Other 'Achievement' or 'famous' watches?
As part of my research for an article I wrote on the sole surviving Land Rover from the London-Singapore First Overland expedition in 1955-56, I was lucky enough to interview one of the expedition members, Tim Slessor. The book he authored on the expedition is widely regarded as one of the greatest travel books ever written.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxfo...ern_Expedition
While reading the book, I noticed a mention of the Smiths watches that the expedition party was supplied with, so I made sure to ask about them during my correspondence with Tim. I had a faint hope that he might still own/wear the watch, but he told me that it broke after ten years of hard field use - after returning from First Overland, Tim went on several other expeditions (writing books for them too). He’s not a watch enthusiast and the watch was merely a tool to him, so when it failed it was disposed of one way or another. He couldn’t quite remember the circs; this was 50 years ago after all!
I’m no Smiths expert, but I believe these would’ve been Everest models as the dates of the trip roughly tally with the launch IIRC, and it would seem a no-brainer to link then PR-wise. I sent Tim a link to various Smiths models but he couldn’t pick a particular one out as being recognisable as the models the party was given. I would love to find out and treat myself to one as a memory of my time researching/writing the Land Rover’s story and spending several enjoyable hours interviewing Tim, but if he doesn’t know I don’t know who will for sure today! Perhaps someone with more Smiths knowledge than me could dig into the numerous pictures from the expedition and have a stab at identifying them...
If you’ve made it this far into my post, then you should probably consider reading his book on the expedition - witty, well-written and an insight into the world as it was in the mid-50s. Only a few quid off Amazon, I’m sure i can post/PM a link if anyone’s struggling to find it.
Pic is of the six expedition team members and all their kit (including six Smiths watches in there somewhere)!
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...60edca4cc7.jpg
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