Tick Talk
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Smiths and Everest
Hi Graham! Nice to see mention of these wonderful watches. I first became aware of Smiths from my interest in mountaineering. Ed Hillary had a sponsorship arrangement with Smiths and wore their 15 jewel Deluxe manual-winding model A404 with sub-seconds and luminous Arabics throughout the expedition and to the summit of Everest (8840m). The watch is now on display at the Clockmaker's Museum in London. There continues to be some controversy about Rolex and Hillary, however, it is clear from photos that several expedition members, including Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay wore two watches, one on each wrist. Hillary himself only credits the Smiths Deluxe as going with him to the summit, while Tenzing apparently claimed that he personally used a Rolex received a few years earlier as a gift. Both Rolex and Smiths were listed by the British Himilayan Committee as equipment sponsors for the successful 1953 Everest expedition. Rolex did exclusively provided watches for the pre-Everest expedition in 1952 to Cho Oyu (8201m), and they cleverly worded advertisements afterwards to blur the distinction between these two expeditions.
BTW, although Hillary and his fellow climbers did not make the summit of Cho Oyu in 1952, they learned many important lessons about high altitude logistics that contributed greatly to their success on Everest. I hope to be standing on top of Cho Oyu this October, and will think fondly of both the climbers and watches that made the journey before me 
Cheers, Dean
Hillary's Everest Watch
something quintessentially English for this englishmans collection
the title of this post may leave a lot of you puzzled as nothing much seems to have come out of england since the days of the pocketwatch, but you would be wrong and so was i. the other day i was browsing the place i buy most of my watches, looking for an...
re: English watch...
Interesting watch Graham! Are you going to have it engraved on the caseback? -MW
thanks Dr M. interesting is...
thanks Dr M. interesting is exactly the right word. no i wont be getting it engraved. i'm not a lover of engravings. i dont foresee selling it, but my children may well do that so there's no point in reducing the price with an engraving. best Graham
Cheap gauges?
I'm proud (sort of) to have both Smiths and Jaeger instruments on my Morris Minor and Renault Caravelle (respectively). Did not realize Smiths owns Jaeger. This message has been edited by mrsnak on 2010-03-23 11:56:08 This message has been edited by mrsna...
we learn something new every...
we learn something new every day :) in UK Smiths went into Morris minors and Mini's and Jaeger went into the Rovers. best Graham
I will say that my Jaegers are fully functional...
...but the speedo on the Smiths is not working. Even downloaded a 10 page FAQ (with pix) showing how to rebuild one. Tried on a bad spare, but no go. None of the UK Morris shops even bothering stocking rebuilt ones because they are apparently unreliable. ...
I remeber
Smith for the two gauges on my 75 Norton 850 Commando. Nice classic collection of gauges there!
Smiths/Jaeger connection.
Hey Mr Snak, The Jaeger/Smiths thing has been discussed on lots of JLC threads. I did a trawl of those for an old post of mine: " Had a good discussion on this with an ex-colleague who is a British motor-industry buff. (Never ask him about Lucas...unless ...
Very insightful
I always though Jaeger was either French or Suisse (my 1967 tach say "electronique') Then went to a few Brit car shows and saw them on some old sedans.
Very interesting input, Ben.
Thanks for having taken the time to put it here. Best, Nicolas
Mr Hutton, i presume ?
Howdy Graham, you jolly good ol' fellow found an English watch from the year thy were born? As you described it looks as nice as the more well known brands indeed, isn't 32 mm a bit to small now we all got used to the bigger sizes nowadays? Cheers, Filip
well mr Bim, you...
well mr Bim, you could be right as i prefer bigger watches, but if one is going to embark on collecting watches from the 1960's then one must be prepared to buy, own and wear smaller watches, mustnt one? thats proper english that is :)))) best Graham
thanks Brandon, i think...
thanks Brandon, i think its good to see something different every now and then. best Graham
Your welcome...
One of my favorite things about horology is its ever expanding horizon and learning about new things, even if they are old...I especially like the Everest connection. Also the 'made in England' angle is very cool and unique, comparatively speaking B
I've seen these posted in other forums
And they've always perked my interest - especially the military models. Very hard to find in the U.S.
the military ones were only...
the military ones were only UK issue which probably accounts for their rareity in US. i had one when i collected military pieces and at the time they were costing more to buy than some of the Omega WW2 pieces, due mainly to them being pretty uncommon. it ...
Congratulations Graham …
Nicely presented story and watch. Not that I know much about English watchmaking, but the movement architecture is exactly what I was expecting to see,which is very nice. I like the red-tipped second hand and remember with fondness the Smiths gauges in my...
thanks Andrew. its sad...
thanks Andrew. its sad that we no longer have a watch industry when you think how important the english masters were in the 18th and 19th century. this watch could quite easily have been scrapped for the gold due to the current market prices so i'm glad i...
I knew you had a thing for feet, but ...
"... so i'm glad i saved it for posterior." Forgive me, Graham , but I couldn't resist having a 'crack' at this slip of the keyboard. But you are right, we guardians of horology have a responsibility to save some of these treasures for posterity. Unfortun...
dont worry Andrew, i'm not...
dont worry Andrew, i'm not slysdexic, i just thought i'd add some humour to the proceedings :) nice pic, thats my bird that is :) G
Good catch, Graham
That is a handsome watch and a lovely movement. Like it a lot. I've got a few Smiths things (Tachos out of Jags, a 7j dashboard clock and a tuning fork (Astron) wall clock....going to have to search out a wristwatch now....
thanks Ben, it makes...
thanks Ben, it makes a change from Omega and other mainstream brands. best Graham
Wow!
Graham, I was taking some photos of my watch to set as my avatar and was surprised to see that your new find looked similar to mine. I have some better photos but selected this one because it shows how it glistens in the light. Mine is a 60's Timex 17 jew...
Ah Helen, Timex. another brand...
Ah Helen, Timex. another brand we hear nothing about. i know so little about them in fact that i dont even know if they are an english or US brand. i cant comment on your watch as the pic isnt one of your best :) regards Graham
Timex seems to be quite alivet right now
but unlike the old days of the single jewel watch made in the U.S., it's now using Chinese movements, like the Seagull in this one from the TL series....
That's a nice looking Timex
But it is quartz? I thought all Timex were now quartz but yours doesn't designate that it is in fact quartz. Helen
No, automatic.
Timex does make quartz watches, but they have a full line of these. MIne uses a Seagull ST2504 movement
Here's a better photo
Graham, My watch isn't as nice as yours but it has a few features that wooed my heart. For one the second hand doesn't pause per second but rather sweeps smoothly. Though at first glance the face looks drab until it hits the light - the numbers, hands and...
Congratulations
Thanks for the report. It is really quite pretty. I didn't realize it was a '64 - should have known. We all have our themes. I do have a couple of 16mm straps that might be of service - if of course they are long enough. Wear it in good health, Ginger
thanks Ginger, i'm pleased...
thanks Ginger, i'm pleased to say that its kept perfect time overnight on the wrist which can only be good. thanks for the offer of the straps but it has fited into this 17mm very nicely. best Graham
Damn, if only I could find my . . .
. . . B O A C log book from 1964! VC10 flight, London to Beirut . . . the one English item from '64 in my possession. Intriguing shock absorber, btw . . . Kif-Flector, perhaps? . . .
Art, dont get technical on...
Art, dont get technical on me please. i know its shockproof as it says so on the dial, but apart from that you have me baffled :) best Graham
Wow, Graham, you did it again!
Undisputabely, you're the King of '64 watches, my friend. Very nice catch! I didn't know that Smith made such watches, because, like you, I thought they only made miltary watches. But everyday, we learn something! I love the way the Caliber is designed, m...
Nice find Graham................
After a bit of work from you. It's looking very nice. I recently found another Smith timepiece, from the year of my birth, but at the time I thought that the 31mm was just too small. But now I may have to reconsider it and go back and have another look.
thanks Tony, go back...
thanks Tony, go back and try it on if you can. i think you'll be surprised. can you remind me over the weekend to email you the link i found. it will give you an idea of which models are worth buying and which are worth avoiding. best Graham
I did go back straight away..................
And it has since been sold. Though I suspect sometime ago and that the web page had just not been updated. I shall also try and remember!! LOL What can I say Graham we are both at that magical age!! LOL
thanks Nicolas, it was...
thanks Nicolas, it was a very lucky find helped by google, one of my other virtual friends :) i'll show it to you in the flesh one day. i think you'll like it as its fairly small and as you say, has a very nice movement. best Graham
congrats on your another nice "non-main-stream" catch...
hi Graham, very nice catch, the condition of this English-made watch is exceptional good. i remember at the very beginning when started collecting vintage watches, at one time i wanted to hunt for Smith. however somehow the attention was quickly to other ...
thanks Stefan. pleased you like...
thanks Stefan. pleased you like it. it's my pleasure to impart a minor amount of knowledge in exchange for everything i've learnt on this forum. best Graham
thanks Bill, sorry for...
thanks Bill, sorry for the late reply, i've been in London and then crashed out until this morning. very pleased with the movement. it ran for 43.5 hours then i picked it up and it ran again for another 7 hours which is amazing for a watch of this age. be...
Smiths and Everest
Hi Graham! Nice to see mention of these wonderful watches. I first became aware of Smiths from my interest in mountaineering. Ed Hillary had a sponsorship arrangement with Smiths and wore their 15 jewel Deluxe manual-winding model A404 with sub-seconds an...
Another facet of Smiths history
I was aware of the Rolex connection, but not Smiths. This is turning into a very interesting thread!
thanks for the extra info...
thanks for the extra info Dean. sounds like typical Rolex marketing :) good luck with your trip, try thinking about your own safety and think of them and thier experiences before and after. best Graham
Thanks for posting your Smiths
I love mine. Understated, classic looks - although they went slightly wayward in the late-60s / early 70s! M...
thanks Broussard. i'm very pleased...
thanks Broussard. i'm very pleased with it and it was a bargain which makes it all the nicer. they actually stopped production of watches in 1970 so i was also lucky that i was born at the right time, possibly when they were at their peak before collapsin...
The brand name has been bought and first new Smiths in 40 years was released last month
Re the last Smiths watches made, they moved production to Switzerland in the late 60s to save money, it appears (!). I have a couple of "Swiss-era" Smiths. Not a patch on earlier models, but interesting nonetheless. M...
having checked out the website...
having checked out the website i think its a sad end to an historic brand. best Graham
Congratulations, Graham!
It's nice to have a watch built in your home country. England has such a rich history of watchmaking. I appreciate the opportunity to reflect on that past via your new acquisition. Enjoy your latest addition to the born in '64 collection. Cheers, Daos
Mr Smith, 1964
Graham, you have done it it again Digged something interesting and rare, long forgotten (and almost lost, destroyed) up and presented it for us to learn from a small part of the watch history. Thank you so much that Best Hans P.S. I know I am a lttle late...
thanks Hans, its a pleasure...
thanks Hans, its a pleasure to share these finds and have such nice responses. best Graham
It is a pleasure to read..
..about these "gems" from a "hidden" and forgotten treasure. I tend to agree more and more with you and I believe many out there: There is something about the wathes from the 60'sties. (not only the 64's ), but the whole era. Maybe especially the watches ...