# Smiths Watches



## antony (Dec 28, 2007)

Bought a Smiths Delux on fleabay, yes we all love em.

took a chance as we all love a bargen or chance that it might be a good en,










No such luck, i expect a lot of you saw it too.

i was hoping it might be a runner but sorry to say it was`nt,typical smiths, non dust proof winder, so that means it was filled with every thing passed the watch in the last 50 years of its life , & i mean every thing,










Pritty much of a non runner,dial feet missing, the full crap monty, but hey, i`m anything for a chalenge.

So i stripped it down, found a new dial of the same era, yes i do have a good range of parts, some thing of a passion of mine.

after a lot of cleaning , a lot of cleaning & brass brushes & fine emery it lives again.










Here is the finished watch, to say that i`m chuffed is an understatment, i did`nt thought it was possible, new bolt spring, as it is allways broken, Smiths hardened thers way too much & they break so easily , as we all know.










Put a 18mm leather strap on , another one saved from the grave.

cheers for looking.


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## DJH584 (Apr 10, 2013)

Excellent piece of restoration work there antony - well done indeed. I think prefer the style of your replacement dial to that of the original.

Is it keeping good time or is to early to tell?


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## AVO (Nov 18, 2012)

Excellent work - anyone who saves a Smiths is OK in my book! :thumbup:


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## Thomasr (Oct 11, 2011)

looks like it needs a 16mm strap


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## Beeks (Sep 28, 2013)

Been having a look at Smiths

Could any of you learned gentlemen point me in the right direction for a first purchase

Definitely need a uk produced vintage timepiece


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## antony (Dec 28, 2007)

I do like working on the smiths watches, there just simple good old fashioned watches, & if anything goes wrong spares are plentifull.

The only thing I have found with them is always the winders, they were non dustproof, when I repair them I always put a new dustproof winder ( crown ) on as it just means the watch will run for a good number of years on my wrist without any problem.

The lugs measure 18 mm , I think the strap is just slightly oversized , makes it look a little too big.

As to where to go to get one there are a lot of people online selling them , just take your time choosing one.

Time keeping is very good, well pleased with it.


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## Littlelegs (Dec 4, 2011)

Antony, that looks great. A word of warning re spares though. I have a dennison cased smiths imperial with a broken balance staff. Roy has been trying for months to get a replacement for me and can't locate one. Having done a little ringing around and emailing myself it seems no one has access to them and they're classed as obsolete....(

I've not given up hope in resurrecting the watch and will keep looking, as it was a gift from my mum and originally my great aunts. When it was working it was a great timekeeper.

Nice work with yours.


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## Lampoc (Oct 31, 2010)

Which movement is it Littlelegs? Or have you got a pic? I've got a couple of broken Smiths lying around which perhaps you could rob for parts.


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## aroma (Dec 11, 2009)

Amazing restoration - well done


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## antony (Dec 28, 2007)

Smiths imperial staff , no problems, I have a man that can turn one up for you.

It all boils down to money I'm afraid, not cheap, but not a problem..


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## JoT (Aug 12, 2003)

Great work Antony well done :yes:


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## pugster (Nov 22, 2004)

what movement is it? i have a fully functional 27cs (with dial/handset and crown) , it was from a gold cased one -the gold caseback split and i scrapped it.


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