On My Bench - Smiths De Luxe

[JimInOz]

Thanks to @STANDY, and no thanks to my procrastination, I've had a nice "vintaged" Smiths De Luxe sitting in the queue for longer than I can remember.

During one of my last OMB threads I promised Andy that I'd "get around to it".
"Get around to it" in Aussie language means something like "ah! yeah! nah! whenever! OK! hold my beer!"

Eventually I found a spot for the little Smiths.

So here we go.

The Smiths history is well documented on the webs, not as well as other brands, but enough to understand the basics.

One of the most popular models released by Smiths was the "De Luxe" incorporating a full "in-house" movement.
Although basic, it satisfied the needs of a Great Britain still recovering from the economical setbacks of WW2.

Anyway, enough history, let's see the watch.

As you can see it's had a hard life, but probably served somebody well for a number of years. The springboks (OK! we will call them springboks! Fkn auto corrupt!) are seized and holding on by the merest slivers of brass.
The crystal is undersized, the case is worn, the dial is rather dirty but the main hands still show the blue reflecting their former glory as does the gold plated Arabic numerals. The dial print is not as well defined as contemporary quality Swiss watches, but quite adequate and not as bad as "budget" watches.



The back indicates a well lived life too.



And if we pop the snap-back caseback off, we get a glimpse of the unique Smiths layout.

 

[STANDY]

Blue hands shot

 

[JimInOz]

Perfect lighting skills mate 👍.

 

[JimInOz]

Getting back after a trip to the de-ballasting point 😉.

A few interesting points. As you can see we have two styles of movement retainer.

The first, a standard movement retainer screw non one side of the movement.



But on the other side, an unattractive screw holding a tab that seems to be tailor made for the movement/case.



The last issue is a missing setting lever screw. This is a shouldered screw held between the plate and the bridge, and when "unscrewed" it pushes the setting lever down to let the stem/crown to be removed.
Maybe I can find one from my parts bucket. In the meantime I can use a probe to push the tube down and release the stem.

 

[JimInOz]

Before we go too far, the hands and dial need to be removed and stored.
Luckily the crystal obliged and just fell out, so I pulled the crown and set the hands to 12:00 in order to remove them.

Hmmm. A touch off. I'll need to make sure they're right when I fit them later.



Removal of the main hands using a dial mask and my nice Horotec levers only took a moment.



As did the removal of the sub-seconds hand, BUT, look at the "additional bits" under that hand 😲.

 

[JimInOz]

Now the hands are off, the movement and case need to be separated. As this movement is removed from the front of the mid-case, the bezel must be removed.

So using one of my favourite bezel removal tools, this is done.



With the bezel off the movement screws are removed and the movement/dial held in a holder to allow access and loosening of the dial retaining screws.
(Only loosening, not removing! They are buggers to get back in!)



With the dial off and out of the way, we can see the dial side and all of its parts. Nothing complex here and they are all removed without any dramas.


.

 

[noelekal]

Love Smiths!

Love your series showing one being worked on!

Thanks!

 

[JimInOz]

Flipping the movement and putting it in a nice vintage holder, the balance assembly can be removed and put on a balance holder and the pallet cock and lever removed to allow the last of the mainspring power to run down.



That allows the bridges to be lifted, exposing the basic power train.



The barrel/mainspring are next. It's obviously seen some wear and tear, but should clean up satisfactorily.

Top side.



Underside.



and when we pop open the barrel, we see the mainspring which isn't too bad considering age and condition.

 

[JimInOz]

The final disassembly involves the sprinklers 😀rolleyes😀.

Even though the lugs are open pin, there was no way these buggers were going to compress, so it was out with the persuaders.



and thigh that one, we can see how tenuous the grip would have been with these hair like pins on the ends of the springboks.



So there we are.

All disassembled and ready for a good clean and an inspection, then another good clean.

 

[JimInOz]

And is it just me...........or was the dial designer for the De Luxe nostalgically remembering "the night before" as he designed the logo?

😁

 

[Charlemagne1333]

JimInOz

And is it just me...........or was the dial designer for the De Luxe nostalgically remembering "the night before" as he designed the logo?

😁

 

[Engee]

Thank you - I love these threads. You are so generous to take us through these services in this way.

 

[JimInOz]

Charlemagne1333

Ah yes!

I forgot Sid got a job at Smiths 😁.

 

[LuckyLes]

Grat thread Jiminoz, I love reading these. Autocorrect is a bastard at times. As you can see I have it turned off.

 

[perks713]

JimInOz

Luckily the crystal obliged and just fell out

Ha! That’s what you’re really looking for in a crystal!

 

[JwRosenthal]

JimInOz

And is it just me...........or was the dial designer for the De Luxe nostalgically remembering "the night before" as he designed the logo?

😁

This is one of those things that once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

 

[Caliber561]

Guess we know what Meistersinger was really inspired by... 😗

 

[ghce]

Love Smiths watches esp the Deluxe and Astral versions, basic watches but the collectability factor is huge, they have a special place in NZ due to the Mt Everest and Antarctic connection of course all inspired by Sir Edmund Hillary, I love my Deluxe 15 Jewel it cost me an arm and a leg and my WM'ers more than a hundred hours to get sorted! luckily he loves vintage watches as much as me.

 

[SmithSJ]

Great post and they are nice watches. The dial on my early A409 looks very similar with perhaps less bling from the numerals

 

[ghce]

Here's mine to join the "Smiths Fest"

Edited: Jul 1, 2021