July 9th, 2023 | Words and photography by DAHTT
Mechanical. Durable. Affordable.
Smiths W10 reissue punches way above its weight.
For many years I wore a Rolex Oyster Perpetual 36mm ref' 116000 as my daily watch. At some point I foolishly sold the OP to my brother (thankfully it's now back in my collection). With the Rolex absent, I found myself in need of a reliable watch for work which ticked some of the same boxes. Enter the Smiths PRS-29A. What started as a box ticking exercise turned into a bit of a love affair.
I've often described this watch to friends as "all the watch I'll ever need" and it's true, nothing else in my collection offers so much for so little.
Indulge me waxing lyrical for a few moments then about this wonderful little watch.
Let's get spec's out of the way. The case is 36mm, with a 46.8mm lug to lug. The architecture and design is almost indistinguishable from the 1960's Smiths W10 on which it's based, albeit with some meaningful differences.
The overall diameter is a millimeter larger and where the lugs on the original were fixed, the reissue has drilled lugs with shoulderless spring bars. At a glance with the NATO removed you might mistake the shoulderless spring bars for fixed lugs, but the flexibility to attach a rubber/leather two piece is welcome.
Water resistance is 100m. The case finishing deserves special mention. Everything is brushed, but the quality of the brushing is exceptional. It's difficult to explain how simple brushing can be exceptional, but when you hold this watch and inspect the edges and uniformity of the finishing, you'd be forgiven for assuming this was a much more expensive watch from a much bigger brand. The finishing is miles better than any other modern Smiths watch I've handled.
The crystal is a beautiful box sapphire which protrudes well beyond the case. It evokes the romance of vintage acrylic closer than you might expect, while providing all the practically of scratch resistance with anti-reflective coating on the underside.
In my humble opinion this is the perfect approach to modern versions of vintage style watches. If Lorier offered this as an option I'd buy some of their watches!
The lume is not faux vintage and the aesthic is all the better for it in my opinion. The Super Luminova C3 glows brightly and lasts longer than almost anything else in my watch box.
The movement is an ETA 2801-2, a handwinding, hacking workhorse with 42hr power reserve beating away at 28,000vpm. I guess you're either in the camp that turns your nose up at commonly used ETA movements, or like me you love that wherever you take it to be serviced or repaired it will be met with familiarity and the associated lower maintenance costs and parts availability.
About that handwinding, having only ever owned automatic watches when I bought it, I was worried I would be annoyed by the necessity to wind a watch every few days. The reality is, winding the watch is one of the best bits about it.
I've built a connection with this watch that I don't get with my auto's. It depends on me just as I depend on it. Every few days I pause, pull the crown out and interact with a tiny mechanism, simultaneously simple and complex, the pause gives room for thought, a moment for reflection in an otherwise busy day.
If you've never owned a handwinding watch, it's an experience I would highly recommend.
The strict parameters which dictated the design of the original W10 make for a very legible watch. I used to use this watch for work where legibility is a compelling factor for me, but the adherence to those parameters makes for an overall aesthetic which excites the bits of my brain that loves mid century design.
I'll wear this watch on a NATO (the supplied NATO - not pictured - is the best quality I've ever come across), but I'll also dress it up on a leather or a jubilee. The simplistic language makes it more versatile than you might image a field watch could ever be.
I've worn this watch for work, I've worn it on dates, I've clunked it against the engine of broken down Land Rovers, mixed cement with it on, I've worn it to meetings where a more expensive watch would be distasteful, and I've gazed at it for hours on my bedside table marvelling in its design and execution.
This little watch sits in a box alongside watches which cost ten times more, and punches way above where it has any right to. I reach for it so often. It most definitely is all the watch I'll ever need.