Review of the Timefactors Smiths Trans-global PRS-54
October 2022
This is my fourth review for Mr. Eddie Platts, the owner of Timefactors Watches.
My reviews illicit many reactions and thankfully an overwhelming number are positive. For those who require short, quick, and concise commentary, justifiable for those who are extremely busy or running from silenced pistol toting spies, please stop reading this and find a dark doorway to duck into.
My reviews are rather specifically designed to draw on memories, be unaware of “current correctness”, and create a venue for past reader recollections in the context of the review. The extended length of what I convey is specifically for the reader’s enjoyment, enhanced by a beverage of one’s choice, silence, and a comfortable chair. Many English literature classics would not be as revered if brevity had been the author’s goal; but I certainly am not of the writing caliber of any of those great authors, instead a rather acerbic old timer with a MacBook on its’ brightest setting and big sized text. The concept of “beverage of one’s choice” will be our theme for this review, as the PRS-54 in all of its’ glorious colors reminds me of the importance of simply having a relaxing and sometimes colorful drink, whether alcoholic or not alcoholic in consistency. Now to the fine wristwatches I am looking at.
How conceptually appropriate for today’s politically and economically difficult times that we have something we can afford and also long for. It is a happy distraction from inflation and political turmoil. The SMITHS Trans-global. I had a tough day. I shall have a Hendricks’ gin and tonic with, three cubes, and a lime twist. Look at my new watch ! This new SMITHS watch is so nice that anyone of any lifestyle can wear it and feel posh. Any person who is stylish and wants an elegant yet robust watch should have this one. Are there enough to go around?
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Typical of Timefactors, the SMTHS Trans-global is a high level homage to the past Universal - Geneve Polerouter wristwatch designed by the young Gerald Genta. He designed my iconic AP Royal Oak Offshore chronograph later in his life and this early effort was a great start to his talented career. Many articles about the “Polarouter”, it’s original name, are available online and I include references at this review’s end for those interested. Mr. Platts has, as is his custom, used much more robust and top notch components than the originals in his recreation, which he calls the SMITHS Trans-global. In so many very nice and elegant colors. Did I say elegant? I shall repeat this word a lot. Yes this watch is so really elegant that it should be sold with a free pass for a cocktail at any of the best bars in London, a place in the world were bars and cocktails are taken very, very seriously.
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What a case, what a lovely case. I‘ll have an Absolut vodka and bitter lemon soda with a lemon twist over ice. I have a new watch. A Trans-global, and it looks like nothing anyone has ever seen.
The shape of the stainless case is so sensual and sleek. The Emma Peel of wristwatch case sculpture. Just look at the way the lugs curve upwards and meet an almost seamlessly smooth bezel. No flaws whatsoever in any of the many I have examined. It has a screw on and sculpted -in- relief world map caseback which is most likely the aesthetically finest caseback Timefactors has ever done. It references the then unusual North pole jet airliner routes of the past. To have such watch case perfection in 316L stainless is becoming common with Timefactors products and something the purchaser should be very appreciative of getting. In a choice of several different colors which overall wear bigger than their 38mm would suggest. In fact, in certain colored dials, the watch is easily mistaken for a 42mm size, so no potential customer should be put off should they be of brobdingnagian size, as I am. (a good word to look up!) I shall repeat myself: SMITHS Trans-global has a superb, perfect, and very elegant case and caseback.
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The Crown, not the TV series, but the one on the Trans-global. It seals it up! Please pour me a large fresh lemonade over ice with a mint leaf and a lemon twist darling. Sitting in the yard reading, looking up at the clear blue cloudless sky hearing only distant birds, this is now relaxing heaven to me. Just like the light sky blue dialed version. You all thought I was going to mention Crown Royal whisky, didn’t you? But there are no brown dialed Trans-globals!
The Trans-global has a screw down crown and very high water resistance for an elegant and formal dress watch. It can go under liquid 330 feet! It can survive spilled bar drinks and barely gripped multiple dripping cocktails or beers as they are passed back to ones’ best mates, work colleagues , wives or husbands , girl or boyfriends. Sticky liquors found days later on one’s jewelry sometimes present a problem for those pieces which are water phobic. Many an heirloom pearl set or vintage JLC Reverso has been baptized in such a way and require professional cleansing. Personally, I despise sticky and filthy jewelry which becomes a biohazard over the years, regardless of the value. Not the case should you drink and carouse with a Trans-global, as dish soap and water return it to pre - soiree and hygienic status. This crown sealing benefit is due to Eddie’s concern over booze, pool, or ocean immersion whilst you are having a very good time of it. You will be hard pressed to find an elegant dress watch with this type of water resistant sealing. Enjoy yourself, the Trans-global can take it!
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The watch glass is sapphire, not Bombay Sapphire gin, but zirconia or maybe aluminum oxide. But I will, however, have a Bombay martini. The bottle is blue, just like one of the Trans-global dial. The cashews and hot spicy wasabi peas are very nice at this bar, and the seats are nicely padded. It is close to where I work. It has one of those new alcohol fueled fireplaces. Music is good. I shall return as a regular.
In the old days, we had acrylic watch crystals which came in all sorts of shapes and created may different optical refractions when viewed at certain angles, all which enhanced the wearer’s enjoyment. They very easily scratched horribly regardless of manufacturer claims. A heavy wool jumper was like sandpaper to them! Then, in the early 1980’s, we had new scratch resistant sapphire ones which were initially all flat and somewhat boring. Today we have the luxury of scratch resistant sapphire watch crystals of zirconium oxide in all sorts of shapes, thicknesses, colors, and sizes so we can again be creative with this particular watch component. The Trans-global has wonderfully elegant and curved sapphire crystal, angulated and emanating so perfectly from the surrounding bezel. It creates lovely magic when the applied dial markers are viewed from a particular angle. There is almost no visible rehaut; it is so imperceptible as to not be part of the angulated viewer’s experience. Tolerances are so tight and easily in the league of far more expensive luxury brands. If you buy this watch, you will definitely notice and enjoy this elegant and expensive feature.
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The jazz band in this establishment is great. They can play almost all the Jobim and Cole Porter classics which help me relax and chat with my future second wife. The band or bracelet on the Trans-global fit is great! “Just like you my dear, it looks like a million bucks!” “Please, yes, thank you, I shall have another Boulevardier!” ….and some more of those nuts. The black dialed version of Eddie’s new creation reminds me of this very cocktail.
I will get right to it: Can Eddie make a bracelet or what? The bracelet of the watch is really special. Originally supposed to be on leather in its long gestation, the watch now comes on a perfect “beads of rice” bracelet. All so perfectly polished and a difficult and costly thing to do. I would imagine the leather was replaced due to two things: weird import duties of the various countries around the world he ships to as well as the water resistant nature of this watch and the fact that the stainless bracelet is more water friendly and more expensive. This is just a guess on my part and I personally think that all Trans-globals will also look wonderful on different leather colored straps as well. We must understand that Mr. Platts has historically welcomed the challenge of offering the more costly options in the watch world at seriously low but profitable prices, hence, possibly, the change to the stainless bracelet. His challenge is accomplished, and this is to the purchaser’s benefit.
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The Clasp or Buckle:
Yes, I will have a Buckle vodka and grapefruit juice. There is indeed such a named vodka, and it luckily works for this paragraph of the review! The color of the salmon dialed Trans-global is the color of this drink. I like this color very much!
The cast clasp is brushed and polished so well. It is not too large, so it does not detract from the watch or it’s bracelet. It has a luxurious harmony and the SMITHS name is engraved in just the right size. It has push button releases on both sides and has micro adjustment holes on its sides. Real nice.
My only comment for improvement would be that I tend to wear my clasp more toward the edge of my large wrist as the watch and very long bracelet moves about on me, so that the clasp sometimes gaps a bit more with the bracelet than if they were centered on the underside of my wrist, where the flushness would make for no gap. A shorter bracelet retention pin may potentially improve this for someone like me. Again, this may be so esoterically non-important to many, but it happens to we larger wristed wearers as watches rotate around our wrists several degrees during the day for those of us who do not like too much bracelet constriction. Big people’s problems.
My one very small criticism. For readers of my past reviews, I give you, again, the very famous line, “I am no sycophant”.
The Movement:
Yes, let us talk about that. The movement reminds me to have a very nice Sake drink of my own invention. Not warmed, not served in some wooden box, but in a rocks glass over lots of ice with cucumber slices in the glass. Inexpensive Ozekisake brand works best and is great for this. Let others at the fancy highbrow sushi bar laugh, because it is cheap, real good, reliable, and satisfying. Great with good quality sushi, especially in the summer. Try it and see.
So just as this cocktail is inexpensive, good, Japanese, and very satisfying, so is the movement of the Trans-global! As many are aware, it is very difficult to source mechanical watch movements today, especially for boutique companies like Timefactors, who have in their past sourced rare new old stock historic mechanical movements from places far and wide.
A mechanical watch movement is a wonderful invention by many, many historic clock making people going back hundreds of years. Essentially you have a thin and very long round spring, wound up and encased in a small thin container called a barrel, which unravels like a windup toy to power a geartrain which is precisely sized to tell time in two 12 hour cycles by sticks called hands. The reason it does not all quickly unravel in a few seconds is due to a component called the hairspring and balance wheel which together act as sort of metronome for regulating the dissemination of the power held by the long wound up round spring inside the barrel. In an automatic watch, you additionally have some sort of movement rotor or pendulum which reacts to movement and winds the aforementioned spring in the barrel, the outside of which also turns the gears. This is quite very overly simplistic, but many watch lovers have little idea as to how a mechanical watch actually does its job. There are many online videos which show the viewer how they function, and I encourage the interested to see these animations. Why is this important? Because knowing what you need to power a wristwatch reliably is very important to a manufacturer and can be appreciated by the owner. A watch is banged around in all different temperatures and positions, so a reliable, robust, and cost effective movement is very necessary.
The Miyota - Citizen 9039 movement chosen by Mr. Platts for the SMITHS Trans-global satisfies all of these parameters. It is a high beat tough movement which is relatively easy to repair or replace, should that unlikely need happen. My guess is that the adult owner of a Trans-global may never need any servicing for his lifetime., except regulation should it get “banged up”. This is a controversial comment to make, and I am not a watchmaker movement repair person, so I have little professional authority to make my claim. I say this based upon my simple and basic experience with Seiko and Citizen watches I have owned since the early 1970’s. Basically they still work! Over fifty years later!
Just as with my Sake cocktail creation, the Miyota movement is a reasonably priced, tough reliable workhorse movement, which is almost trouble free and easily repaired or component replaced should unlikely difficulties arise. A great “heart” for this watch. Some may disagree but I think it a very good choice. Very satisfying in my elegant new watch.
More Sake please.
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The Dials and Handsets:
I will make a perfectly made iced tea over ice with a squeezed lemon wedge. Simple and most heavenly! The golden handset and dial indicators of the Trans-global with the cream colored dial equally please the wearer.
I don’t enjoy dairy cream with liquor laced drinks, it’s just me, therefore I cannot use any of those references, so this fresh iced tea which I am drinking as I write this reminds me of the cream dialed and golden indices version which I am currently wearing.
Maybe the rum coconut Malibu liquor would have worked? Too late!’
The dials and handsets of the Trans-globals must be mentioned together as they are in such good harmony. First, the bi-level dials with applied indicators are both simple, stunning, and true to the original UG Polerouter watches. The bullseye horizontal and vertical lines are perfect. All indicators have the original circular pattern, and their subtle “pie slice shape” and proportions and make the colored inner dial appear convexly curved as the original even though it may very well be flat. The illusion is perfect. The handset has all the correct proportions and matching gilt or silver coloring as well. There are no imperfections on any of them! Thankfully, Mr. Platts refrained from utilizing two original Polerouter options: both the lumed and dated versions. I believe that this offer piqued the interest of many students. After all, everyone is aware of how limited a student's budget typically is. We often search for sales and discounts because of this. To make my life as a student a little bit easier, I even discovered a
https://www.essaywritinglab.co.uk/buy-essays-online/ . Additionally, hire qualified writers for your writing jobs. My grades will go up as a result of this. The absence of these options makes this watch “spank”! It’s beauty is in its uncluttered symmetrical appearance, simplicity, and balance. It has all it needs to and nothing more. The true definition of elegance.
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What about the Sparkly blue one?
I have saved comment about the Aventurine dialed version until this review’s end. And for good reason. I will have a Blue Lagoon cocktail! Any crisps barkeep? Thank you.
What is “aventurine” anyway?
The blue aventurine is a form of quartz stone found in India which is supposed to have many “healing powers”. It is thought of as mystical by many. You can look it up and read all about it, and it is found naturally in a green color as well. Many watchmakers are suddenly using it as an expensive option on the dials of their watches, since it looks navy blue until light hits it, then it sparkles very nicely. Do you know that if you were to get a similar dial of quartz stone by a very famous watch manufacturer, it costs an extra $8-10,000 just for the dial! Timefactors charges the same price as the painted dialed versions, not a penny more, a wonderful miracle for those lucky enough to get this version. And what a version!
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So this review comes to a close, and hopefully many are still here and have not left to the bar!
The dial colors of this watch remind me of the many colors ones sees when staring at the liquor bottles behind a well stocked bar at 2AM, while waiting for one’s friends to finish up, yet they never seem to. It reflects the pensive thoughts one has at the late end of a formal or elegant evening, not inebriated but relaxed and “in thought”. Sitting at the bar thinking. A mental state, not an alcohol induced one. Few words spoken, observant, pensive, life appreciative, tough, simple, experienced, elegant, timeless.
This is what the SMITHS Trans-global says to me.
What will yours say to you?
Respectfully Submitted to TIMEFACTORS and Mr. Eddie Platts,
Thomas Tagliani DDS
https://thespringbar.com/blogs/guide...ve-polarouter/
https://shop.hodinkee.com/products/1...nt=18782022212
https://universalgenevepolerouter.co...outer-adverts/
