After a successful Wine, Cheese, Gems, and Jewelry at Trilogy’s Club Los Medanos, August 11th, K & Co Family Jewelers is set with three more upcoming events.
This is part of an ongoing customer appreciation Sale-A-Bration series where in October, they will also celebrate 28 years they have been in business in the San Francisco Bay Area along with their recent move to Brentwood last year.
Aug 28: Vintage Promenade
This event is intended to showcase our collection of vintage timepieces and Victorian and art deco vintage reproduction jewelry. The event is a two day event starting on Friday, August 28th and ending on Saturday, August 29th.
A special part of this event includes a display of Webb Ball’s owns collection of watches. This collection is an exclusive museum collection that will be on loan for this event. K & Co. also features today’s Ball Watches and this collection will be on display as well.
Little excerpt on Webb Ball;
After a two-year apprenticeship to a jeweler, Ball settled in Cleveland, Ohio to join a jewelry store.
In 1891 there was a collision between Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway trains at Kipton, Ohio, which occurred because an engineer‘s watch had stopped. The railroad officials commissioned Webb C. Ball as their Chief Time Inspector, in order to establish precision standards and a reliable timepiece inspection system for railroad chronometers.
He established strict guidelines for the manufacturing of sturdy, reliable precision timepieces, including resistance to magnetism, reliability of time keeping in 5 positions, isochronism, power reserve and dial arrangement, accompanied with record keeping of the reliability of the watch on each regular inspection.
His original jewelry business in Cleveland grew into the Ball Watch Company (currently headquartered in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland), which used other watch companies’ movements, perfecting them and then reselling them. Ball Watch Company also ordered watches complete from other watch companies. Ball used movements from the top American manufacturers, Elgin, Hamilton, and Waltham, and switched to Swiss Avia movements as early as the 1940s in their wristwatches. The Waltham Watch Company complied immediately with the requirements of Ball’s guidelines, later followed by Elgin National Watch Company and most of the other American manufacturers: Aurora, Hamilton, Hampden, E. Howard & Co., Illinois, Seth Thomas, later on joined by some Swiss watch manufacturers: Audemars Piguet, Gallet, Longines, Record Watch, Vacheron Constantin.
Webb C. Ball became the vice president of the Hamilton Watch Company and focused his efforts on developing watches for the railroads. Minutes of Proceedings of Third Triennial Convention of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers held in the B of LE Auditorium Cleveland, Ohio on May 31, 1921 at 2 PM the convention was called to order by Grand Chief Engineer W.S. Stone, at this afternoon session Webb C Ball was introduced, he made a speech, and a resolution was passed unanimously, and he was made an Honorary Member of the Brotherhood.
They were the first wrist watch allowed to be used on the Railroads, (using a Swiss manual-winding movement) followed quickly by the first American made wrist watch on “the roads”, Elgin.
The firm was family owned by direct descendants until the 1990s when the right to use the name was sold. The new firm continues the tradition, using Swiss-made (primarily ETA) movements and making watches for sportsmen and even for some small railroads.
At the end of his career, Webb C. Ball was overseeing over 125,000 miles of rail tracks in the U.S.A., Mexico & Canada, having greatly contributed to the safety of all railroad systems. The Horological Institute of America celebrated his efforts on October 20, 1921.
Sept. 17: Champagne and Diamonds
This event is special 2-hour event occurring on the evening of September 17th from 7:00pm – 9:00pm. The event is intended to showcase K & Co. vast selection of diamond jewelry. We will also have representatives from Gabriel of NY in store with a trunk collection from Gabriel fall line.
This will bring in 10X the normal selection of diamond fashion and engagement ring styles. This event is intended to be great girlfriends out type of event. The event will occur in store.
Please RSVP to ensure there is still room.
Oct. 22: Whiskey and Watches
Th
is event is an exclusive 2-hour in store event showcasing K & Co’s vast collection of fine timepieces as well as provide a time to sip some whiskey and learn more about the watch industry. Many people only have a surface understanding of fine watches and watchmaking based on the mass media.
K & Co. intends to teach their consumers about the differences from manufacturers as well as understanding key features that are exclusive to certain brands.
The evening is sure to be great event to bring the guys out for.
K & Co Family Jewelers
741 2nd Street, Brentwood, Phone: 925-626-5090
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.kandcofamilyjewelers.com
Facebook: K & Co Family Jewelers
