413 - S. Smith & Son - Watchmakers to the Admiralty

S. Smith & Son - Watchmakers to the Admiralty (*) A high-quality, very heavy precision minute-repeating hunting-case pocket watch with a split-seconds chronograph Movement No. 152-11, Case No. 152-11, Dimensions 55 mm, circa 1905, Weight 175 g, Origin: England Case: 18K gold, smooth, 2 chronograph pushers at "11" and "1", case maker’s punch mark "SS" (Samuel Smith, London). Dial: Enamel, off-white, 60-minute counter at "12". Movement: 3/4-plate movement, 2 hammers / 2 gongs, English lever escapement, gold-screw-compensated balance. S. Smith & Son, a leading London firm specializing in high-quality and complicated watches at the turn of the century, was founded in 1851 by the jeweler and watchmaker Samuel Smith. A large portion of the high-quality blank movements was supplied by Nicole Nielson & Co., a high-end movement workshop based in Le Solliat, Vallée de Joux. In addition to a wide range of watches and clocks for private customers, Smith’s also produced reliable chronometers, which led the firm to become a supplier to the Admiralty. Under the management of Herbert S.A. Smith, the firm grew into a large manufacturing company with its own research laboratories; in the next generation, Sir Alan Herbert Smith further expanded the company’s product range and began producing automotive and aircraft instruments. Around this time, a period of general decline began for British horology; even so, a few British watchmakers created magnificent, ultra-complicated watches, as if to prove to the world that they were still the best. Some of these watches were made in collaboration with the most renowned Swiss watch companies. Charles Frodsham, Edward John Dent, and Samuel Smith were the London watchmakers best known for this, as well as J. W. Player in Coventry. Case: very good. Dial: very good. Movement: very good, capable of running, cleaning recommended.