bought this watch on Ebay & just recevied it so nothing has been cleaned up.

There are several reasons I bought it, one that I don't have a Ball Hamilton & the other is the previous owner.

The inside of the Ball case is engraved with the name Cornelius W. Cody, Detective Bureau & then dates & Masonic info. Doing research I found out that Cornelius William Cody was a Chief Inspector for the Cleveland Ohio Police Department & worked there from 1907 to 1935. He was born in 1880 in Ma.

I have located a book with photos of him in it while he was with the CPD, I also found a book about Elliott Ness when he became the director of the Cleveland DPS & Cornelius Cody is mentioned on several pages of the book.

A 3rd reason I bought the watch is I think there is a possibility that since the watch is a Ball watch & their store was located in Cleveland & the watch was presented in Cleveland that perhaps it was bought at the store.

Anyway, it seems like a nice example in my limited knowledge, the bow is extra firm & the dial looks prefect, other than needing cleaning. It also came with a matching chain & pocket knife. It looks to me like this watch was put away & seldom carried.

One last thing, I was able to find out the dates & initials in the watch are for the 3 levels of becoming a Master Mason.

Look forward to any comments, good or bad.

Tom

January 13, 2009, 20:47

Tom Brown

Back of case

January 13, 2009, 20:47

Tom Brown

Movement

January 13, 2009, 20:48

Tom Brown

Case marks

January 13, 2009, 21:59

Bill Manders

Tom,
Great looking watch, thanks for sharing.
Bill

January 13, 2009, 23:02

Steve Middlesworth

Tom,
Very interesting piece of history. If you can find the time can you post a picture of the original owner. That would be cool.

Steve

January 13, 2009, 23:48

Tom Brown

Steve

I have ordered the book & as soon as I get it I will post a photo. Thank you & Bill for the comments. This makes the 2nd such watch I have, I bought an Howard that Chris Abell sold on here that was from a Chief in Tx & since I am a retired cop & I didn't get a watch when I retired I thought I would collect others.

Tom

January 14, 2009, 01:38

Bill Kapp

Good for you!

Can't imagine how these get out of the families!

happy hunting,

January 14, 2009, 12:02

Larry Buchan

Tom:

What an interesting Ball presentation pocket watch, some very interesting history here, I've read quite a bit about Eliot Ness when he came head of Cleveland's crime busters, after he had finished with Al Capone in Chicago.

Larry

January 14, 2009, 16:17

Edward Kitner

Tom,
Nice find, and the history is priceless!

January 14, 2009, 18:26

Jerry King

Great watch Tom & it is great that the watch found you and a new home....
Very interesting investigation on your part to locate all the information that you have as well....Great job!

Thanks for sharing your treasure....

Regards,
Jerry

January 15, 2009, 08:15

Phillip Sanchez

Wonderful Tom. Truly fascinating. Thank you so much for posting it here.

January 15, 2009, 13:56

Edward L. Parsons, Jr.

Excellent late 1920's Ball-Hamilton with outstanding provenance.

January 16, 2009, 20:13

Tom Brown

Here is a photo I found of Inspector Cody, it is dated 08/15/1927. In the center of the photo is the Police Chief & Cody is the 2nd on the right from him.

Tom

January 18, 2009, 20:32

Samie L. Smith

Tom that,s a beauty ..

January 19, 2009, 16:48

Lindell V. Riddle

Tom,

Wonderful find in outstanding condition, a great watch that found a really good home!

The case is so crisp it is difficult to tighten the back, just as it would have been when new. I sent you a package with a couple things you might find useful. Let us know if we can help with pictures or anything else from the Cleveland area.

Congratulations,

Lindell

January 19, 2009, 17:20

Tom Brown

Hi Lindell

So great to have you back on the site, I pray that your health continues to improve.

I was hoping you would comment on this watch since it has the Cleveland connection. Thank you in advance for whatever you have sent me, I can't wait.

From my research it does not appear CW Cody had any children but apparently whoever had been the keeper of this watch felt it was worth saving. My understanding is it was bought at an estate auction in Lancaster, Pa.

Again, nice to hear from you!

Tom

March 25, 2009, 17:26

Tom Brown

I had a question about this case, one that sold in the used items section was a green gold case;
https://ihc185.infopop.cc/eve/f...346095371/m/68710704

My question is mine is very similar to that case in design but mine has the white gold 14K gold filled markings. Is the white gold a common case like the 10K yellow or is it harder to come by.

Not sure if my question makes any sense of not.

Tom

March 28, 2009, 21:52

Lindell V. Riddle

Your question makes perfect sense Tom,

As we see all around us, the vast majority of Railroad Watch Cases are yellow-gold-filled.

For a while in the late 1920s and very early 1930s there were also white and green-gold-filled cases available. In most instances the choice of white or green over yellow-gold-filled carried a $3.00 or higher premium. Consider that and it then goes without saying the added expense had a direct effect on choice of case color for many buyers.

White was second to yellow in popularity and therefore in production as well. The ratio is difficult to determine but we can say for certain there were then and there are now many, many more yellow than white cases of any given design. Least popular was green which meant fewer were sold and so it is an unusual event when we find green cases today.

Yellow cases in the 1920s through the 1930s and later will be marked 10K Gold-Filled whereas both white and green will carry 14K Gold-Filled markings as you mentioined. That makes the less common white and green cases easier to spot even in questionable images. After about 1933-34 we find that white and green cases were being phased out, never to return.

An internal Hamilton memorandum reported in 1933 that over the previous ten years they sold only 14 of the solid-gold Model 2 cases in yellow, a mere 6 in white and only 3 in green. That of course indicates how exceedingly uncommon solid-gold cased railroad watches were. And while those numbers are hardly scientific they establish that twice as many white as green and more than twice as many yellow as white gold cases were sold in the 1920s and early 1930s time-frame.

Considering that information might go a long way toward answering the question you posed.

Be well my friend,

Lindell