Smiths Ty

[Blacklab]

Just finished refurbing a tired Smiths TY believed to be from 1965:

 

Before:

 

After:

 

Case, dial & hands cleaned. Crystal polished. Movement serviced & broken click spring replaced (thanks to John at Obsolete Clock & Watch Parts). New strap. The timegrapher readings were a little variable, however it kept good time all weekend.

 

I am getting a bit of a thing for Smiths (the watches, not the designer-misery band from the 1980's) and have got myself a 1960 Astral to do after the next Seiko.

[Geo]

You know I have a soft spot for Smiths watches BL, and that's one I haven't seen. What a transformation, it looks great. Is there any chance of posting a snap of the engine room? :)

[Blacklab]

Thanks for the kind words, here's the innards before servicing:

 

note the broken click. I normally take picks of the breakdown only for reassembly reference, I must start taking pics of the finished movement as well.

 

The only reason I think its a 1965 watch as its partially shown in an ad from that year reproduced in the book 'Smiths Watches' by Barrie Smith.

[icius]

Looks great! Now I have a new search too follow on Ebay. Did you do any polishing on the case or just cleaning? Any pics of the movement?

[icius]

Heh I think our posts crossed paths in the ether. That's a cool click/spring.

[Geo]

Thanks for posting the movement BL, it's a lot more basic than I had expected.

[Blacklab]

The case was treated to 20 mins in the ultrasonic with crystal in place (glued) using washing up detergent, a bit of scraping with pegwood and a final buff with a Selvyt gold polishing cloth. The crystal was rubbed up with Polywatch.

[Blacklab]

Thanks for posting the movement BL, it's a lot more basic than I had expected.

 

One up from the LY & 2 up from the RY as used in the Smiths Empire & Ingersol Triumph watches, made by the Anglo-Celtic Watch Co. (later called the Empire factory) in Wales - hence the 'Made in Great Britain' on the dial. The TY was produced in 1,5,7 or 21 jewel variants. The higher quality movements were produced in the Cheltenham factory & normally have 'Made in England' on the dial.

[Geo]

More good info BL.

[bobm12]

Great info and great job, BL!

[omega4sure]

Man what a difference! It doesn't even look like the same watch. Great service and refurbish, A+ from me. 

[Blacklab]

Thanks again to you all for the compliments. I finally got myself a couple of Smiths Astrals & will post results on a new thread soon.

[Geo]

Thanks again to you all for the compliments. I finally got myself a couple of Smiths Astrals & will post results on a new thread soon.

That I'm looking forward to BL, they're one of my favourite watches! :)

[daz]

Great Job Blacklab,

 

I also love Smiths watches and Pocketwatches. I have just got in 2 rather nice Smiths Watches for my collection. Will have to put some pics up tomorrow

 

 

Best Wishes

 

Darren

[Ryan]

Hello I have a couple of questions about this watch I also have this watch with the original strap and it’s in working order I’m finding it hard to find information about the watch this is the only thing I have found so far 

my first question is how much is the watch worth 

my second question is is it with getting refurbished 

[Pip]

That's a great job @Blacklab , really nice end result. Can I ask what technique / kit you used to clean the dial? It looks so much better (partly due to the crystal I expect but even so). Have you had it on a timegrapher? Just wondering what sort of figure you'd expect to get from one of these. My guess would be around +/- 1m a day would be a decent result?

[Blacklab]

Ryan - Some Smiths go for silly money unfortunately these don't tend to go for too much, best keep an eye on flebay sold listings to give you an idea of the value. As for refurbishment I think the costs would far outweigh the value, I just do them for fun. 

Pip - thanks for the kind words. The dial was in good condition, just a bit dirty. Sometimes Rodico alone can be used but if particularly bad clean with a sable brush with the dial immersed alternately in lighter fluid then and a weak washing up detergent/water solution and finally rinsed in water then thoroughly dried. I have posted in the past more extreme cleaning methods that have proved successful, but extreme caution needs to be taken & I would not recommend anything other than the most gentle of dusting with a dry sable brush if the watch is of reasonable value. The watch is still in my collection although I haven't worn it for a while, when originally serviced it ran at +/- 20s a day.