Belgium or China?
Let us start with a few postulates that have been proven by time and experience:
1. All billiard balls are divided into only two categories – Aramith and NOT-Aramith.
2. If all Aramith balls are produced only in Belgium, then all NOT-Aramith balls are produced only in the factories of mainland China. If someone tells you that a box of Brunswick balls is made in the States and a box of Dynamic balls is made in Germany, you can burst out laughing. Therefore – either Belgium or China.
3. All NOT-Aramith balls are made of materials other than the phenolic resins patented by the brand owner SALUC S.A. for use in billiard balls. It is mainly polyester, also a polymer, but much less durable.
4. For the sake of simplicity, if Aramith balls are an unquestionable ten on a 10-point scale of ideal balls (the real industry standard), then even the highest quality Chinese set with a famous brand on the box will not reach the middle of the scale in terms of playing characteristics.
If we consider the tactical and technical characteristics of 68 mm balls for Russian pyramid, Aramith (phenolic resin) and non-Aramith (polyester) balls differ in two main aspects: resistance and playing characteristics.
WEAR RESISTANCE
Aramith balls are almost impossible to scratch during play and they do not suffer from annoying chips that eventually lead to deterioration and replacement of expensive rubbers.
The number engraved in the ball will not come off, as is often the case with Chinese balls.
It is impossible to crack or break a ball made of phenol-aldehyde resin using household methods (and even more impossible to do so during a game). In our practice there are cases where polyester balls break in the first game or when the ball falls from the table onto the stoneware floor.
Resistance to scorching.
In a fraction of a second, the cue ball accelerates from zero to 10-12 metres per second on the stroke. During a strong roll, pullback or “screw”, the ball rapidly rotates on the fabric, at which point the temperature of the glass surface of the ball can easily reach 250°C. Polyester changes its structure under such localised but constant overheating, causing deformation and cracking of the surface. Phenolic-aldehyde polymers have a much greater resistance to heat, giving the ball surface the structural strength, it needs for decades of use.
PLAYING CHARACTERISTICS
The perfect sphericity of the surface and the homogeneous thickness of the phenolic-aldehyde resin give Aramith balls an unprecedented centre of gravity that coincides exactly with their geometric centre, ensuring perfect ball roll.
At the same time, the shifting of the ball’s centre of gravity is a well-known problem in Chinese analogues. Any hit on such a ball, other than a hit on its centre (and especially on “spins”), will cause it to rotate so strongly that the result of the ball’s movement becomes completely unpredictable for the player. The game becomes uncomfortable and unsatisfying.
The quality of the game is also influenced by such parameters as the conformity of the mass of the ball to the standard and its elasticity set during production.
Since Aramith balls are recognised by the Russian Billiards Federation as the official balls for pyramid competitions, we will consider them as the standard.
What is the weight of the standard?
We weighed the Aramith PREMIER 68 mm and Aramith RUS PRO 68 mm balls and the weight of these models was the same – 283 grams. After taking a complete set of each model, we also found that the difference in weight of PREMIER balls within a set varies between 2-4 grams, and for RUS PRO the difference in weight was no more than 1 gram.
In order to complete the picture, we made a control weighing of Chinese 68 mm polyester balls of the best possible quality – quality A. Our surprise was not limited, because the weight of the balls in a box ” varied ” between 315 and 340 grams, with an average value of 330 grams!
The perfect balance of the ball, its homogeneity allows the player to control the speed, direction, rotation and power of the shot. But the most important feature of a billiard ball is its bounce, because only a predictable bounce allows you to calculate the tactics of the game.
The phenol-aldehyde polymer in Aramith balls, which is unique in terms of its homogeneity parameters, allows even inexperienced players to predict quite accurately the arrangement of the balls on the table after the shot. As far as polyester balls are concerned, the heterogeneity of their composition, ” defects ” in the production process or the unpredictable elasticity of this particular series of materials often leaves even the most experienced players without a chance: the effectiveness of the kick shots or stop shots that have been used for many years tends to zero…
Playing billiards is a pleasure for the player, and ignorance of the subject or unjustified saving on such an essential element of billiards as balls or cues can easily turn pleasure into obvious discomfort, lack of any effectiveness and bitter annoyance.
I hope that we have been able to prove convincingly that, despite the more than threefold difference in price compared to “comrades” from China, Reference Aramith is definitely the only right choice as a product for long-term use.
The last thing to be said about the balls is that there have been fakes of Aramit Pyramid balls for many years. The product looks similar to the original, but in fact it is a polyester ball with all its imperfections.