Rubber Balls

[Ruffass]

Hiya everyone,

I was wondering about buying one of those rubber balls to remove screwed on case backs. Are they any good? They seem like a good idea to me but I'm a novice. They range in price on amazon for £3-£20ish. I wondered are the more expensive ones worth the extra money?

Many thanks in advance.

Ruffass

[tomh207]

I have a cheap one that was around £3 iirc and it works fine. I have seen around folk using balls much cheaper than that and not a watchmaker tool. At the end of the day it’s just a rubber ball to give you some friction onto the caseback and easy to grip in your hand.

 

Tom

[Waggy]

The balls are great, they work most of the time (80%??) and are guaranteed not to scratch or slip. I think the balls are all pretty much the same.

[AndyGSi]

I had one but found it useless when trying to release the back and only any good once I'd used a proper tool first.

[Knebo]

5 hours ago, Waggy said:

The balls are great, they work most of the time (80%??) and are guaranteed not to scratch or slip. I think the balls are all pretty much the same.

I have the same verdict. 80% of the time it works and there's probably no significant difference between them. 

I think it's an essential tool to have. Go for it.

[Geotex]

They work in many cases for removal and then are also an easy way to get a pretty firm tightening when replacing a back. They do pick up dust and finger oil which reduces the “sticktion” so clean them with dishwashing soap as needed, keep them in a plastic bag for storage and handle them in a way to keep them clean.

[VWatchie]

I agree with most of what has already been said. If you don't already have it, I recommend buying a cheap ball pump as the ball tends to deflate after a longer period.

As for the brand, it probably doesn't matter much, but why not a ball from Bergeon? You can enjoy the feeling of operating with a genuine watch tool 

As far as efficiency goes, I would say that most case backs can be unscrewed with this type of ball. As someone else mentioned, you may need to start with a more powerful tool. Preferably a clone of the Bergeons. Google "Vevor watch case back remover tool".

I actually get a bit upset if I don't manage to open a case back with my rubber ball. Upset because there's no reason whatsoever to tighten a case back so much that it can't be opened with a rubber ball. I never use anything other than a rubber ball to tighten a case back, but of course, I then tighten it as hard as I can.

I reviewed the Bergeon 8008 ball on YouTube a few years ago.

 

[mbwatch]

Regarding the less expensive (non-Bergeon) balls... 

I have an unbranded ball I probably bought from Esslinger when starting out. I believe it is 10-15mm smaller in diameter than the Bergeon 8008 and I do think that makes a difference. There are some casebacks I cannot get good purchase against even though they are not tightly screwed down. So if others are saying 80% success, I would put my cheaper one at only about 65%. Get the 8008 (or figure out its size and buy a generic one that size).

I have not spent the $10 to upgrade my inferior ball because I don't actually work on many screwback cases. It's mainly snap cases or the 2 piece screw down ring on older Russian watches.

[Ruffass]

10 hours ago, tomh207 said:

I have a cheap one that was around £3 iirc and it works fine. I have seen around folk using balls much cheaper than that and not a watchmaker tool. At the end of the day it’s just a rubber ball to give you some friction onto the caseback and easy to grip in your hand.

 

Tom

Cheers Tom

10 hours ago, Waggy said:

The balls are great, they work most of the time (80%??) and are guaranteed not to scratch or slip. I think the balls are all pretty much the same.

Thanks Waggy

10 hours ago, AndyGSi said:

I had one but found it useless when trying to release the back and only any good once I'd used a proper tool first.

Cheers for the advice Andy

4 hours ago, Knebo said:

I have the same verdict. 80% of the time it works and there's probably no significant difference between them. 

I think it's an essential tool to have. Go for it.

Thanks Knebo

3 hours ago, Geotex said:

They work in many cases for removal and then are also an easy way to get a pretty firm tightening when replacing a back. They do pick up dust and finger oil which reduces the “sticktion” so clean them with dishwashing soap as needed, keep them in a plastic bag for storage and handle them in a way to keep them clean.

Sounds good advice Geotex, Thanks.

2 hours ago, VWatchie said:

I agree with most of what has already been said. If you don't already have it, I recommend buying a cheap ball pump as the ball tends to deflate after a longer period.

As for the brand, it probably doesn't matter much, but why not a ball from Bergeon? You can enjoy the feeling of operating with a genuine watch tool 

As far as efficiency goes, I would say that most case backs can be unscrewed with this type of ball. As someone else mentioned, you may need to start with a more powerful tool. Preferably a clone of the Bergeons. Google "Vevor watch case back remover tool".

I actually get a bit upset if I don't manage to open a case back with my rubber ball. Upset because there's no reason whatsoever to tighten a case back so much that it can't be opened with a rubber ball. I never use anything other than a rubber ball to tighten a case back, but of course, I then tighten it as hard as I can.

I reviewed the Bergeon 8008 ball on YouTube a few years ago.

 

Thanks for the advice Vwatchie. I'll have a look at Vid in a bit.

34 minutes ago, mbwatch said:

Regarding the less expensive (non-Bergeon) balls... 

I have an unbranded ball I probably bought from Esslinger when starting out. I believe it is 10-15mm smaller in diameter than the Bergeon 8008 and I do think that makes a difference. There are some casebacks I cannot get good purchase against even though they are not tightly screwed down. So if others are saying 80% success, I would put my cheaper one at only about 65%. Get the 8008 (or figure out its size and buy a generic one that size).

I have not spent the $10 to upgrade my inferior ball because I don't actually work on many screwback cases. It's mainly snap cases or the 2 piece screw down ring on older Russian watches.

Thanks Mbwatch, much appreciated.

[RichardHarris123]

I have the bergeon, it was only a few quid more than the cheap ones   Agree with the rest quite useful but sometimes not enough. 

[Ruffass]

Cheers Richard,

I've seen cheap Burgeon Chinese copies on Ali express that to me look Identical. Only fair to assume these have made their way onto Ebay/Amazon UK.

Cause of this and the fact that Black doesn't show the dirt as good I've just gone for a Cheap Blue one.

As a matter of fact I got that and a £30 pile of other cheap chinese tools/accessories off of Temu Click and Collect. Can't go wrong!

[Malocchio]

I have two - the black Bergeon and some cheaper green one. Bergeon is firmer and grips better. Bergeon didn't cost much either, I think everyone should have one.

[Jessye]

I got a cheap non-name one of Amazon about a year ago and I use it all the time.  Unless a previous tinkerer did the unthinkable and overtightened the back it always works.  

One tip I received was to slightly deflate the ball so it's not firm but slighly soft.   I was told it allows the ball more surface area contact on the case back, I thought the guy who told me was nutz but i tried it and my ball actually works better.    Does anybody else have any experience with this or am I now nutz too?   

[RichardHarris123]

Friction only depends on surface area (for a given roughness of surfaces), so you might be nuts, but not in this case.

[Neverenoughwatches]

32 minutes ago, Jessye said:

I got a cheap non-name one of Amazon about a year ago and I use it all the time.  Unless a previous tinkerer did the unthinkable and overtightened the back it always works.  

One tip I received was to slightly deflate the ball so it's not firm but slighly soft.   I was told it allows the ball more surface area contact on the case back, I thought the guy who told me was nutz but i tried it and my ball actually works better.    Does anybody else have any experience with this or am I now nutz too?   

Nope not nuts, sounds perfectly feasible.  Like letting some air out of car tyres in winter so they grip the roads better.

Maybe not just the amount of surface contact area, which can be increased to cover all of the caseback by pressing harder without deflating . But also a softening of the ball's material due to less air pressure inside it.