Reply With QuoteCool story. It's a small world!
Being a Yank I have fond memories of a 70s era daytime game show where the host had to pick out of 3 contestants who was the real celebrity. Or as I like to say, "Who is the real deal." Okay fast forward to this past Sunday. No offense to sales corner but my Ball Mad Cow was going no where after 2 days of posting. Trade offers for watche's that owners couldn't sell or lonely heart tire kickers. So first thing in the morning off I went to Watchuseek. At first things seemed hopeful. Plenty of hits. Plenty of questions. Plenty of promises. Then nothing. Except for a cryptic note about someone complaining about my thread not making sense and being frustrated about not being able buy the watch. 2 more notes followed and on the last one I noticed the user name was Mad Cow and he signed his name John R Hembel. I said to myself why would Mad Cow be buying a Mad Cow? I thought this was a prank being pulled off by a teenage hacker in the basement of some 3rd world country. Frightful these messages were carrying some horrible virus I even put Mad Cow on my ignore list. But he was persistent. He emailed me under two different addresses, then he contacted the WUS moderator. At that point I sent him an email and said prove it to me that your figure is immortalized on the back of the Ball Hydrocarbon Mad Cow.
This is what he wrote back:
Yes Wallace, I am. I was World Cup Speed Skiing champion in 2003, I set the record listed on the watch (246.24 km/h or 153.1 mph) in 2002, and tied it to the thousandth in 2006 in Les Arcs, France. I began as one of Ball Watch's "Explorer's Club" members and spokesman in 2005, and although I am retired from competition, Ball Watch still lists me as one of their spokesmen.
Although I wish you had some of the extras with the watch, I don't think my friend Chad will have an issue not having them, and I have extra links if he needs them. I do believe that the price is fair, and I'm willing to add a little to have you send me a PayPal "request for funds", to legitimize the transaction.
John R Hembel
Clear-Vu Window Tinting
www.aspentint.com
Needless to saw I was shocked. It was like holding a box of wheaties and talking to Bruce Jenner. The old Bruce. From that point on we had great conversations and the transaction went really smooth. After putting the watch in the post and forwarding the tracking info to Hembel I told him I would be talking about our encounter on TZ-UK watch talk discussion forum and this was his reply:
Wallace,
Thank you for the information, it's nice to hear how people react to the watch. I had a similar experience when Ball approached me for sponsorship. I had never heard of the company the day I received their call, and explained to them that "I will not represent a company whose products I don't believe in". Their reply was: "We are sending you a watch, please wear it 24/7 for two weeks". The next morning I received an Engineer Hydrocarbon GMT, and as instructed, wore it starting that day. Needless to say, I was thoroughly impressed!
Shortly thereafter, Ball began the process of designing a Watch around some of my concerns. Initially it was to be a "Limited Edition", with a production of 300 units, but when we released it at the Basel Watch Fair, it was an instant hit, and the decision was made to create a full 5 year production. Ultimately, the production ended up somewhere around 12x the initial 300 unit proposal.
I really enjoyed your description of the watch, the "rare combination of elegance and tool..." fits this watch to a "T"
John R Hembel
Clear-Vu Window Tinting
www.aspentint.com
It's on occasions like this that I appreciate this forum. I know this crazy chain of events will bring smiles to others, especially fans of Ball watches. I didn't even attempt to tell the story to the wife. I already know her reaction, "Sounds interesting honey."
Wallace aka Aztime
Last edited by AZTIME; 14th June 2017 at 11:42.
Cool story. It's a small world!
Nice !... thanks for sharing it
Great share. Whats the Mad Cow reference all about though?
I believe Mad Cow was and is his nickname. Can't comment on the cow part, but the mad part seems appropriate for someone who enjoys going that fast on a pair of sticks.
That's such a great story and how cool is that. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers
Joe
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Wow, what a great story. Thanks for sharing.
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Very cool story indeed!!!
mike
Great story!!
Thanks.
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Great story, thanks for posting.
On another tack, the poster of this thread: http://mb.nawcc.org/showthread.php?1...tch-collectors
Jeff Hess is not only the CEO of Ball Watches USA, but co-wrote with James Dowling "The Best of Time: Rolex Wristwatches, An Unauthorized History".
The above thread talks of a recent promo with Seiko and the rock band KISS.
Awesome story. Great to hear the 'behind the scenes' story behind the Ball sponsorship.
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