Smiths Everest Owner Review : Historical, confidential and comfortable

In 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and Tensing Norgay became the first men to climb Everest. The story is quite well-known among watch enthusiasts because it is widely shared by the market leader: Rolex equipped the climbers with Oyster Perpetuals designed especially for the event. This is the genesis of the famous Explorer model. But the Swiss watchmaker does not tell us that it was not alone in the affair. Smiths also equipped the expedition and gossip goes so far as to say that the English brand was on the climbers' wrists when the Rolexes were sleeping at the bottom of the bag. Disappeared during the quartz crisis, Smiths has been revitalized quite recently and works on relatively small productions. Ironically, part of their collection is made up of tributes to the Explorer, which I find quite regrettable. This PRS-25 Everest Expedition is therefore the direct descendant of the vintage A404 model, the same one worn by Hillary. The dial, very similar to the 1950s watch, has been housed in a 36mm vintage Explorer-type case with domed sides and pierced lugs. The build quality is excellent: sapphire crystal, thermally blued hands, Miyota 9000 series movement... in short, exemplary specifications for a watch in this range (less than €500). And it's not just a good watch. Both historic and confidential, this Smiths is an extremely interesting object to own. A desirable piece but desired by no one: it's the Explorer dedicated to not shining in society, the one you wear to wink at yourself.