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Thread: Anothere Smithe Everest Expedition review (quite long)

  1. #1
    Administrator swanbourne's Avatar
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    Anothere Smithe Everest Expedition review (quite long)

    Another review of the Everest Expedition. This was sent to me as a PDF and I can't display it directly on the forum (unless someone knows a way) so her'e a link.

    http://www.tz-uk.com/pics/Review_SMI...Expedition.pdf

    Eddie
    Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

  2. #2
    Craftsman
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    You must be very proud Eddie with all these excellent reviews. This one is quite different and was both informative and entertaining.

  3. #3
    Craftsman
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    Now that is what I call a worthwhile review, very entertaining read indeed, unlike most of the banal "I really like this" drivel on youtube.

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    Grand Master number2's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by swanbourne View Post
    Another review of the Everest Expedition. This was sent to me as a PDF and I can't display it directly on the forum (unless someone knows a way) so her'e a link.

    http://www.tz-uk.com/pics/Review_SMI...Expedition.pdf

    Eddie
    Brilliant review, keep up the good work
    "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."

    'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.

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    Master JDB's Avatar
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    Quite lovely.

  6. #6
    Master TheGent's Avatar
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    Really captures the spirit of what this watch means to those of us who love ours!


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    Journeyman engrneil's Avatar
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    Another satisfied customer

    Sent from my SM-G960U using TZ-UK mobile app

  8. #8
    Craftsman
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    I am not much of a reader but I have to admit that I read this complete article and was wanting more. No pause or fast forward feature, and none needed. A well thought out and said story from the heart of someone who has an admiration for one of Eddie's work of art and instead of it being something hanging on a wall in a museum it something to gaze upon ones wrist.

    Well done Eddie.
    Last edited by kneadking; 31st May 2020 at 20:29.

  9. #9
    Grand Master abraxas's Avatar
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    The WR is 100m and not 50m... apart from that... a good review, and a good sense of humour.
    "Owning one is almost as satisfying as making one." ~ Rolex 1973

  10. #10
    Grand Master abraxas's Avatar
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    I have been considering of extracting the article (and pics) from the .pdf and posting it in the Reviews section so that more people can get to see it. In fact I am going to do it over the next few days unless someone stops me.
    "Owning one is almost as satisfying as making one." ~ Rolex 1973

  11. #11
    Master TheGent's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by abraxas View Post
    I have been considering of extracting the article (and pics) from the .pdf and posting it in the Reviews section so that more people can get to see it. In fact I am going to do it over the next few days unless someone stops me.
    Please do, it’s one of the best reviews of this tremendous watch....


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    Journeyman lexminute's Avatar
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    Awesomely entertaining writeup. I can sense the passion put into this by the reviewer. It's a refreshing respite from the dime-a-dozen reviews made for today's unfortunate world of short attention spans.
    This is a worthwhile read for sure.

  13. #13
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    Lovely review, lovely watch. The Expedition was SO NEARLY perfect in my eyes, but I sold mine in the end because I couldn't unsee a single 'flaw' (to my mind) - the minute hand seems too slim in relation to the hour hand. The case and dial, and everything else about the hands was absolutely great.

  14. #14
    Master TheGent's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by abraxas View Post
    I have been considering of extracting the article (and pics) from the .pdf and posting it in the Reviews section so that more people can get to see it. In fact I am going to do it over the next few days unless someone stops me.
    I’ve had a go of extracting the original article and pasting it here - hope that’s ok for everyone? abraxas - feel free to copy and paste it in the reviews section?


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  15. #15
    Master TheGent's Avatar
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    Anothere Smithe Everest Expedition review (quite long)

    Original review from the OP posted here:

    Reviews of most everything today have become dramatically more numerous due the newfound ease with which one can create them utilizing digital means and the internet. We more senior members of society remember a time when the simple review of a restaurant demanded repeated and surreptitious patronage, days of text review, major and expensive photographic doings, and then the need to find a publisher who thought it acceptable for the esteemed perfumed pages of his subscription based, post forwarded, puffy periodical. Please now contrast this with today’s ability of a 35 year old unemployed vegan hipster, still living with his frugal and frustrated parents, to review, and post worldwide without oversight, his opinion, with additional alien like emoji symbology, of an expensive and overpriced inner city bistro with a small flat device in his pocket just prior to the completion of his meal’s dessert of gluten free black bean brownie and foamed almond milk latte.
    This is, the world we now live in.
    Reviews can come from a variety of perspectives, all almost equally as valid as long as the opinion giver remains neutral and open. Bias is easily detected by the reader rendering the entire exercise to the bin.
    For example, opinion about traveling aboard a certain new amazing aircraft can come from the perspective of the engineer, pilot, or passenger; all equally as valid yet distinct in terms of evaluating the entire experience.

    Wristwatch reviews themselves can be examined in a similar manner. Opinion of a particular wristwatch can emanate from the watchmaker, the spouse, an advertisement, the dealer, the wearer, the adventurer or sports person, the partner, the pub mates, the co-workers, the patients, the students, the fashion expert, the copilot, dive partners, the other members of the commando team, the boss, and so on. How socially polarizing a single, small, simple wearable element can become!
    Having collected a wide variety of wristwatches since my early teen years and being very obsessive with detail, as well as having a 35 year career as an esoteric specialist dentist who routinely works under intense scrutiny and magnification with many of the same watchmaker’s materials, concepts, and instruments in my work, I feel that I may be capable of creating a valuable review of the SMITHS Everest Expedition wristwatch. Arriving through the singlehanded devotion and creative vision of Eddie Platts who, in 1996, so presciently created his world famous internet based TimeFactors UK watch company, it presents itself to me.
    I pray that I do not disappoint.
    Many wristwatch reviews begin methodically with commentary and sometimes actual physical dismantling of everything from the presentation box to the watchcase and bracelet itself. This review will eschew this method entirely and is rather a happy rambling about feelings and attitudes I have towards this particular time telling device. Sometimes life indeed requires ramble, especially during our current climate of isolation and viral crisis. Little is black and white. I am including my quickly taken amateur photos which will hopefully convey to this reader its’ superbly stunningly beautiful appearance and not embarrass me.
    Without question.
    Yes, I make this statement because the Expedition is not something whose aesthetic is apparent from the flat screen of a website, as we are all web based during this science fiction like crisis. It needs to be seen and touched in real life. It is universally admired by everyone who notices it and quite a number do. I fitted it to the wrist of a beautiful and classy lady who I have shared almost thirty years of my life with, selfishly knowing that I could look at it often as she wears it. There is a weird phenomenon which we watch collectors have almost universally understood; one can appreciate the very same watches we own much more so on the wrists of others. We understand that our own optical viewpoint while wearing them is so very limited, while full “three axis admiration” is so very much greater on the wrist of others, due to lighting and the advertisement like “modeling effect” of it on the wrist of another.
    Sapphire and NO Haze!
    The Expedition has a sapphire crystal with a stunning side profile curve and case coincidence. Vintage hazing, scratching, and cracking is just never going to be part of the experience when one has an Expedition. Mr. Platts certainly walked the extra “500 miles” with this feature.






    So goes the SMITHS Everest Expedition.
    When adjusting the bracelet to her wrist, I was shocked to discover it was exactly Rolex like it its’ size, construction, and performance. Stout, screw in, one piece, pin bars connected numerous perfectly brushed removable links and made adjustment quick and very easy. It was a simple joyous interlude with no frustration.

    The Bracelet Clasp is Perfect.








    Not stamped, but cast in a shape and texture which was harmonious with the links and did not detract by being overbearing. With the SMITHS logo, it had all the subtlety of vintage pressed metal while being cast, polished, and brushed to a very high degree of perfection. Its action for closure is also perfect and secure, just as a Rolex would be. A really lovely vintage look to compliment the watch head. I should wish to contrast this with the current fiddly Omega sports bracelets, with their external tiny screw covers and separate weaker loose inner pins, so easily lost and in need of copious thread sealer. Mr. Platts created a wonderful and substantial vintage themed bracelet which shames quite a number of high end manufacturers.





    The vintage quandary for the Obsessive Compulsive.

    Being detail obsessive and wanting to collect vintage watches is indeed a problem. Save for a rare “NOS” (New Old Stock) piece, most vintage watches have a patina and a variety of flaws on the dial and in need of sometimes very costly movement work. To many collectors this is part of their charm and authenticity.
    Who would want the blemishes removed from Neil Armstrong’s or Winston Churchill’s wristwatch? No one, but to the obsessive perfectionist collector, these pieces may be kept in their vault and not on their wrists. The patina is upsetting to the perfectionist nutcase like myself! Have you ever touched and tried on a vintage Newman dialed Rolex Daytona which now costs in excess of a six figure sum? History, rarity, and lineage aside, they are a bit small, non-robust, and with tinny very poorly made bracelets. Same for many past Explorers. Water resistance is, without major work, non existent. This is a subtle annoyance to the OCD collector. The Expedition on the other hand, allows a person to have the vintage experience with all the modern technical advancements and materials, no movement overhaul fees, and with greater sense and confidence and substantiality. When its cost is considered, buyers are practically stealing this watch from Mr. Platts.






    There is another phenomenon I wish to address in my ramble, assuming the reader hasn’t turned the page or clicked away to another website already.
    It is this: Many who initially go “up market” in any area of life initially feel that they have made the right choice and gotten worth for the additional efforts made. (I include second or third “trophy spouses” in this regard.) After some time and consideration however, they realize the greater worthiness of the original item which involved not only less effort, but much more “bang for the buck”. (Not necessarily a trophy spouse related comment)
    For example, it takes a curvy road trip in a costly Porsche 911 to appreciate the steering in a Focus RS or a VW Golf GTI. It takes wonderful modern Rolex Submariner ownership to appreciate the Seiko 007 & Turtle series of dive watches. Think also about this, for the current roughly $10,000 price of a single Rolex submariner, an iconic and wonderful watch, one could outfit fifty divers with fully capable Seiko 007 watches.
    It takes a person who is a wristwatch fanatic like myself with a very large and varied collection to be able to fully appreciate the SMITHS Everest Expedition. Not only an aforementioned superb value, but the watch head is such a thing of tasteful grace and beauty without any vintage related imperfections.

    The OCD may now rejoice.

    The watchcase is perfect and has curves worthy of anything ever produced for the wrist. The symmetry from side to side and lug to lug has no flaws whatsoever. The SMITHS logoed crown is perfect in size and straight coin edge knurling. Its screw down action is, again, Rolex like. The aesthetic of the bracelet - case juncture, with substantial





    cast semi solid end links is much better seen and felt in person than via the internet. Rarely are separate caseform links cast as these are, and they put vintage bent metal end link (noisy and cheap) “covers” to shame. The riveted and multi piece appearance of the individual links is indeed, upon close examination, false, but in a very good way. The bracelet looks to all the world as made from many thin individual bent metal pieces, as the riveted vintage ones were. It is however, all solid and the links are one piece. This makes for a very hygienic, strong, washable, and quiet sounding bracelet and watch, with no “nooks and crannies” for debris and dead skin to accumulate.
    It is easy to keep pretty and pristine.
    Ever take a vintage folded metal riveted bracelet or even a large plastic Casio G- shock apart? It is really a true biohazard event, especially if it were worn by a doctor or soldier whose hands were past immersed in blood. My lady, while being a doctor herself, hopefully will never have my own blood on her hands! But if she ever does, I am satisfied that her Expedition can be easily sanitized as she searches for my replacement.

    The Face, OH that face.






    The dial of this Expedition is simply put - A vintage look masterpiece with no flaws and meticulous printing of numbers and text. There can be no improvement. Please repeat this to yourself twice. Two levels of perfectly chosen crème colored perfection, this is a dial which is the best of its type. Luminosity is very good and numerals are painted in a vintage way with precision. No half life expired and flakey old luminous material here. No faded vintage sun bleached cracked enamel here. Just superb perfection and subtlety in color choice. Mr. Platts has good taste.

    But the Handset!







    What an achievement!

    The handset is blued, syringe design, and, along with the “right sized” red lollipop seconds hand, is easily Patek Philippe quality. There, I said it!
    It is that good even under 4X magnification. They sit at a perfect height above the dial and have all the right proportions. Again, I am reminded of Patek in this regard.
    In 2011, I spent a whole day in the wonderous and dreamlike Patek Philippe Museum in Geneva, so I think my very bold statement can be substantiated with this disclosure.

    When one combines this dial with this particular handset, visual horologic magic happens.
    No more can be said but for its well sealed Motor. And it is powered by a relatively new to the world, just a few years old, Miyota Japanese movement #9039. Relatively indestructible and beating at 28,800 BPH, would the obsessive compulsive perfectionist dare to complain? No vintage watch yearly overhauls here, but daily reliability and automatic rotor winding! Find that in a vintage piece. Sealed with a screw down crown and a single Viton caseback circumferential seal, this watch is water resistant rated for normal use to 50 meters. That is roughly a bit over 164 feet. Pretty deep to we vacation ocean or lake swimmers! Again, a vintage piece would not be able to do this and realistically the only way one would be at that depth anyway is if they were ceremoniously buried at sea by the Royal Navy or repeatedly failed to pay their local loan shark.

    The Origins

    I will keep this one as simple as I can. Wonderful products are created all over our world today. From Apple products made in the deep innards of China to Audi Q5s made in Mexico, quality now comes from everywhere. It is a fantasy to think that your expensive Italian suit was hand sewn by octagenarian Gino in Milan who only leaves his work for a lambrusco and plate of quick puttanesca. Yes, it is an outrage that my BMW was not created by singing elves in lederhosen. Branding now, with very rare exception, has little to do with an actual location of manufacture, and more to do with simple abject quality evaluation. Is this Expedition a quality product?
    Yes it is, as quality oozes from every metallic atom it is made of.

    The Big Watch picture.

    All reviews come to a written end, and I hope at least half of the readers are still here. The Expedition is sort of like those recent cars by UK and California makers who take an old vintage Jaguar or Porsche and remanufacture it to current standards and eliminate all the vintage headaches. The aim is to improve drivability, increase reliability, and have greater safety. They are very, very expensive. The vintage themed SMITHS Expedition is something in the same vein, but you are, however, given a very, very reasonable price of acquisition.




    The TimeFactors company has repeatedly provided great value and the personal touch of its owner. All their products have a great value for pound ratio. They are happily within the grasp of most people. They are known worldwide . They are well made and last. And sometimes, they make a big selling classic hit - The SMITHS Expedition. Are you aware that they own the very well known and historic SMITHS brand?
    Yes that One!
    Watch any English movie from the 1940’s and when the leading man is racing his car to elude police or bring a pregnant wife to hospital, the camera always pans down to the oil stained MPH indication on a SMITHS gauge on the dash. Watch a vintage World War Two movie, and when the timers for the explosives are set, the leading man British soldier always looks at his war ravaged SMITHS watch to know when the Nazi munitions factory big blow up will happen.
    SMITHS now has the lovely and classic Expedition which is easily worthy of a place in the cinema just as its worn “vintage forefather” models were. It too needs to be seen and used and touched and cherished.
    Except it is now just Perfect.
    Respectfully Rambled and submitted to TimeFactors for potential Internet Publication. Fair warning though, it may be misunderstood by those readers under the age of 50 who have never seen a black and white movie.

    Thomas Tagliani, DDS
    Last edited by TheGent; 19th August 2020 at 07:46.

  16. #16
    Grand Master abraxas's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheGent View Post
    I’ve had a go of extracting the original article and pasting it here - hope that’s ok for everyone? abraxas - feel free to copy and paste it in the reviews section?
    No problem at all. I finished the formating and working on inserting the pictures... imgur has changed the last few days... so, I am figuring it out.
    "Owning one is almost as satisfying as making one." ~ Rolex 1973

  17. #17
    Master
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    I suspect the reviewer enjoyed their time with the Expedition. A nice read.

    Steve.

  18. #18
    Administrator swanbourne's Avatar
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    Could whoever extracted and formatted it please post it on the Time Factors Facebook page?

    https://www.facebook.com/timefactors...fxIVPS4RBvZgXY

    Eddie
    Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

  19. #19
    Master TheGent's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by swanbourne View Post
    Could whoever extracted and formatted it please post it on the Time Factors Facebook page?

    https://www.facebook.com/timefactors...fxIVPS4RBvZgXY

    Eddie
    I don’t do Facebook Eddie, but I can email it you? Or anyone else who could post it?


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  20. #20
    Administrator swanbourne's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TheGent View Post
    I don’t do Facebook Eddie, but I can email it you? Or anyone else who could post it?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    ,

    Thanks but I can copy and paste from here just not sure that I can insert the pictures in the text like it appears here.

    Eddie
    Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

  21. #21
    Grand Master abraxas's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by swanbourne View Post
    ,

    Thanks but I can copy and paste from here just not sure that I can insert the pictures in the text like it appears here.

    Eddie
    On facebook the pictures will have to be uploaded all at once at the beginning and then the text will appear at the bottom. Unless others know better.
    "Owning one is almost as satisfying as making one." ~ Rolex 1973

  22. #22
    Administrator swanbourne's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by abraxas View Post
    On facebook the pictures will have to be uploaded all at once at the beginning and then the text will appear at the bottom. Unless others know better.
    That's whatI thought, I tried doing it from the PDF when I got it andit wouldn't let me add text below the first picture I added.

    Eddie
    Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

  23. #23
    Grand Master abraxas's Avatar
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    I've made the posting in the Reviews. The only thing I changed was the "50 meters, 164 feet" to "100 meters, 328 feet".

    Smiths Everest Expedition (review)
    https://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.p...ition-(review)
    Last edited by abraxas; 19th August 2020 at 16:39.
    "Owning one is almost as satisfying as making one." ~ Rolex 1973

  24. #24
    Administrator swanbourne's Avatar
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    Thank you John.

    Eddie
    Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

  25. #25
    Grand Master abraxas's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by swanbourne View Post
    Thank you John.

    Eddie
    Do you still want a post on Facebook? The pictures will not be inserted in the text...

    I suggest to only use 8-10 photos, if you feel that will be acceptable to the author.
    "Owning one is almost as satisfying as making one." ~ Rolex 1973

  26. #26
    Administrator swanbourne's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by abraxas View Post
    Do you still want a post on Facebook? The pictures will not be inserted in the text...

    I suggest to only use 8-10 photos, if you feel that will be acceptable to the author.
    That would be great John, thanks. Tom won't mind.

    Eddie
    Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

  27. #27
    Grand Master abraxas's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by swanbourne View Post
    That would be great John, thanks. Tom won't mind.

    Eddie
    Done. It probably has to be approved for it to show up.
    "Owning one is almost as satisfying as making one." ~ Rolex 1973

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