33 minute read
considers the collectability of Shoji Hamada
WEST meets EAST
e Japanese potter Shoji Hamada and Bernard Leach were arguably the most in uential ceramicists of the 20th century. An exhibition opening this month reveals how a small West Sussex village was at the heart of the creative powerhouse
If Bernard Leach (1887-1979) was the father of British Studio pottery, then his friend and mentor Shoji Hamada (1894-1978) was its venerated uncle. roughout their 60-year friendship, during which time the pair founded e Leach Pottery in St Ives in 1920, they devised a creative philosophy which would in uence craftspeople in both the East and West for generations.
As the in uence of the arts and crafts movement was starting to wane, both men wanted to revive the dying folk arts of both England and Japan that were gradually being eroded by the industrialising forces of the 20th century.
Top Shoji Hamada (18941978), charger, decorated in light and dark brown trailed and brushed slip. Image courtesy of e Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent
Above Shoji Hamada (1894-1978) at his wheel. By kind permission of the Hamada Estate
Right Bernard Leach (1887-1979) large wide rimmed dish, greygreen and brown, 1930s, stoneware, celadon glaze brushed with iron. Image kindly provided by the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts
Village people
Central to their philosophy was a visit to the tiny English village of Ditchling in the South Downs, which, like St Ives, was a bohemian community of artists and designers experimenting with communal life, craftmanship and self-su ciency. Known as the Guild of St Joseph and St Dominic, the community was founded in 1913 by Eric Gill, the internationally-renowned, though controversial, sculptor, artist and typographer whose works ranged from the sculptures of Prospero and Ariel at Broadcasting House in London to the Gill Sans printing typeface.
When Hamada visited the lay community in 1920 he was captivated by the philosophy of the artists and apprentices at work and one woman in particular – the pioneering weaver and natural dyer, Ethel Mairet.
In later years, Hamada would embody Ditchling’s spirit in the Japanese craft movement known as Mingei. Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft’s curator Stephanie Fuller, said: “Hamada forged such a strong relationship with Mairet, who he visited several times in the 1920s, he exhibited her work in Tokyo and bought large quantities of fabric from her and fellow weaver Valentine Kilbride, to sell in Japan.” In fact so entranced was he by her work he had a number of suits made from tweed produced in Ditchling, one of which he wore when he got married rather than traditional Japanese clothing.
Early days
Hamada and Leach’s story was one of cross-cultural exchange from the start. Leach was born in Hong Kong in 1887, the son of English parents, and spent his early years in Japan and Singapore. Later sent to England for schooling, he studied at the Slade School of Art under Henry Tonks and Frank Brangwyn and when he returned to Japan in 1909 it was to study etching.
But it was around this time he discovered raku (a low red earthenware), a ring process which so amazed him he wrote: “I was carried away to a new world. Enthralled, I was on the spot seized with the desire to take up the craft”.
Leach became famously the rst Western potter to be trained in the Oriental tradition, having studied under the potter Ogata Kenzan VI, a descendent of one of Japan’s most famous potters who later inherited the title of the seventh Kenzan.
In 1916, he was invited to set up a pottery in Abiko which is where, three years later, he met the 25-yearold Hamada. At the time, Hamada, who was working at the Kyoto City Ceramic Research Institute, was already
familiar with the work of the English potter. (It is ironic that Hamada discovered the work of the English potter in Japan while Leach learned of the English slipware tradition reading Charles Lomax’s 1909 book Quaint Old English Pottery while living in Japan.)
Hamada had started his artistic education at the Tokyo School of Fine Art, studying wood work and, later, painting but went into ceramics because, as he subsequently wrote: “a pot will always be useful, even if it’s not a good pot.”
Having met at the Mikasa Gallery, Tokyo, the pair became friends and started a rapid exchange of crosscultural ideas sparking a friendship that would last a lifetime. Potter and author Edmund De Waal described Leach as “a kind of link or courier between English and Japanese potters in the interchange between our preindustrial tradition and theirs.”
Left Shoji Hamada (1894-1978), earthenware bottle with four lug handles, c.1920-1923, engobe and transparent glaze. Image courtesy of e Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent
Above right Ethel Mairet (1872-1952) spinning at the workshop at her home of Gospels, Ditchling, Sussex. Image kindly provided by the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts
Right Two hand-woven textile samples, made from hand-spun, vegetable-dyed wool, by Ethel Mairet, 1920-1925. Image kindly provided by the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts
Below e postcard was signed by Shoji Hamada and M. Yanagi. Image kindly provided by the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts
Below right Postcard sent to Ethel Mairet from Shoji Hamada, Hamada Pottery, dated March 12, 1922. Also signed by M. Yanagi and others. Image kindly provided by the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts
Ethel Mairet
One the artists who captivated Leach and Hamada in Ditchling was the weaver and natural dyer Ethel Mairet (1872- 1952). Mairet was born in Devon but her marriage in 1902 to the historian and philosopher Ananda Coomaraswamy took her to Sri Lanka, where she became fascinated by the country’s craft traditions. After separating from Coomaraswamy in 1910, by 1913 she had married Philip Mairet and was firmly focused on weaving and the research into vegetable dyes that culminated in the publication of her book A Book on Vegetable Dyes in 1916.
Printed by the poet Hilary Pepler, a friend from Ditchling, the book proposed alternatives to the chemical dyes that Mairet considered to be ugly, crude, and insipid. Instead she used acorns, elderberries , gorse bark, lichen, iris root, and other natural ingredients.
Mairet’s students at her Ditchling home of Gospels were drawn from the local community and included Petra Gill, Eric Gill’s daughter, as well as Peter Collingwood and Marianne Scrub.
Mutual bene t
In 1920, Hamada left his job in Kyoto to set o to England with Leach who, by then, he considered one of his “grand champions of pottery.”
In the UK in the 1920s, Japanese and Chinese pottery was viewed as the pinnacle of ceramic achievement, especially stoneware made during the Chinese Song dynasty (960–1279), which had become popular with European collectors. It was seen as a gold standard by which modern ceramics could be compared.
Hamada’s work was in uenced by a wide variety of folk ceramics including English medieval pottery, Okinawan stoneware, and Korean pottery. His detailed study of glazes in Kyoto was considered to be of great value to Leach, who had not been educated in these techniques.
St Ives
ey settled in St Ives in Cornwall, a small artistic community, where they set up a business. Leach purchased a small strip of land where they introduced Japanese kiln designs (built by the potter Tsurunoske Matsubayashi) to the UK and the West with a wood- red climbing kiln (noborigama) and a raku kiln. Both pursued their ideal of creating “genuine handicraft of quality” on a small scale.
In 1923, Hamada returned to Japan as he was concerned about his family following the disaster of the Kanto earthquake. Leach held raku parties on ursdays and his rst wife Muriel served Cornish teas for 1 shilling. e in uence of the East is also evident in other ways, from the use of the simple shapes inspired by the Japanese tea ceremony, the yunomis (Oriental teabowls), saki bottles, teapots and asks, to his interpretation of the glazes from the Sung dynasty (oatmeal, tenmoku, celadon). His repeated use of ‘graphic’ images such as the willow, the pagoda and the mountain range, created through simple brush strokes, is also straight from Japanese culture. But it was Hamada who rst broke into the art world in May 1923 with a solo exhibition at the Paterson Gallery in London.
Hamada’s legacy
In 1924, back in Japan, Hamada moved to Mashiko near Tokyo which had a ceramics tradition stretching back to the Edo period. During his time there he developed an internationally-signi cant centre for studio pottery that today plays host to over 600 potters.
At Mashiko he developed the ideology of Ditchling and e Leach Pottery, becoming one of the leading proponents with the art crtic and philosopher Yanagi Soetsu (1889-1961) of Mingei (folk craft).
Works had to ful l six criteria: it should be made by anonymous crafts people; produced by hand in quantity; inexpensive; used by the masses; functional in daily life and representative of the region in which it was produced.
In e Unknown Crafstman Yanagi wrote: “Bringing cheap and useful goods to the average household, industrialism has been a service to mankind, but at the cost of the heart, of warmth, friendliness and beauty. By contrast, articles well made by hand, though expensive, can be used in homes for generations, and thus considered, not expensive after all.”
Above Bernard Leach and Hamada with the Leach Pottery sta , 1960s. Image kindly provided by the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts
Below left Kiln plan, 1920s, design by Tsurunoske Matsubayashi, for the Leach Pottery, St. Ives. Image kindly provided by the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts
Below right Katherine Pleydell-Bouverie, cup, 1930s. Image kindly provided by the Crafts Study Centre, University for the Creative Arts
Opposite page top right Shoji Hamada (1894-1978) early Leach Pottery jar and cover, sold for £7,200 in May 2019. Image courtest of Maak
Opposite page bottom right Hamada Potter by Bernard Leach, rst edition, published by Kodansha International. Image courtesy of Maak
Mashiko-yaki pottery is distinguished by its use of local clay and glazes to create a simple, soft and thick style of pottery using dark brushstrokes, representing decorative elements of owers and leaves. Hamada’s work, in particular, combined the earthy tones of Mashiko clay with striking dripped glazes applied by ladle and brush.
As well as re ecting Ditchling’s ethos, Hamada’s move to a rural location was in uenced by his visits to the village. Hamada later wrote about his time in the South Downs: “People there were not just escaping to the country; they had one leg in the city and went there anytime they wanted.”
Shoji Hamada: A Japanese Potter in Ditchling, runs at the Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft from October 22. It features 70 ceramics, including 25 pieces by Hamada. For more details go to www.ditchlingmuseumartcraft.org.uk
Leach’s legacy
Back in Cornwall, Leach trained a new generation of artists. Michael Cardew (1901-1983) became the first student at The Leach Pottery in 1923 before setting up the Winchcombe Pottery in Gloucestershire in 1926, where he concentrated on affordable, slip-decorated earthenware. Norah Braden (1901-2001) joined the pottery in 1923 with Leach describing her as one of his most gifted pupils. In 1928, she joined Katharine PleydellBouverie (18951985) at her pottery in Coleshill, where she carried out extensive glaze experiments using ash glazes made from plants and wood.
&AQ
We asked ceramics expert Marijke Varrall-Jones, founder of Maak, a ceramics auction house and consultancy, for her collecting tips
QWhat were the prevailing ceramic trends in the 1920s?
AIn the early 1900s, Orientalism had grasped the taste of many collectors with designers and artists, such as William de Morgan and the Omega Workshops, creating ceramics which had absorbed Eastern infl uences. Previously, Orientalism and been more of an academic exercise in historicism (with Western potters looking to recreate the glazes of the East). But Leach was looking to fuse the best elements of the two cultures on a more philosophical level. The objective was to produce simple utilitarian wares valued for their craftsmanship with a return to traditional styles and techniques informed by Japanese crafts and heritage and blending these with the traditional techniques of English medieval country pottery.
QWhat techniques did Leach learn from Hamada and vice versa?
ALeach had fi rst been introduced to ceramics in 1911 and trained for two years under Ogata Kenzan VI, alongside his friend Tomimoto Kenkichi. However when he arrived in St Ives he relied heavily on the technical abilities of Hamada. They built the Leach Pottery together from scratch, constructing an Eastern-style three-chambered kiln (the fi rst in Europe). However Leach’s lack of technical skill was compensated by his artistic ability. Their working relationship was very much a partnership of exploration with them seeking to rediscover ‘lost’ techniques of 17th-century pottery.
QHow infl uential were the pair in the 1920s? – which of them received the biggest plaudits?
AThere was no rivalry between Leach and Hamada, it was a partnership. While early contemporary accounts refer to Hamada as “Mr Leach’s assistant” this was not a true refl ection of their relationship. It was in fact Hamada rather than Leach who was the fi rst of the two to be given his fi rst solo exhibition, which was both a critical and commercial success, introducing Hamada and, in turn, Leach to established collectors such as George Eumorfopoulos. Hamada’s second exhibition just six months later led to the fi rst review of a studio pottery exhibition in The Times.
The 1920s were more of a mixed decade for Leach, when he exhibited it was generally at the smaller galleries and critical response was more muted. He achieved greater critical success in Japan and would often send his best works to be sold there.
QWhat makes an ‘ideal’ Hamada piece?
AIt is so dependent on the collector and what you are drawn to as both men had highlight pieces throughout their careers. For example, one of my favourite pieces by Hamada Shoji is an early raku jar and cover that was produced in St Ives around 1922. It is decorated in a Chinese ‘Sancai’ style with running vivid glazes over an incised cream slip. It is a fantastic piece that shows both cultures colliding.
QWhich potter currently has the biggest ‘clout’?
AFashion always plays a part with collecting and they have both had fl uctuations within the market, however as two ‘fathers’ of studio pottery and given the importance of their work, there is always a demand.
When no two works are the same, or can even draw direct comparisons, a likefor-like comparison is never possible. As ever, determining desirability comes down to the individual work and any associated provenance.
QBoth men promoted utilitarian ware. Did they make pieces aimed at collectors?
AThere was always a dichotomy within Leach’s philosophy and his practice. On the one hand his ambition was to realise the Mingei philosophy that true art and beauty could be found in modest, useful wares made by the ‘unconscious’ craftsman. On the other hand he was making fi ner exhibition pieces for sale in Mayfair galleries. All his works were signed with the SI seal of the Leach Pottery, usually impressed. All his personal works were signed with his BL initials, either impressed, incised or painted.
Hamada embodied the Mingei philosophy more closely. In St Ives he used an impressed mark in Japanese character alongside the Leach Pottery seal for his personal works, on his return to Japan he ceased marking his work, wishing the character of his work to speak for itself. However, in the true Japanese tradition his works were accompanied by a wooden box that is inscribed and bears the personal seal of Hamada. The presence of the original signed wooden box with his work is an important part of the provenance and completion of the piece.
Maak’s next sale Pioneer Potters, Modern and Contemporary Ceramics is from November 14-17. For more details go to www.maaklondon.com
IN THE Loupe
With the nation marking the death of Queen Elizabeth II, we put mourning jewellery in the spotlight. Plus we reveal a lesserknown but eminently collectable English watchmaker
A 33.66 carat brilliant-cut diamond ring with yellow and white gold sold for $378,000 (£323,000), against an estimate of $250,000-$350,000 (£213,000-£300,000) at Christie’s New York online sale which ended on August 18
Mourning Time
As we grieve the death of Queen Elizabeth II, we remember how previous generations mourned the passing of both their monarchs and loved ones
Main Skeleton in co n pendant, Europe, 1701-1900, by Science Museum, London. Credit: Science Museum, London. Public Domain I n the 16th century life looked very di erent from today. Death stalked at every turn – untreatable diseases and infant mortality was high and life expectancy low. It is no wonder that the concept of memento mori (remember you must die) became an important aspect in literature and art. e phrase Vanitas vanitatum, et omnia vanitas (vanity of vanities, all is vanity) re ected the fact earthly life is ultimately empty. Vanitas paintings of the period depicted skulls, rotting fruit, melting candles and clocks as symbols of the transience of life. e concept was also re ected in momento mori jewellery, the precursor to the mourning jewellery of the 18th and 19th centuries.
But unlike mourning jewellery, which sought to remember a loved one, momento mori jewellery (like vanitas paintings) incorporated imagery of skulls, co ns and skeletons alongside philosophical mottoes composed in Latin, French or English intended to be seen only by the intended recipient or wearer.
Did you know?
The Latin phrase ‘memento mori’ translates as ‘remember you must die’
Virtuous life
e concept of memento mori was based on the Christian tradition of using death as a reminder to be virtuous in life, re ecting on both the eeting nature of life compared to the eternal nature of death. When it came to jewellery it was a constant reminder to live virtuously now (and go to heaven), rather than burn eternally in hell.
Elizabeth Doyle of Doyle & Doyle, New York, said: “In the highly religious society of the time, it was important to live piously so that you could enjoy the afterlife. Ironically, most people who seek out momento mori jewellery today interpret this to mean live life to its fullest and enjoy today because you never know when your time will come.”
Auctioneer Charles Hanson re ected on another important use. He said: “In an age where the Church and the monarch desired complete authority, memento mori jewellery helped to cement the power of both among a largely illiterate population.”
But as time went on, memento mori jewellery became as much a statement about personal identity and selfre ection as it was a reminder of death. e wealthy and elite led the fashion, with symbolism the core principle used to re ect social and cultural values.
Baroque in uences began to permeate jewellery design during the 1680s. While the skeleton symbolism remained popular, shapes became more rectangular. e imagery of entwining acanthus owers became more common, with designs also in uenced by the architecture of the period.
Death of a king
e execution of Charles I in 1649 prompted the emergence of memorial jewellery, with loyal Royalist supporters wearing jewellery set with a secret inscription or image to mourn their dead king. e carved rock crystal
Above Momento mori and mourning jewellery has fascinated for centuries, image courtesy of Tennants
Right omas Richard Williams (18241871). Daguerreotype stereograph evoking the temporary nature of life and the inevitability of death. It includes a human skull, an hourglass with the sand running out and an abandoned book, image courtesy of the Wellcome Institute. Public Domain
Below A pair of silver and gold Stuart crystal cu inks, c.1700, with octagonal faceted rock crystal covers, over a monogram believed to be that of the Earls of Bose-Lyon, sold for £1,700 against an estimate of £200-£300 at Sworders’ ne jewellery sale on June 28. Also pictured are Stuart crystal rings, slide, pendant and earrings from the early 18th century stones were mounted over ciphers made of gold wire, displayed upon a background of hair work, and set in simple gold rings to show support for the monarchy.
Called Stuart crystals, some pre-date the 1700s, but it was from these roots that the popularity of the 18th- century memorial ring began to grow. With the reign of Charles II came a greater freedom for self-expression and religious tolerance, challenging traditional thought.
Seismic events such as the Great Plague in 1665 and the Great Fire of London in 1666 left a lasting impression on society and promoted the widespread wearing of mourning jewellery.
By the 1740s the Stuart crystal ring had evolved into the Georgian mourning ring: a smaller crystal or gemstone-set bezel with a reeded back. e more important the loved one was thought to be the greater the number of diamonds set in the ring’s shoulders. Some rings had engraved and enamelled skeletons stretching around the exterior of the band, with the birth and death dates of the deceased engraved on an enamel and gold scrolled shank.
memorial rings of this type are known to exist, all of which were made by Charles Rawlings of London. Contemporary accounts suggest that these rings were associated with Byron’s family and close friends. One of the other rings is held in the Pforzheimer Collection in the New York Public Library; the other ring, which was sold at auction in 2013, contained a lock of Byron’s hair. Because many were kept as souvenirs and not worn, they were passed through families, meaning they can today be found on the market in pristine condition.
In terms of style, the Baroque in uence gave way to Rococo designs in the 1730s, seeing a taste for ribbon and
Left An 18-carat gold enamel memorial ring, for Lord Byron, the inner band engraved Died 19 April 1824 Aged 36, it sold for £9,200 against an estimate of £3,000-£5,000, image courtesy of Tennants
Georgian mourning
In an era without photographs or any modern-day way to remember a loved one, unlike memento mori pieces, mourning jewellery was clearly designed and intended to keep a lost love in mind, commemorating family members and friends who had sadly died. e only areas that the two had in common was that they were both generally made of gold and enamelled in black.
Tennants jewellery specialist Jessica Fall said: “Decorated with symbols of death, such as a skeleton, a co n, a reaper, or undertaker’s tools, mourning rings exhorted their owner to live life to the fullest while they still could. Interestingly, it was often the deceased who paid for the rings, speci cally leaving money in their wills for family and friends to buy rings. Indeed, Shakespeare left a large sum for friends to buy gold rings in his memory.”
By the mid 18th century, mourning rings were all the rage among well-to-do families who would allocate money in their wills to provide a lasting souvenir of their life. Samuel Pepys left 123 rings on his death in 1703. Robert Walpole, Earl of Orford, died in 1745 and left 72 rings at a cost of £1 each. In 2018, a rare memorial ring made for the Romantic poet Lord Byron (1788-1824) sold for £9,200. Only two other known examples of Lord Byron
Above right Death and the lady. e king of terrors: or, messenger of mortality, 1760, woodcut, with watercolour, image courtesy of the Wellcome Institute
Below A black enamelled mourning ring, dated 1722, depicted a skull and crossbones with the inscription E.Taylor. OBT. 9.Mar 1722 AETA 80. It sold for £1,500 at Hansons in 2021, against an estimate £400-£600
Left A mourning ring of sepia painted ivory in a lozenge form, depicting a maiden at an urn below a weeping willow, inscribed Joseph Walker OB 23 Dec 1782 AE 59, sold for £420, against an estimate of £300-£400, image courtesy of Tennants
scroll motifs, gold wirework and oral elements.
By the mid-18th century the famous skull and crossbone motif had allbut disappeared to be replaced with neo-classical images of a grieving widow beneath a weeping willow or beside a tomb, onto which the deceased’s initials were carvedand their details engraved into the reverse of the ring head.
Hair today
By the end ofthe century mourning rings were produced on alarge scale, with jewellers keeping a selection in stock ready to be personalised with initials and dates. Hair, a tangible linkwith the deceased, began to be incorporated, with steamed and plaited strands stu ed into tubes of open metalwork and shaped into bow pins, watch chains, and necklaces.
As fashions changed e s e e e s ed s e de Queen Victoria it e to appear outdated d s ess d ess.
Above An early Victorian mourning brooch e es Wilson 55
Above right Fine polychrome mourning brooch with garlands and love birds
Right A collection of 19th-century and early 20th-century mourning rings and a locket on chain, has an estimate of £2,000-£4,000 at Tennants’ sale on September 19
‘By the mid-18th century the famous skull and crossbone motif had all but disappeared to be replaced with neo-classical images of a grieving widow beneath a weeping willow tree or beside a tomb onto which the deceased’s initials were carved and their details engraved into the reverse of the ring head’
Victorian jewellery
In comparison to previous examples, Victorian mourning jewellery incorporated motifs that were less macabre. Victorian symbolism was much more subtle with common motifs including crosses, anchors (which symbolised steadfast faith) and a hand holding a yew branch or flower. Pearls, which often symbolised tears, were among the most common accents in mourning pieces.
It was also common for pieces to include a lock of the deceased’s hair, often in a compartment at the back. Black was the colour of “deep mourning” with jet being the most popular material used, along with vulcanite and gutta percha.
Jessica Fall said: “Firmly established by the Victorian era, mourning rings and other pieces of memorial jewellery were enormously influenced by the deep mourning of Prince Albert by Queen Victoria in the wake of his death in 1861. The pair had shared a love of jewellery and frequently commissioning pieces together. Victoria continued the tradition, favouring pieces made in memory of Albert and other lost loved ones.”
e time has come
On the eve of the sale of three watches by George Daniels, widely considered the greatest watchmaker in living history Antique Collecting considers an out-of-favour English brand fast making a comeback
With many of the recent industry headlines going to next month’s Geneva sale of three watches by the Londonborn maker George Daniels (1926-2011), it seemed a tting time to consider one of the relative unknowns of the British watch industry.
Defunct from the 1970s, the name of Smith & Son may be unknown to many, but the former Cotswolds-based maker is fast returning to watch lovers’ consciousness – and wrists. For good reason. If you think Edmund Hillary only wore a Rolex on his ascent of Everest, think again – he also wore a watch by Smiths – now in the Science Museum. Indeed Smiths watches are so undervalued, GQ magazine recently dubbed them “best-value vintage timepieces of them all”.
Ewbank’s watch specialist, Nick Orringe, said: “Vintage Smiths are more than a nod to British manufacturing. ey are great value and relatively plentiful, allowing you to build a vintage watch collection on a reasonable budget.
Below A Smiths Astral National 1, Astral 15 and Deluxe 15 sold for £180 against an estimate of £60-£80 in 2020, image courtesy of Wilson 55
S. Smith & Son, London, pocket chronometer with one minute tourbillon, sold for $35,000 against an estimate of $3,000-$5,000 in 2021 in New York, image courtesy of Christie’s
e background
Samuel Smith & Son has a long and interesting history. First established by Samuel Smith in 1851, it soon became one of London’s premier clock and pocket watch retailers. By the turn of the 20th century, it was the most prominent London maker of complicated watches responsible for a small series of tourbillon watches with a movement supplied by the Swiss maker Nicole Nielsen and responsible for some of the nest, and most complicated, English watches ever made.
Automobile industry
After WWI Smith Sons took on the Coventry-based rm of H Williamson Ltd, then trading as ‘English Clock and Watch manufacturers Ltd.’. But with the development of the car industry, and aircraft instrumentation, the company opened a new division speci cally geared
towards automotive accessories company focussing on speedometers and odometers. eir instruments graced the dashboards of many new British cars and it wasn’t long before S. Smith & Sons had a dominating presence in the market.
In 1939 further diversi cation took place when part of the factory was handed over to wristwatches. By the end of the year Smiths was making 8,000 jewelled lever escapements a week.
Military model
With the outbreak of WWII, the immediate task was to produce a wristwatch of su cient quality to rival the Swiss. Central to the challenge was Robert Lenoir, a French-born, Swiss-trained watchmaker who had settled in England after WWI. At the time Smith & Sons were based in Cricklewood, London, producing much-needed aircraft instrumentation. To avoid enemy boming the company was asked to develop a shadow factory near Cheltenham, later named CH1, it was soon followed by a second factory. e main task of both was to produce aviation clocks as well as pocket watches, stopwatches and even a centre-seconds watch for the RAF.
In 1944. Smiths was commissioned to make a military wristwatch which didn’t end up going into production. However the same model was later converted into one of the rst civilian watches produced by the company.
By 1951, Smiths’ nickel- nished plates had given way to a frosted nish and a new 12.15 calibre. With a modern case and dial design, the movement provided a great success and the watch was marketed as its “De Luxe”.
Top e Smiths watch worn by Edmund Hillary on his ascent of Everest, now in the Clockmakers’ Museum in the Science Museum, image Wikicommons
Above Smiths’ 1950s advertising campaign made the most of Hillary’s acheivement, image courtesy of Andrew Rollings
Above right Smiths didn’t market the exact model that Hillary took to the summit of Everest but its De Luxe A404 is considered the closest commercial model to it, image courtesy of Andrew Rollings
Left S. Smith & Son, London, a gold grande and petite chronograph. It sold for £218,750 in 2019, image courtesy of Christie’s
Conquering Everest
In its water-resistant case, the De-Luxe was on one of the watches carried by Edmund Hillary on his Everest ascent in 1953. As any watch lover will tell you the popular belief, backed up by a persuasive marketing campaign, was that the mountaineer was wearing a Rolex.
The reality is both watches were taken on the expedition. Andrew Rollings, quoted on the outdoorjournal.com writes: “Both Rolex and Smiths wanted to see their watches on the summit and it is undeniable that the expedition was equipped with around two dozen watches from Rolex and Smiths. These were distributed unevenly across the team, with some members ending up with multiple watches and others ending up with just one.”
e ‘50s
By 1959 Smiths had introduced the manually-wound calibre 0104, marketed as the “Imperial”. Not unexpectedly it also used the name “Everest” for its most expensive automatic watch, and the name “Astral” which used an updated 12.15 movement. A variation of the Astral name on the dial is often seen is the addition of either “National 17” or “National 15” in red, depending on whether it is a 17 (centre-seconds) or 15-jewel movement. e new releases grew in September 1965 with the
A Smiths pocket watch, sold for £45 in 2018, image courtesy of Wilson 55
Horological Journal reporting a ve-fold demand for the Astral.
In 1969 Smiths issued a W10 watch to the British Army as part of a larger contract it won to supply the army with a general service watch. e W10 had an all-stainless-steel case with the movement inside protected from magnetic elds by an iron dial and an iron dust cover sitting inside the case back. e last UK mechanical watch to be issued to the British Army, they were used by British personnel during the Falklands War and up to the rst Gulf War at the beginning of the 1990s.
But despite the boom, the sale of of Smiths watches declined due to changes in the market caused by the advent of quartz watches and cheaper overseas production methods. Smiths quite suddenly ceased production in its Cheltenham factory in 1971.
Smiths specialist Andrew Rollings said: “ e supply of these watches is nite, therefore their value is rapidly appreciating and catching up with the prices paid for more exclusive antique watches.”
George Daniels
Watches by the illustrious English watchmaker go under the hammer in Switzerland next month
In 2019 when the ‘Space Traveller I’ pocket watch, invented by George Daniels to commemorate the fi rst Moon landing, sold for £3.6m it set a world record for an English-made watch and became the most expensive independent timepiece ever sold at auction. Next month three more watches by the “founding father of independent watchmaking”, go on sale at Phillips Geneva with estimates ranging from £223,000 to £1m. Some achievement for a man who started mending watches as a child and left school at 14, but went on to invent the co-axial escapement. An innovation which made mechanical watches as accurate as electronic ones and revolutionised the way watches were made. A year after Daniels died at the age of 85 in 2011 at his Isle of Man home his personal watch collection sold for £8m.
Top 1940s Smiths military watch which did not go into production but was later converted to a civilian model, image courtesy of Andrew Rollings
Above left George Daniels © photo courtesy of Roger Smith, image courtesy of Phillips
Left George Daniels’ springcase tourbillon in yellow gold has an estimate in excess of CHF 1m (£930,000) at next month’s sale, image courtesy of Phillips
Right e A420 was launched in 1958 and marketed as “Watches for engineers and atomic scientists”. A few years ago they could be bought for £200 and now top £500 plus image courtesy of Andrew Rollings
Collecting Guide
Smiths expert Andrew Rollings, who bought his fi rst Smiths watch 30 years ago for £10, recalls his fascination with the watch brand
As a young teen, my father managed a factory near a television repair shop and I spent many happy days digging through its skip disassembling TVs and video players. At the same time, aged 13, I found an old, battered Smiths Deluxe at a car boot sale and my fascination for the watch brand grew.
When it comes to collecting there are hundreds of Smiths models to choose from. Many collectors start with three holy grail watches from the expedition era namely the A404, A454 and A409. Smiths’ Everest Automatic, the only fully Englishmade automatic watch ever produced, now regularly fetches £1,000 to £1,500.
Similarly, some of the military models that Smiths produced for the British army in the 1960s (few were made) are closing in on £10,000.
Made in England
Look for ‘Made in England’ watches which were made in the Cheltenham factory with movements based on the Jaeger LeCoultre watches of the era. These watches compare favourably with modern, Swiss movements and were often 15, 17, 19 or, in the case of the Everest Automatic, even 25 jewelled. These regularly fetch £1,000 to £1,500. Avoid the ‘Made in Great Britain’ models, which came from the Anglo-Welsh watch company in Ystradgynlais and had basic movements. But even these are starting to appreciate in value. They claim to be fi ve jewelled but the movements are prone to wear and, with the lack of jewelling, the balance staff s are easily broken.
The later, 1971-1980 models were a mixed bag. Some of them used Swiss movements which were solid. You can still pick them up quite cheaply but the Taiwan movements from 1975 to 1980 are poor and best avoided altogether.
Andrew Rollings is a restorer and retailer of original vintage Smiths watches. For more details and his stock of Smiths watches for sale go to www.rollinixsmithswatches.com
