Smiths watch

[rossjackson01]

Hello.

I've been asked if I could replace a crown on a watch. It is to large.

Any one any idea of the movement please? Unfortunately the photograph of the movement is blurred. New phone today and I'm not used to the camera. 

Make Smiths. 15 jewel. Markings 606 and 12 underneath. Any help would be appreciated.

Special watch given to a member of the 1960 Duke of Edinburgh Greenland expedition. 

Thank you

 

[RichardHarris123]

Pretty sure it's a 12.15

[rossjackson01]

Richard. Thank you. However, 12.15 what? I see that the Stem is a u1630. I will try to obtain a smaller crown if I can locate a movement.

 

[RichardHarris123]

12.15 is the movement. 

Stem W2019

[nevenbekriev]

Ross, the crown has nothing to do with the movement, it has to be with the proper shape and have thread as te stem thread. So, You need to unscrew the existing crown and measure the stem thread, e.g. 0.9 or 1.2 mm. Then see if the case has tube or not, so You will know what type of crown is needed.

[HectorLooi]

Maybe the oversized crown is a feature of the Greenland expedition, so that the watch could be would while wearing thick gloves?

[Neverenoughwatches]

13 hours ago, rossjackson01 said:

Hello.

I've been asked if I could replace a crown on a watch. It is to large.

Any one any idea of the movement please? Unfortunately the photograph of the movement is blurred. New phone today and I'm not used to the camera. 

Make Smiths. 15 jewel. Markings 606 and 12 underneath. Any help would be appreciated.

Special watch given to a member of the 1960 Duke of Edinburgh Greenland expedition. 

Thank you

 

Beautiful watch Ross. I'm a big fan of Smiths watches for a few reasons . You have a famous watch there on your bench, I'm extremely jealous.  

https://www.waecce.com/blogs/news/thge-1

12 hours ago, rossjackson01 said:

Richard. Thank you. However, 12.15 what? I see that the Stem is a u1630. I will try to obtain a smaller crown if I can locate a movement.

 

Here you go Ross. This is exactly what the watch is.

13 hours ago, rossjackson01 said:

Hello.

I've been asked if I could replace a crown on a watch. It is to large.

Any one any idea of the movement please? Unfortunately the photograph of the movement is blurred. New phone today and I'm not used to the camera. 

Make Smiths. 15 jewel. Markings 606 and 12 underneath. Any help would be appreciated.

Special watch given to a member of the 1960 Duke of Edinburgh Greenland expedition. 

Thank you

 

Not to worry you Ross but this could be a very expensive watch. John Hunt led this expedition same guy that led the Everest climb. This is one of watches that was issued by Smiths to the 27 lads that set off on that journey. The owner one of them ?

[rossjackson01]

10 hours ago, HectorLooi said:

Maybe the oversized crown is a feature of the Greenland expedition, so that the watch could be would while wearing thick gloves?

Good comment. I'll ask the owner. However, the watch was serviced a few years ago and he made the remark that he remembers the crown as different. Will see him next week. 

As per our teaching, I opened the back with an opening tool and plastic on the back. I was appalled to see that someone had attempted to screwdriver the back to open. You can notice the mark on the photograph. 

 

Never

"Not to worry you Ross but this could be a very expensive watch. John Hunt led this expedition same guy that led the Everest climb. This is one of watches that was issued by Smiths to the 27 lads that set off on that journey. The owner one of them ?"

Very aware of your comment. Yes. It was given to the father of the gentlemen who came to me. Hence my careful handling.

Will keep you al posted.

 

[mikepilk]

8 hours ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Beautiful watch Ross. I'm a big fan of Smiths watches for a few reasons . You have a famous watch there on your bench, I'm extremely jealous.  

Another fan of Smiths watches here. Nice to have an English made watch. I'm currently working on a 19J cal 0104. 

I fitted a new crown. Just a generic one from Cousins

Parts are usually quite easy to find should you have a mishap.

I was making a final tweak to the hairspring on mine yesterday, when it snapped at the stud 

I looked in my drawer of Smiths parts. There was only one part in the drawer - a complete balance for an 0104 ! Couldn't believe my luck.

Edited March 16 by mikepilk

[Neverenoughwatches]

48 minutes ago, rossjackson01 said:

Very aware of your comment. Yes. It was given to the father of the gentlemen who came to me. Hence my careful handling.

Will keep you al posted.

The grail of Smiths watch collectors imo and I'm sure in anyone else's would be Hillary's watch now in a museum  never to be owned by anyone. Next in line would be any of the other 13 that were issued to the first Everest climbers whose party reached the summit. Unlikely these would come up for sale, i dont know if their whereabouts are known. Then we have the 27 Greenland issues, o e of which  is on your bench ( I'mstill extremely jealous ). Take a moment to read the link i posted earlier. Ps. The crown does not match the crown issued. Who was it originally given to if you dont mind me asking. 

[RichardHarris123]

Smiths fan also.  The crown should be more like this. 

[Neverenoughwatches]

18 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

The grail of Smiths watch collectors imo and I'm sure in anyone else's would be Hillary's watch now in a museum  never to be owned by anyone. Next in line would be any of the other 13 that were issued to the first Everest climbers whose party reached the summit. Unlikely these would come up for sale, i dont know if their whereabouts are known. Then we have the 27 Greenland issues, o e of which  is on your bench ( I'mstill extremely jealous ). Take a moment to read the link i posted earlier. Ps. The crown does not match the crown issued. Who was it originally given to if you dont mind me asking. 

Correction sorry Smiths issued 38 of these watches.

1 hour ago, mikepilk said:

Another fan of Smiths watches here. Nice to have an English made watch. I'm currently working on a 19J cal 0104. 

I fitted a new crown. Just a generic one from Cousins

Parts are usually quite easy to find should you have a mishap.

I was making a final tweak to the hairspring on mine yesterday, when it snapped at the stud 

I looked in my drawer of Smiths parts. There was only one part in the drawer - a complete balance for an 0104 ! Couldn't believe my luck.

Your Imperial mike ? Very nice example take good care of it.

[mikepilk]

One thing to note Ross when ordering a crown. I have a Smiths Everest and Imperial - neither have pendant tubes, so I needed 'dustproof crowns'  https://www.cousinsuk.com/category/dustproof-watch-crowns 

The section around the threaded tube is sprung loaded to form a seal against the case.

I cannot see from the pics whether yours has a pendant tube.

This is what I fitted to my gold plated case

13 minutes ago, Neverenoughwatches said:

Correction sorry Smiths issued 38 of these watches.

Your Imperial mike ? Very nice example take good care of it.

I wasn't aware of the other expedition watches.  But I'm on the look out now 

More watches to look out for. 

BTW there's a 25J Everest  AUTOMATIC  for sale on ebay.

[rehajm]

…another Anglophile. I quite enjoy the brass movements. They age quite well…

[rossjackson01]

7 hours ago, mikepilk said:

One thing to note Ross when ordering a crown. I have a Smiths Everest and Imperial - neither have pendant tubes, so I needed 'dustproof crowns'  https://www.cousinsuk.com/category/dustproof-watch-crowns 

The section around the threaded tube is sprung loaded to form a seal against the case.

I cannot see from the pics whether yours has a pendant tube.

This is what I fitted to my gold plated case

I wasn't aware of the other expedition watches.  But I'm on the look out now 

More watches to look out for. 

BTW there's a 25J Everest  AUTOMATIC  for sale on ebay.

Mikepilk

I'll show this post to the owner when he arrives next week 

 

Never.

I'll ask him if he would allow his name to be known. If he says yes, I will PM you