This Made in England Smiths stopwatch would have been a practical tool in a variety of settings. Model reference C201.
HOW DO WE DATE THIS WATCH?
The C201 stopwatch appears in Smiths catalogues from the 1950’s, but in 1961 the crown design changed slightly and extra text was added to the dial. It appeared throughout the 1960’s so we have picked a mid point year.
CONDITION
Smiths had two factories making timepieces, and they had different standards as they were aimed at different market segments. If you see ‘MADE IN GREAT BRITAIN’ at the bottom of the dial the watch will have been made in south Wales, at a factory shared with Ingersoll. This was the economy range of pin pallet watches, made for the working man. Meanwhile in Cheltenham, the better fully jewelled watches were being produced. These were more accurate and provided a longer service life, but they were more expensive. Cheltenham watches are marked ‘MADE IN ENGLAND’, just like this stopwatch is.
This example of the C201 stopwatch has some engraving on the case back that we do not fully understand, but could SI mean Smiths Instruments? The stopwatch starts, stops and resets via a three push system on the crown, and the crown is also used to wind the watch up. Everything is working correctly and there is little to report on any damage, bar a few marks to the chromed case.
This watch will be supplied with a basic presentation box and our Certificate of Authenticity.
Please see the HD video for more detail. All photos and videos are part of the description and are of the actual watch unless mentioned. We do not photoshop any pictures, and the images are copyright of birthyearwatches.com and should not be used without permission.
SIZE
Width with crown 66.4 mm (excluding bow)
Width without crown 51.3 mm
Case Thickness 17.5 mm
All sizes are approximate.
Included with this watch is a 1 month guarantee and free delivery to UK addresses. If you live outside the UK we can still deliver to most countries. Please see our Worldwide Shipping information, or Contact Us. Payment can be made by most credit or debit cards, bank transfer or PayPal.
From 1st September 2021 we will be planting a tree for every watch we sell, working with the International Tree Foundation (Est 1922) to make this business positive on carbon. By buying anything pre owned you are effectively reusing what already exists, but this takes it further and makes us feel good.
