Originally founded in 1851 by Samual Smith where he made automotive dials and cockpit instruments. He transitioned into clocks and finally wristwatches which came to a fore during ww2. Famously Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953 carried a Smiths De Lux watch to the summit of Everest as well as the more famous Rolex. Since 1996 Timefactors.com has been manufacturing and selling homage and re-edition timepieces from Omega 300 to Blancpain Fifty Fathoms. They now own the Smiths name and therefore sell many models from Smiths illustrious past.
The Smiths Everest PRS25 40mm is a homage to the Smiths De Luxe that clearly took its inspiration from the iconic Rolex Explorer Ref. 6150 launched in 1953 to celebrate the courageous climb. Borrowing elements of both these watches, Timefactors have created a modern interpretation of these classic timepieces. Its 40mm stainless steel Oyster style case has curves in all the right places. A lug to lug length of 50mm and a thickness of 14mm ensures a comfortable fit on the wrist. Polished and brushed surfaces transition with crisp edges. The sides are slightly convex adding to the comfort. On the right side, a screw-down crown. A polished bezel holds a hi-dome acrylic crystal. The matte black dial has an outer minute track with long lume coated lines. A lumed triangle at 12. Arabic numerals at 3, 6 and 9 are coated in C3 Superluminova luminescence with batons in between marking the hours. Cathedral hands are complemented by a lollipop centre seconds hand coated in C3 Superluminova luminescence. Text is minimalist with “Smiths" at 12 and in glossy black text “Everest" at 6. Just under the 6 “Great Britain” is printed, similar to the original that had "Made in England". All these vintage touches make for an appealing timepiece. On the reverse, a screw-down case back with “Smiths" engraved in the centre alongside the model number and water resistance. Inside an Automatic Miyota 9015, 24 jewels, 28,800 beats per hour. It has hand winding and hacking functionality. This movement belongs to the Miyota Premium Automatic range. It was first introduced in 2009. The watch comes fitted on a 22mm brushed stainless steel Oyster style bracelet with a signed folding clasp and the use of screws for link removal is a nice touch. Lug holes on the case make for easy strap swapping.