June 10th, 2023 | Words and photography by DAHTT
Smiths Traveller GMT.
Checking out a "flyer GMT" from a rejuvenated British brand.
For the uninitiated Smiths is a historic British brand which in recent years has been revived and now produces new watches.
Smiths are notoriously difficult to get hold of. Although they're reasonably priced and offer excellent value, they are manufactured in very small numbers and require you to register with the brands website. The website opens for sales periodically and watches tend to sell out in minutes.
So what's this very difficult to obtain GMT Traveller actually like then? Well, the answer is lovely.
Design is subjective, but I'm a big fan of the thermally blued hands with the orange hand for the second time zone against the off white dial, framed by the fully lumed blue bezel and protected by a sapphire crystal. Smiths are one of the only brands I know of that offer a fully lumed bezel anywhere near this price point, and the lume is both brilliant and long lasting.
The modestly sized 38mm case is simple but well executed with drilled lugs to make strap changes easy, and rated to 200m which is impressive and unusual for a GMT.
The bracelet has solid, screwed links including end links and a nice milled clasp. It should be noted that the overall quality of the bracelet far exceeds anything offered by the likes of Seiko in the same price bracket. The screw down crown is signed which is always a nice detailed touch.
The movement is a Miyota 9075, a traveller GMT with hand winding and hacking, with an antimagnetic movement protector. The traveller part means the main handset of the watch is the one designed to be changed and the orange hand is intended to keep track of the "home" time.
Watch enthusiasts will often tell you that "flyer" or "traveller" GMT's like this are proper GMT's, but I personally think a "caller" GMT is more useful to the vast majority of people and I would love to see a "caller" GMT option available.
Overall, once again Smiths seem to have produced a watch which offers incredible value.
If we compare it to the ubiquitous Seiko 5 "5KX" GMT, we begin to see just how much value. Priced almost identically, the Smiths offers twice the water resistance, a sapphire crystal to the Seiko's acrylic, a ceramic bezel to the Seiko's aluminium, and arguably a more refined set of proportions with equal or better finishing.
Spec's aside, you likely won't see many of these in the wild owing to how difficult they can be to get hold of, meaning for those who care about exclusivity it'll be a rare watch, far more so than the Seiko.
Few people are familiar with the Smiths brand, but for those in the know it's a company with a very rich history, who made some incredibly important watches throughout the decades.
Since the brands resurrection, some may have been concerned that the focus would remain on Smiths past. The debut summit of Everest and the W10 field watch are both important moments, but this Traveller GMT shows a brand looking forwards and producing new designs which are not only "on trend" but also offer better value than some of the industries heavy hitters.
To be able to achieve that as a micro brand or independent watch maker is no mean feat and I am certain that anyone who ends up with one of these lovely watches will be very happy with it!