Smiths 25 Jewel Automatic

[Rev-O]

Being a bit of a fan of Smiths watches and seeing as I own a couple of these (and love them) I thought I'd post my findings up here.

Here's one of mine:











The stainless steel automatics really are lovely: the casework is stunning (the design of the lugs in particular) and the dimensions / proportions are just beautiful.

So, some history and info:

Smith announced the automatic in late 1958 but production seems to have been delayed until April 1961. Whether that was a tooling / manufacturing issue or a legal wrangle with IWC is an interesting question, but almost certainly the former (don't believe everything you read on the internet!) The movements often have a date code, usually a 2 digit (y/m) on these. Earlier ones have a two-piece rotor with the weight screwed onto the rim (usually one the Imperials from 1961-'62); the later Everest ones (1963-66) have a simpler, and presumably cheaper monobloc rotor.

Smiths Automatics first "appeared" to public view in 1959 under the Imperial name -- a Smiths marque or sub-brand. An advert from that year has model SW.201 (“stainless steel case, spot luminous and raised baton dial”) at £25 and SW.502 (“9 ct. gold case, applied 9 ct. gold figures and hands, crocodile strap”) at £50.

In terms of actual availability, the first catalogue they feature in is the 1961 one -- with the same references and even the same picture as the advert two years earlier. The descriptions are slightly different but seem to be the same watches: SW.201 (“stainless steel case, raised silvered batons on a silvered dial with luminous spots”) and SW.502 (“9 ct. gold case. Satin silvered dial. 9 ct. gold hands and batons . . . crocodile strap”).

An advert from September 1961 has the SW.502 (9 ct gold with crocodile strap, presentation case and real gold indices on the dial) at £50 15/-. The stainless steel SW.201 was now £25 7/- and 6d. That's inflation for you.

In 1962 there were two models: SW.501 with a gold case (this looks almost the same as the earlier SW.502 but with “line” batons rather than “dart” markers between the 12, 3, 6 & 9, suggesting “gilt” rather than “gold” on the dial). The stainless steel SW.201 seems the same as before.

There's no information for 1963.

By 1964 the “Imperial” range of 19 jewel watches (which form the base ebauche for the 25j automatic) seems to have been discontinued, having been only introduced in 1958. (Perhaps this was due to Smith launching the new Slimline Astral cal 60466E a 17 jewel centre seconds movement?) Some of the 19j “Imperial” models continue but are branded as “Everest”. (This seems to have started around 1963 and was perhaps / probably to mark the 10th anniversary of Hillary's ascent while wearing a Smiths.) The automatic range, however, has been enlarged to four models. They, too, carry the “Everest” name on the dial replacing the old “Imperial” brand.

The four 1964 models are: the stainless steel SW.201/E (now only £21 – a price drop!), then two solid 9ct gold models: the cheaper SW.501/E (with “raised gilt [sic – not gold] figures and batons [“lines” not “darts”] on a silvered dial”) at £37 10/-, and the even better SW.502 (with “applied 9ct gold figures and batons [“darts”] on a silvered dial with crocodile strap and presentation box”) which was now only £46. Finally, Smiths also added a fourth model to the lineup: the gold-plated SW.301/E with the same lower-grade dial as the cheaper solid gold cased SW.501 (i.e. “raised gilt [sic – not gold] figures and batons [“lines” not “darts”] on a silvered dial”) and same price at the stainless steel 201 version (i.e. £21).

There's no information for 1965, '66 or '67 but at some point during this time production of the stainless steel version stopped.

In the 1968-69 Catalogue there are only two automatic models: the SW.301 (gold-plated, details as per the SW.301/E but without the “Everest” on the dial) and the “new” SW.503, which is the same as the same as the old top grade SW.502 (9ct gold case, higher-grade dial with “applied 9ct gold figures and batons [darts]”) but with the addition of a 9ct gold mesh bracelet. Heavy, man! Very late 60s bling.

There's no information for 1970, the final year of production at Cheltenham.

There is an interesting history to the 25j automatic movement: in about 1957 / 58 Smiths developed a 19j centre-seconds hand-winding movement for its new "Imperial" range and made many models in that form until about 1966. The later ones are badged as "Everest" from about 1963-4 until 1965-6, i.e. for the final couple of years before being phased out completely. In 1959 Smiths brought out the 25 jewel automatic range by simply adding the rotor and winding gear on top of the 19j Imperial movement. (They designed the Imperial movement with that in mind from the start.)

A note on the two and three digit date codes found on the 17, 19 & 25 jewel Smiths movements. In the earlier 27CS (1954-64) they are y/m and then in the Slimline movements (c.1964 and onwards, including the MoD issued W10) they are m/y. Usually the 19j Imperial (and therefore the 25j automatics) follow the earlier system of y/m.

If you buy on ebay or auction one thing to be aware of is the seeming fragility of the winding system: many times I have seen them for sale without the rotor and associated works. (This effectively reverts them back to the 19j hand-winding movement.) Getting replacement parts used to be pretty much impossible: Smiths made them all in-house. However in recent years some more have been uncovered, so a couple of specialists have spares in stock.

Regarding cases, in general the steel-cased Smiths watches are now much more desirable than the gold plated ones; the sold gold ones vary wildly in value, depending on model, condition etc. Sometimes the steel-cased ones sell for more than the sold 9k gold ones, especially of it's a screw-back waterproof Dennison Aquatite versus a snap-back SWC / BWC gold case. The best are the heavy, hallmaked screw-back gold ones, of course.

Variants of the stainless steel automatics: aside from the “Imperial” vs “Everest” differences it's worth noting that some “Everest” models have the applied gilt “Imperial” crown or coronet device (presumably the earlier ones?).

The red “Automatic” script is notorious for fading (sometimes it has disappeared completely) which is ironic given that was the UPS and the red text was presumably used to make it stand out!

Some (a minority) of stainless steel models have the “12, 3, 6, 9” dial configuration. Of those that do, some have the cheaper gilt “line” batons between the Arabic numerals (as per the SW.501 gold and SW.301/E gold-plated models) while others have the higher grade applied 9ct gold numbers and “dart” markers (as per the sold 9ct gold SW.502 and SW.503). Most, however, have the non-numeric dial. On these the printed seconds track should be clearly visible and lined up with the inner edge of the 12 applied batons (they are prone to fading) but don't expect the luminous dots at the outer end of the markers to still glow.

Some dials seem grey / silver and some seem more golden / champagne coloured although they may have started out as more or less the same and this might be due to patina / discolouration / fading / lacquer issues. I don't know.

Sometimes the dauphine hands have lume in-fill and sometimes they are “creased” solid metal daggers. Sometimes the sweep seconds hand have a red tip, sometimes it is lumed and matches the other two hands.

Finally, sometimes the baton markers look more yellow gold, other more pale gold.

And that, for now, is all I know.

[NenoS]

Very nice watch,
+1 for the text.
Thanks for the post.

[stefmcd]

This is beautiful.

Sent from my A0001 using Tapatalk

[Velorum]

A lovely thing

This type of design has never been bettered in my view - great size, great dial

[number2]

Very attractive watch, and thanks for all the additional information.

[Brucy]

Great reading and beautiful watches, many thanks

[windows95]

Looks tidy that, good info too.

[Mr Curta]

Thanks Rev., most informative. One of these is very much on my wish list. Surely you don't really need two...

[Geralt]

Gorgeous watch and very interesting post. Very much enjoyed reading.

[Ey-Up]

A classic design and still very much emulated. Personally I have only had one vintage Smiths and it was certainly not as lovely as this, so the search continues. A very informative post - thank you.