As a hobbyist and beginner jewelry maker, I can_ speak to all the differences with the original, but for what I will use it for (working on bezel setting), this is a really good ball vise. The mechanism for the one I received rotates really smoothly, silently; loosen it, give it a spin, and will go and go. Tighten it up, and it stays put. The one flaw is with the attachment set - not as well-made as the ball vise itself. In the set I received, the delrin pads weren_ attached to the conical jaws; I_ going to have to identify a glue that will attach delrin to metal, and fix that. The other pins and doo-dads look fairly coarsely machined. Not an engraver, so might not matter so much to me, but if you are, and need that, it might be a deal-breaker.