A Superb Example of a Vintage Smiths Astral Diver (CM4501) - Much Sought After and Rather Rare, An English Made Diving Watch - Caliber 60467e, Supplied With Vintage Smiths Box. 

Starting in London as Samuel Smith in 1851, progressing down the years to becoming S. Smith & Sons (Motor Accessories), receiving its first Royal Warrant in 1907 then becoming S. Smith & Sons (England) Ltd, which split into Smiths Motor Accessories Ltd, Smiths Aircraft Instruments Ltd, Smiths English Clocks Ltd, and Smiths Industrial Instruments Ltd. The factory in Cheltenham that eventually manufactured the high-quality timepieces featured here was built at the start of the Second World War. By the end of the Second World War, The Smiths Group comprised over 20 companies.

By the 1960s and the boom in popularity of dive watches, Smiths began to produce the Astral Dive watch. The case is very similar to many skin diver watches of the period due to the huge demand for such watches, manufacturers were able to produce large numbers of the same case to ship to a number of brands to mark their design within said case. The dial is gloss black with oversized 6 and 12 indices, luminous dots, and outer minutes track. Another signature dive watch feature on the Smiths Astral is the crown. Big crown dive watches have gained quite the following and often command a premium as in the early days of dive watches, crown guards were uncommon.

What's on offer

A much sought-after watch, especially for Smiths and dive watch enthusiasts, this example of the Smiths Astral is in very nice shape, from its rich black dial to the remarkably well preserved luminous hour plots. The oversized 12 and 6 balance a classic and simple dial design and along with the date aperture at 3 and 'big triangle' hour hand and syringe seconds hand, give the watch a fairly contemporary feel despite its 1960s vintage. The lume has aged to a really pleasing buttermilk colour, which offers a really prevalent contrast to the black and steel colourway. At 38mm this is a meaty watch on the wrist whilst remaining a comfortable everyday wearer. The bezel and case are in nice order and complete a really nice watch. The original glass that is still fitted is showing some signs of slight crazing in certain light! A classic dive design that has certainly stood the test of time, and that is also supplied with an original vintage Smiths box, snap it up as these watches do not stick around for long. Recently serviced by watchmaker John Senior, so rest assured this watch runs extremely well and keeps excellent time and comes with our 12 month warranty!

Additional information

Made from

Case: Stainless Steel

Dial: Black 

Crystal: Plexiglass

Bracelet: Black vintage with pin buckle

Technical specifications

Winding: Manual

Movement Type: Mechanical

Caliber: 60467e

Jewels: 17

Waterproof: When New

Power Reserve: 

Purchase details

Condition: Excellent

Model Reference: 

Date of issue: c.1960s

Warranty: 12 Months by VWS

Dimensions

Width: 38mm

Lug width: 18mm

Lug height: (lug to lug

Wrist size: Adjustable