A TIMEPIECE CALLED SMITHS

Some time back we managed to purchase a SMITHS mantle piece from a good friend. It has served us very well chiming every fifteen minutes. Occasionally, we allowed it to take a break for a few days before winding it again just to give our ears the necessary break.

This morning we decided to purchase a SMITHS timepiece just to keep the mantle piece accompany and to add another colour to our wristwatch collections.

SMITHS is an English brand name as illustrated prominently at the bottom of the dial of this Shockproof automatic wristwatch.

Just a bit of history about the SMITHS watch making.

The company was founded by Samuel Smith in London in 1851 as a clock and watch business. At the start of the 20th century, the age of the early automobiles, the Company produced the first British odometer ("mileometer") and speedometer.

In the 1930s SMITHS agreed a trading deal with Lucas whereby the two would not compete in certain areas and Lucas took on part of SMITHS non-instrumentation assets. Smiths became the dominant supplier of instruments to British motorcar and motorcycle firms. From 1915 SMITHS had a factory at Cricklewood, north London and later moved their Headquarters there.

Apparently, by the early seventies, SMITHS watches found themselves facing financial difficulty. An appeal to the British Government then for assistance were rebuffed by the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher.

The British Government was rumoured to have earmarked millions of pounds to help finance John DeLorean with an upstart automobile company to be headquartered in Belfast, Ireland. This left little or no money in the coffers to bail out the aging watch firm.

It was reported that Timex bought out the financially troubled SMITHS and, subsequently destroyed the tooling and spare parts. For what it's worth, SMITHS is apparently still in business as an aircraft instrument manufacturer. Others have reported that various SMITHS parts still survive and can be obtained in the UK.