# Ball service costs?



## GarrettGHu

Greetings,

I was wondering if anyone here can offer any insight on how much Ball charges for repair or service?

I have a EMII Diver World Time and it has accompanied through all sorts of harsh environments and activities so naturally it was my choice when I went to Florida for a weekend of air boat rides, Gatorland zip line and Disney roller coaster rides. I just go back and today I noticed my watch had stopped, I tried to wind it a bit more with no luck and when I adjusted the time I noticed the hour hand was loose and the world time inner ring wasn't turning, then came the date when I couldn't change the day or date.....then turning the crown I noticed grinding noise so I stopped immediately.

I am not sure what had happened, there were not signs of any dents or impacts....:-s

It just felt like it was "all messed up" nothing works and the movement blew up inside the watch.

shaking the watch, I can hear he rotor grinding in the inside of the case.

Anyways it's on the way to Ball now but I was hoping to get an idea on how much Ball would charge.

Thanks in advance.


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## lvt

That's a complicated watch, I guess that it's won't be cheap.


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## EBD

Well I would love to know a ballpark figure as I have an engineer hydrocarbon and I always feel that I paid for it. So I wear it. For anything except farm work. No need to subject it to that. Though, traveling, hiking, beach, just life. Even camping. Though I do take it off before I get the maul out to split wood, etc. 

I am curious what a full overhaul would run...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## timefleas

The cost of a recent overhaul on one of my Ball watches was $300--pretty much a common ballpark amount for the typical CLA for most automatics where no special complications and no extra parts are involved--be prepared to move north of that if there are any "issues".


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## gaopa

I would suggest you contact Rob at Topper Jewelry (contact info on the masthead) for counsel. Rob is a good guy and will be a good resource for service and suggested price.


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## nimbushopper

If it's already on its way to Ball then you will get an estimate from them. No one on this forum can say what the cost might be without examining the watch as you pointed out some serious sounding issues with it. A full service on a normally running watch runs around 300-500 depending on complications, water resistance testing, etc.


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## TigerDore

Spending $300 to $500 to service a fine watch every 3 to 5 years seems reasonable to me. That works out to about $100 per year or around 27 cents a day. If budgeted for properly, and anticipated ahead of time, it shouldn't be a problem.



timefleas said:


> The cost of a recent overhaul on one of my Ball watches was $300--pretty much a common ballpark amount for the typical CLA for most automatics where no special complications and no extra parts are involved--be prepared to move north of that if there are any "issues".


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## k9shag

I recently purchased a Fireman II from the original owner, two days after its arrival the crown came off in my hand. I sent it back to Ball three weeks ago and it has yet to be looked at. I called Ball and was told that all warranty repairs came first and those out of warranty waited until someone was available to look at it. Needless to say I probably won't have this watch long.


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## timefleas

k9shag said:


> I recently purchased a Fireman II from the original owner, two days after its arrival the crown came off in my hand. I sent it back to Ball three weeks ago and it has yet to be looked at. I called Ball and was told that all warranty repairs came first and those out of warranty waited until someone was available to look at it. Needless to say I probably won't have this watch long.


ANY brand name watch maker would of course place priority on warranty work for primary purchasers before repairing an off warranty watch from a secondary purchaser. I would guess that the crown issue was a pre-existing condition that the original owner both knew about and should be held accountable for--crowns just don't come off in your hand--unless they are pulled out with excessive force...this really has very little to do with Ball.


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## timefleas

Once again WUS double posted (which I have subsequently erased)--fix the system, guys!!


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## mitch57

timefleas said:


> Once again WUS double posted (which I have subsequently erased)--fix the system, guys!!


I've yet to see a problem with double posting. Perhaps you need to try another browser or at least clear your cookies and cache.


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## timefleas

mitch57 said:


> I've yet to see a problem with double posting. Perhaps you need to try another browser or at least clear your cookies and cache.


Perhaps after you have posted a few 1000 more posts, you will experience it--it has to do with nothing you have suggested--my note was to the admin, not to serve as a distraction to the thread.


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## Penfold36

timefleas said:


> ANY brand name watch maker would of course place priority on warranty work for primary purchasers before repairing an off warranty watch from a secondary purchaser. I would guess that the crown issue was a pre-existing condition that the original owner both knew about and should be held accountable for--crowns just don't come off in your hand--unless they are pulled out with excessive force...this really has very little to do with Ball.


Not saying I disagree with your premise, but how would Ball necessarily know that someone is a secondary purchaser? Couldn't it be an original purchaser whose warranty has run out (I know that's not the case here, but in general)?


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## Ard

For simple servicing (cleaning - lube - graphing) you can do better than 300 if your watch is just a watch. I mean a 3 hand auto. Interestingly enough my Fireman Racer was running almost perfect for weeks on end until I left it on a winder for a day. It is almost 3 seconds fast / 24 now?? Weird.


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## samanator

Ard said:


> For simple servicing (cleaning - lube - graphing) you can do better than 300 if your watch is just a watch. I mean a 3 hand auto. Interestingly enough my Fireman Racer was running almost perfect for weeks on end until I left it on a winder for a day. It is almost 3 seconds fast / 24 now?? Weird.


Not really surprising. Have you seen a COSC chart for various positions? In most watches each has a variable. My guess is on the previous position it is spot on, and the position on the winder is about +3. There may be others that are worse. +3 is still good for a COSC watch and even better considering your watch is not COSC.


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## timefleas

Penfold36 said:


> Not saying I disagree with your premise, but how would Ball necessarily know that someone is a secondary purchaser? Couldn't it be an original purchaser whose warranty has run out (I know that's not the case here, but in general)?


The primary purchaser actually contacts Ball and registers--by doing so, he, or she, then usually receives a third year of warranty coverage. The primary purchaser, therefore, is the ONLY owner of record, a secondary purchaser cannot then reregister the watch--this issue has been discussed at great length on this forum over the years...


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## timefleas

ditto


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## Penfold36

timefleas said:


> The primary purchaser actually contacts Ball and registers--by doing so, he, or she, then usually receives a third year of warranty coverage. The primary purchaser, therefore, is the ONLY owner of record, a secondary purchaser cannot then reregister the watch--this issue has been discussed at great length on this forum over the years...


Ah, ok. Registration wasn't referred to in the original post or your follow up so I didn't know that was a factor. We were talking about warranty vs. no (or out of) warranty.


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## gossler

timefleas said:


> ANY brand name watch maker would of course place priority on warranty work for primary purchasers before repairing an off warranty watch from a secondary purchaser. I would guess that the crown issue was a pre-existing condition that the original owner both knew about and should be held accountable for--crowns just don't come off in your hand--unless they are pulled out with excessive force...this really has very little to do with Ball.


I completely disagree!!! I bought my EM II Diver NEW, and after 2 years, I got on a plane and decided to change the time, as i had done many times before with no issues. When I unscrewed my crown, it just came off. No warning what so ever. 
Fortunately I had registered for the extended warranty and the problem was fixed.


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## timefleas

gossler said:


> I completely disagree!!! I bought my EM II Diver NEW, and after a 2 years, I got on a plane and decided to change the time, as i had done many times before with no issues. When I unscrewed my crown, it just came off. No warning what so ever.
> Fortunately I had registered for the extended warranty and the problem was fixed.


The fact that it occurred once for you does not prove the rule, but offers an exception. Of course we all know that crowns do get separated from the movement--but in general, they do so as a result of some sort of misuse, and in MOST CASES (general rule, not the exception) the crown issue will be LOOSE before it comes off, and likely will be a known, existing problem, while of course there may be rare exceptions. If it proved the rule, there would be dozens of similar reports of crowns coming off EMII Divers in this forum--but there are aren't.


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## gossler

Ok, I agree with you that there could be a general tell if its about to come off. I did feel it got a little tight when I was unscrewing it, and then it was off. But there was not much I could do. I sent my watch to Ball Switzerland, and they confirmed it is a known problem for the EMII divers, and some other older models.

What I was trying to really say from my post, is it is very posible the previous owner had no idea the crown was about to go, and should not be held accountable. And for the new owner to no, these things do happen.


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## Tom1970

Can cost you even cheaper, but depend where you will go. If you go in some expensive botique or some place with big name to repair watches they will take your skin to repair it, but if you go to some small watchmaker maybe they can repair it for a low cost. Depending from the watchmakery they can interpretate it like totaly repair it and restore it or just repair it. This are 2 diferent things ) Repair it and restore it like new will cost you the double than just to change the broken peaces and put it in work condition.


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## Dave223

Hello I was quoted £800 for service and repair from cw sellors after the crown winder of my ball night train lost its hold for the thirteenth time and it also stopped winding. These watches are not worth buying because of the defects and any good jewler will tell you that. The one I have spent four years going up and down the country for crown replacements and then the warranty runs out and your faced with the cost of a new watch. Internal parts must be made by Rolsen.



GarrettGHu said:


> Greetings,
> 
> I was wondering if anyone here can offer any insight on how much Ball charges for repair or service?
> 
> I have a EMII Diver World Time and it has accompanied through all sorts of harsh environments and activities so naturally it was my choice when I went to Florida for a weekend of air boat rides, Gatorland zip line and Disney roller coaster rides. I just go back and today I noticed my watch had stopped, I tried to wind it a bit more with no luck and when I adjusted the time I noticed the hour hand was loose and the world time inner ring wasn't turning, then came the date when I couldn't change the day or date.....then turning the crown I noticed grinding noise so I stopped immediately.
> 
> I am not sure what had happened, there were not signs of any dents or impacts....:-s
> 
> It just felt like it was "all messed up" nothing works and the movement blew up inside the watch.
> 
> shaking the watch, I can hear he rotor grinding in the inside of the case.
> 
> Anyways it's on the way to Ball now but I was hoping to get an idea on how much Ball would charge.
> 
> Thanks in advance.


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## gossler

I have *4* BALL watches, The oldest has been with me for over 8 years now. It did fail once on me, the winding crown came off. It was fixed under warranty, and the problem never presented itself again. The other three BALLs I own, have not had any issues. In my opinion, they are very well made watches, and I will continue to buy BALL watches because my experience with them has been positive.


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