Counterfit Aramyth Tournament Balls

CrossSideLarry

Cross Side Larry
Silver Member
I recently posted a thread about the weight discrepancy that I found existed in a new set of Aramyth T-B's... The cue ball weighed 5 & 7/8 ounce. Six of the set (four stripes & one solid) also weighed 5 & 7/8 ounce. One ball in the set, a stripe, weighed 5 & 3/4 ounce. All remaining balls weighed six ounces.

I believed this to be an unacceptable lack of quality control and contacted the U. S. supplier who I bought them from. They said I was the first ever customer who made such a claim, to which my response was, "That may be true, but it doesn't change anything... the balls should all weigh six ounces exactly." The supplier, stated they had twenty five sets of these balls in their inventory. I suggested they weigh a few sets for consistency and also to provide me with a contact from their factory source. They did neither. Instead, they emailed me a statement saying, that any weight disparity not exceeding 1/8 ounce was acceptable to Aramyth.

I received several responses to my post, with most saying a 1/8 ounce disparity would not be a factor in any shot. One poster responded that I had no business attacking the manufacturer of such a high quality pool ball.

Well, I respect opinions from all, whether they agree with mine or not, but I decided to buy a second set from a different supplier, which I did. I was eager to weigh them and did so immediately... All sixteen balls weighed out to be an exact six ounces on my digital scale, the same scale I weighed the original set. I also noticed the new set to be very high lustre. I also noticed there was text and pictures beneath the box container and multiple inserts inside the box itself.

When I compared the two boxes I found them to be different on the bottom. The bottom of the box containing my first set was plain.

Morale of the story, "Caveat Emptor" There are counterfit Aramyth balls out there. When purchasing same, ask your chosen supplier if they will guarantee all balls to be six ounces. If not, look elsewhere!
 
Yes..there are fake sets of balls on the market,I never buy on line,I may pay more for I buy..but I like my dealings in person most of the time.
 
Now you have raised my curiosity. My Tournaments have a couple of years of play on them so I am not sure how telling my results will be but I will weight them on a medical quality scale tonight and post the results here tomorrow.
 
Can you take pictures and post them, so others won't fall for the same mistake?
The fake Aramith's I've seen (note: the spelling has no "y") are duller as the OP pointed out and the reds are off-color. Aramith is now packaging their boxes in shrink-wrap with their brand stamped all over the plastic. If your box arrives without that shrink wrap, inspect the contents carefully.

The local room owner got a new set of balls, and they came in an Aramith box. It seems that the supplier somehow got an empty box and put in the fake balls.
 
Does Aramith have a list of authorized distributors on their web site?

If so, it might be useful to cut-n-paste it here so we can be selective of who we buy from (new).

The real danger is buying second-hand as the box would be open (if not missing) and the high gloss possibly dulled a bit from play.

It brings up this question: what about Brunswick Centennials? Also made by Aramith, and equally venerable to copy cats...
 
... the balls should all weigh six ounces exactly. ...

It does indeed sound like you got a counterfeit set of Aramith Tournament balls. But, just for your future use, you should be aware that your statement that balls should all weigh 6 oz. is not correct.

The WPA equipment spec for balls is that they should weigh between 5 1/2 and 6 oz. (156 - 170 grams).

The key thing for a given set is the consistency of weight within the set, but it is unlikely that they would all weigh exactly the same. For example, when I purchased my set of Aramith Tournament balls, some weighed (on my scale) 167 grams, some weighed 168 grams, and some weighed 169 grams. In other words, all balls in the set weighed 168 grams plus or minus one gram. That's quite good consistency. Incidentally, 168 grams is a little under 6 oz. -- about 5.93 oz.

Other sets of balls I own made by Aramith (Centennials and Super Pros) are of roughly the same weight as the Tournaments and with the same degree of consistency across the sets. A set of Raschig balls I used to own was a little lighter -- 163 grams plus or minus 1 gram (about 5 3/4 oz.).
 
My Centennials made by Aramith all come in between 168 and 169grams...

After the customer service you received and the flat out lie of what variance is tolerated I would out the supplier and I would demand a refund for your purchase....
 
It does indeed sound like you got a counterfeit set of Aramith Tournament balls. But, just for your future use, you should be aware that your statement that balls should all weigh 6 oz. is not correct.

The WPA equipment spec for balls is that they should weigh between 5 1/2 and 6 oz. (156 - 170 grams).

The key thing for a given set is the consistency of weight within the set, but it is unlikely that they would all weigh exactly the same. For example, when I purchased my set of Aramith Tournament balls, some weighed (on my scale) 167 grams, some weighed 168 grams, and some weighed 169 grams. In other words, all balls in the set weighed 168 grams plus or minus one gram. That's quite good consistency. Incidentally, 168 grams is a little under 6 oz. -- about 5.93 oz.

Other sets of balls I own made by Aramith (Centennials and Super Pros) are of roughly the same weight as the Tournaments and with the same degree of consistency across the sets. A set of Raschig balls I used to own was a little lighter -- 163 grams plus or minus 1 gram (about 5 3/4 oz.).

This is exactly correct. The set will be within spec of standard and the sets are said (by Aramith) to be matched. That would mean though weight and color may vary from lot to lot or set to set, the balls within a set will be within spec and be matched by weight, size and color.

Also,weight matching isn't the only pertinent thing here. The balls in a counterfeit set may all weigh about the same (either by accident or design) but still not be of the same quality materials. I doubt a counterfeit set, even if all the balls weighed the same, would be made from the best/latest gen resin and offer the same durability, size, roundness and protection to the cloth that the genuine Aramith balls do. These are things you might not be able to measure or see with the naked eye.
 
did your balls come with the aramith logo shrinkwrap on it? if not, they could be fake, or put together from different sets which will cause the mismatched weights.

i have an authentic set of the tournaments and they are really nice. better than the super pros, the material stays cleaner and polished much longer. i'm sure the fakes must use a cheap material and after playing with it for a short time it'll be obvious that it is not true aramith phenolic
 
Grady had a great line about this sort of stuff. He said he knew a guy who weighed cue balls all the time, and he called him a "cueball pervert."

I don't know, maybe it is only funny to me.

I'm a pervert too, here were my new centennial weights in grams...


Blue Circle 169.5825
1-Ball 168.5463
2-Ball 168.4587
3-Ball 168.9926
4-Ball 168.047
5-Ball 168.6706
6-Ball 168.4041
7-Ball 167.5263
8-Ball 169.1521
9-Ball 168.3068
10-Ball 169.7267
11-Ball 168.908
12-Ball 168.1585
13-Ball 168.7598
14-Ball 168.7783
15-Ball 167.5693
 
175 gram range to 4 decimal places?

That's a hell-of-a nice balance you have there...:thumbup:
 
... here were my new centennial weights in grams...

That looks pretty typical -- about a 2 gram range from lightest to heaviest. And if you rounded them all to the nearest gram, you'd have 7 balls at 168 grams, 7 at 169, and 2 at 170.
 
My Centennials Weight

These balls have been played for a couple of years. Ball Grams
1 167.2622
2 167.4039
3 168.1127
4 166.8369
5 167.8292
6 167.4039
7 166.6952
8 167.5457
9 166.9787
10 167.5457
11 167.2622
12 167.9709
13 167.2622
14 166.5534
15 167.9709
Blue Circle 166.8369

Ave 167.3419
 
175 gram range to 4 decimal places?

That's a hell-of-a nice balance you have there...:thumbup:

Well, yeah, it was top of the line. You had to shut windows on the sides so wind wouldn't throw off the weight (seriously). I was working in a lab at the time. Shhhh, my balls weren't supposed to go in there :)

And by the way, I NEVER weighed anything else in there. Really, I didn't.
 
Last edited:
Centennials Sorted by Weight

Centennials Sorted in
Ascending Order
Ball Grams
14 166.5534
7 166.6952
4 166.8369
Blue Circle 166.8369
9 166.9787
1 167.2622
11 167.2622
13 167.2622
2 167.4039
6 167.4039
8 167.5457
10 167.5457
5 167.8292
12 167.9709
15 167.9709
3 168.1127

Ave 167.3419
 
These balls have been played for a couple of years. Ball Grams
1 167.2622
2 167.4039
3 168.1127
4 166.8369
5 167.8292
6 167.4039
7 166.6952
8 167.5457
9 166.9787
10 167.5457
11 167.2622
12 167.9709
13 167.2622
14 166.5534
15 167.9709
Blue Circle 166.8369

Ave 167.3419

A light blue circle. I wonder what it started out at. They do go down quick im sure.

Does anyone know for certain, I have always thought brunswick makes the blue circle centennial a tad heavier on purpose.
 
Back
Top