Smiths English Clocks
The London instrument maker that turned a speedometer factory into one of Britain's busiest clock works.
From jeweler's shop to speedometers
Smiths started as a retail clock and watch business. Grace's Guide to British Industrial History says Samuel Smith Senior founded S. Smith and Son in 1851, and that his son, Samuel Smith Junior, opened larger premises on the Strand in 1873, later adding shops in Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square.
The firm's future lay in instruments. In 1900 it produced the first British odometer and speedometer, and in 1914 a separate company, S. Smith and Sons (Motor Accessories), took over the speedometer and motor accessory business. The Science Museum Group notes that the clock division formed in 1931 began as part of that company. A factory built in Cricklewood, north London, in 1915 to make speedometers would later become the heart of Smiths' clockmaking.
Smiths English Clocks and the Sectric
Smiths English Clocks was formed in 1931 as the group's clock and watch division, with Cricklewood as its main factory. According to Grace's Guide, Smiths released some of the first synchronous electric clocks late that year. These clocks keep time by following the frequency of the mains supply.
Growth was fast. In 1932 Smiths bought English Clock and Watch Manufacturers of Coventry, gaining the Astral and Empire trade names, and output reached about 4,000 clocks a week. In 1934 it acquired the Enfield Clock Co., whose Edmonton factory kept making clocks under the Enfield name until about 1950. The Sectric name appears on Smiths electric clocks from 1937.
War changed the picture. In 1939 Smiths bought a 300-acre farm at Bishop's Cleeve near Cheltenham to move work away from the risk of bombing, and in August 1940 bombs destroyed Cricklewood's main instrument repair department. The Science Museum Group says the clock business was renamed Smiths Clocks and Watches Ltd in 1955.
How to identify a Smiths clock
Read the dial and the back. A mantel clock in the Museum of Design in Plastics carries the inscription SMITHS SECTRIC, MODEL CA, MADE IN ENGLAND. Its compression-molded case is urea formaldehyde, off-white marbled with orange, and the museum dates it to around the 1940s or 1950s.
Brent Museum and Archives holds another Sectric clock, with a Bakelite case, credited to Smiths English Clocks Ltd of Cricklewood and dated 1930 to 1945. Both museum clocks are small, about 130 to 140 millimeters tall, and they use different plastics: urea formaldehyde for one and Bakelite for the other. Grace's Guide's note that the Sectric name appears from 1937 can help narrow the date of a clock that carries it.
Names other than Smiths can also point to the group. Astral and Empire came with the Coventry purchase in 1932, and Enfield with the 1934 acquisition, so a clock bearing one of those marks may be a Smiths product of the same era.
The Science Museum Group's Smiths holdings show the range: a Sectric wall clock, a mystery clock with a synchronous movement, a 1948 wooden clock commemorating the opening of the Hoover factory in Merthyr Tydfil, and the Smiths De Luxe wristwatch Sir Edmund Hillary wore on Everest in 1953.
See also: mantel clocks for shelves and desks on OnlineClock.app.
What became of Smiths
The parent company was renamed S. Smith and Sons (England) in 1944, when Smiths English Clocks became one of its four divisions, alongside motor accessories and industrial and aircraft instruments. The group took the name Smiths Industries in the mid-1960s, with the main company formally renamed in 1966, according to Grace's Guide, and clocks became a shrinking part of the business.
The clock company closed in 1983. The wider group carried on in other industries and, after merging with Tube Investments in 2000, became Smiths Group plc.
Questions people ask
Does Smiths still make clocks?
No. Grace's Guide records that the Smiths clock company closed in 1983. The parent business continues as Smiths Group plc in other industries.
What does Sectric mean on a Smiths clock?
Sectric is the name that appears on Smiths electric clocks from 1937. Museum examples are synchronous clocks that run from mains power.
How do I tell how old my Smiths clock is?
Check the name on the dial and back. Sectric points to 1937 or later, while Astral, Empire and Enfield marks relate to companies Smiths bought in 1932 and 1934. Case material and style also help.