This is an English made Smiths Everest waterproof gold watch from 1961. The case is 9 carat gold and in good condition, it has a long service inscription on the rear from Albion Motors, who manufactured motor cars and other vehicles in Glasgow up until the 1970s (more details about Albion Motors here) The dial has raised gold indices and arabic quarter marker, it has aged to a lovely even off-white tone. The design and overall appearance is a really good example of late mid 20th century design and has a lovely feel for that period. This model is branded "Everest" - Smiths watches were carried to the summit of Everest by Hilary and Norgay and this model celebrates that. Smiths reserved the "Everest" branding for their highest quality of watches. The case is made by Dennison in Birmingham and is hallmarked for 1961 . The case is one of their Aquatite line of waterproof cases, this specifically refers to the screw down case back. I have replaced the seals on the case back but I would consider a watch of this period to be more water-resistant than water-proof. The movement is a Smiths cal 104, which was a considerable revision of their original (1940s) calibre 1215. The new and improved movement was launched in the late 1950s and is a much improved piece of engineering being both both reliable and easy to service. The movement has been fully serviced and regulated and the time keeping is excellent. This is a super wearable watch and perfect for the person who cherishes the tradition of the English-made watch. Case diameter (excluding winding crown): 32mmCase material: 9 carat gold, hallmarked Birmingham 1961strap width: 16mm time keeping: grade A about Smiths watchesSmiths were the last English producers of quality watches. Their watches aren't very well known today because it's over 30 years since they stopped production, but the quality of their watches bears comparison with anything the Swiss were producing. Smiths produced a variety of styles of watch for both ladies and gentlemen in chrome, steel, silver and gold cases. The gold cased watches were particularly popular as long-service presentation gifts and the case backs are often engraved with a presentation inscription. We don't remove these inscriptions as we feel they are an important part of the story of each watch. They developed an automatic movement watch and also were contracted by the British army to produce a wristwatch for general service use (the automatic and the military Smiths are amongst the most sought after and command high prices).These days we associate the Swiss with high end mechanical watches, but in the 19th century it was English watches that occupied this prestigious position. The Swiss began to compete with the English watchmakers by producing low cost watches. The English were slow to adapt to this new competitor, they took great pride in the relatively small volume of high-quality hand made watches that were produced in England. The Swiss gradually swamped the watch market - beginning with low cost watches, later they produced watches of a comparable quality to the English hand-made watch, but at a lower price. The Swiss developed machine production of watches, this meant that the quality could be kept consistent and replacement parts were interchangeable. Ultimately the English industry couldn't compete and by the early 1930s pretty much all watches were imported.In the run up to the second world war, the government became concerned that there was no indigenous watch industry left. They turned to S. Smith & Sons who were a long established a watch and clock producer and underwrote the development of a new factory in Cheltenham. Precise timing mechanisms were important for the war in things like bomb timers, as well as more traditional time pieces.After the second world war, Smiths switched over to civilian production with the first of their watches coming onto the market in 1947. They continued production up until the late 1970s, when they rather suddenly split up the watch and clock division of the company. By this time Smiths Industries was more focussed on civil and military avionics and probably felt that the watches were part of their past. It seems odd that nobody else sought to take over the business as they were clearly profitable, possibly the impact of quartz watches was a factor in their decision to end the business.
