Smith’s Everest PRS25 Gilt dial

It always amuses me that people think a Timefactors watch is something you can just turn up and buy 😀

More seriously, Timefactors will probably (for "reasons") only release about 100 watches on a sales day. Given the amount of recent activity on the PRS-25, expect them all to sell out within 30 - 60 seconds of the webshop opening.

Bear in mind that just having the watch in your cart is no guarantee of you getting it.

You must complete the whole sales transaction within 30 - 60 seconds to have a chance of getting the watch.

I'd advise setting up an account ahead of time with all your personal details - home and shipping address, telephone, email, etc.
 

Make sure you can enter your credit card details - without error! - as quickly as possible.  Cut-and-paste might help.

Good luck!

It always amuses me that everyone keeps calling it an Explorer homage when Smiths never made an Explorer and the de Luxe might have made it to the summit, so its an homage of an homage of something that maybe never happened, by a brand that doesn’t recognise what its name actually stands for.

Go for it. I have my eye on the gilt dial as well. 😍

Tried to get one last time they were open, used 1 whole minute and was too late.. It makes a budget watch feel exclusive and that's cool, but I think I'm over it now 🤣 But the gilt one is beautiful 👊 

The gilt version gives it a dressy/vintage vibe but I personally prefer the legibility and simplicity of the plain black and white version.  Part of the decision is whether you intend it to be an office/everyday watch or a dress watch.

Hi

From my very limited knowledge I can see that the proper Smiths make is no more and the name now continues much as China appropriated the MG car brand name a few years ago?

I'm keen to get an affordable proper Smiths watch? To that end I was thinking of one of the military issues field watches from the 80s. From your knowledge are there any particular models worth seeking out?

I'm only a recent collector of affordable stuff but have a long term aim of some higher end models and am keen to own something English! I also quite like the look of some of the Bremont stuff but that's for another discussion!

Probably the three 'must have' Smiths watches are:

• The A404 (The 'Everest expedition' watch)
• The A454 ( The 'Antarctica expedition' watch)
• The W10 (The late 60's / early 70's military watch)
  
  I'd check out https://www.rollinixsmithswatches.com/ and https://www.smithswatches.com/ for the best online selection of original Smiths watches.  Most of these are in better condition, and serviced, so you'll pay more for them.  If you're feeling more brave, Smiths watches regularly appear on Ebay for reasonable prices.

its a beautiful watch, i prefer the gilt dial

I'm very much obliged to you! They aren't cheap but so much history with them all.

Yes perhaps a lucky ebay find from someone who doesn't know what they've got!!

Many thanks for the advice. You seem to be the " go to" bloke for anything Smiths related  ( but not the new stuff!) ?

There are FAR more knowledgeable Smiths experts on here, I'm sure.  I'm just starting my Smiths journey.

Probably the best source of information is the Smiths watches made in England Facebook page.  I've learned so much from them.  They're also a good source for watches for sale, too :-) 

Btw - I wouldn’t class any of those as affordable, those are highly sought after and therefore command huge premiums (multiple hundreds or even a cool £1000 for excellent versions). You can probably pick up a nice 15J/17J hand-wind Smiths Astral for anything between £40-£200 if you are lucky (big if), condition depending, “Made in England“ on the dial.

I’ve said this in multiple posts but you are bang on. Made in England on the dial or walk away.

Sorry to here about your Empire, it’s a shame.

Thank you! I know the square root of bugger all on Smiths so far but I'm a fast learner. Been looking 9n ebay....almost as many vintage smiths as there are vostoks!

Thank you! Invaluable advice! Literally just been looking on ebay out of interest and saw several empire watches cheaply priced....now I know why. I will do lots more research before committing.

Also didn't realise the premiums even the standard w10s seem to command!

Yes - I mean if you have the capital and you want to then fire away, don’t let anyone stop you. They are very popular, and highly sought after, but you know what that means… 

Yes, Empires are usually terrible movements (less than 15j just run), and the later stuff (divers, Astrolon, etc…) just avoid. 

I’ve been banging this drum for weeks, but for some reason Timefactors Smiths just seem to be flavour of the month.

They did… sorry.

My watch guy is ex-Smiths, I’ve learnt a lot about them whether I wanted to or not.

I picked mine up at the last opportunity on 24th of April and love it! Legibility and size are amazing and the subtle gilt accents make it special. I purchased mine within the first minute, the shop and the website seemed to be pretty stable - nothing crashed. But maybe I was just lucky. 

This is from the 1960’s, it’s ridiculously accurate, the movement in the back looks like one step up from a pendulum, I’d rather have this than a Timefactors namesake.

I love the Gilt version of that watch. I've made some attempta to buy something on Timefactors off and on and it's definitely feels almost impossible. Still if I happen to be awake on May 15th when they make stock available again I'll likely take a look. Chances are it will be sold out but who knows it's my Birthday on the 15th so maybe the stars will align.

Looks amazing! I think you’ve helped convince me 

I wish you all the best luck my comrade! 

Back to the original question, I like the gilt dial. If I were to get one I honestly don't know which I would go for. I think if you like it, go for it.