I am pleased to share the following photos and text from one of The PuristS community, Bill Taylor. Bill received his RW Smith watch this past September and documented the event for us. I apoligize for the delay in sharing this event, but we wanted to include Bill's good fortune with the launch of Roger Smith's website RWSmithWatches.com, which is now live.
I was fortunate to see Bill's RW Smith in October and the photos at the end of this post are from that evening.
Enjoy!
Bill Taylor's Comments
Roger Smith Wristwatch
A few days ago I had the thrill of receiving my Wristwatch from Roger Smith. It’s the first hand-built watch I’ve owned, and the first from a watchmaker I could actually talk to! A step into unknown territory, buying something valuable that I had not actually held in my hand.
After I had read Curtis Thomson’s first Roger Smith piece
on the Purists website last year, I sent Mr. Smith an e-mail about commissioning a watch. He responded immediately, and we made an appointment for a phone conversation the following morning, July 25, 2002.
Since I know a few brilliant clockmakers I was not surprised to discover Roger Smith to be most approachable, enthusiastic, and outgoing. (Contrary to what I originally expected, none of the master horologists I’ve encountered possess either inflated egos or hermit-like dispositions. Perhaps all the solitary hours at the bench make them enjoy the outside world more.) He was also very patient in explaining to a novice collector some of the details of the pieces in progress in the shop. It was a long and illuminating conversation.
By the end I had spoken for one of the remaining rectangular wristwatches Curtis had described, of a series of 12 in progress in Roger’s shop. After we had arranged the financial details, there followed a series of e-mails and phone calls in which he kept me up to date. Some of the e-mails give a taste of the difficulties of running a small business as a hand craftsman in an otherwise mass-produced world, and of coping with a rather, er, eager client.
10/17/02
Dear Bill,
I thought I should drop you a line to let you know that your wristwatch is progressing well. The case, dial and movement have been made and I am now giving the movement its final finish prior to gold plating.
I have been experiencing problems with the supplier of the case sapphire crystals and have not been happy with the quality of finish. With the help of a Swiss watchmaker I have now found a crystal maker who is capable of producing sapphires of the quality to suit the watch.
I will let you know when I have some further news.
Kind regards,
Roger
[Responding to what may have been a rather exasperating inquiry:]
December 17, 2002
Dear Bill,
No I am sorry it will not be ready for the end of 2002, I have . . . confirmed an order with a manufacturer [of the sapphires] in San Francisco USA for the case back ten days ago, and they gave me a five to six week delivery date. The sapphire for the front is being manufactured in Switzerland and I am still waiting for a firm delivery date.
I apologize for the delay but will keep you informed of the progress.
Kind regards,
Roger
December 20, 2002
Dear Bill,
I haven’t seen the [Curtis Thomson International Wristwatch] article yet, I expect it is delayed in the Christmas post, although I am relieved to hear that you think it is good.
[In response to your question,] the tourbillon wristwatch (for George Daniels) is coming on well although I have had to put it to one side until I complete yours and three other watches that I promised. I intend to put some ideas for my own watch together in March with the intention of starting in April 2003 . . .
In the mean time I hope you have a great Christmas and I hope to have a firm delivery date for your watch in the New Year.
Kind Regards,
Roger
March 11, 2003
Dear Bill,
I am writing to let you know that today I finally received the long awaited sapphire crystals for the front of the watch cases. This delay has sadly put back the delivery date for your yellow gold watch but today I have started its final assembly . . .
I hope all is well with you.
Best regards,
Roger
June 15, 2003
Dear Bill,
. . . your watch is now nearing completion and to once again give you my sincere apologies for the delay in you receiving your watch. On a brighter note on the 2nd June I delivered the first two watches out of this current run of four.
I have been very conscious of the delays in the making of this series and have been looking for someone to assist me in the workshop. Last Friday after many months of negotiation I managed to secure the employment of a very fine watchmaker, who for the past ten years has been working on some of the worlds most important watch collections. This appointment will allow me to speed up the manufacture of this series and to allow more time to concentrate on the making of the tourbillon wristwatches and the development of future watch projects.
I am also in the process of having a workshop built to the side of my house and am expecting its completion in early August, ready for the arrival of my first employee. The larger workshop will allow for expansion of my equipment and the possibility of a further employee in roughly a years time.
Tomorrow morning I leave the island for a week’s business trip to Germany; there I visit several manufacturers of equipment that I am interested in purchasing for the workshop. Unfortunately I will be unable to answer any questions you may have until my return.
I thank you once again for you patience and shall be in touch with a delivery date in the not too distant future.
I do hope that everything is well with you and that business is doing well.
Best regards,
Roger
[For a moment, it looked like I would make a business trip to England in August. Roger kindly invited me to visit the workshop. Alas, the trip never happened.]
June 24, 2003
A visit would be great; will you come to the island? If so how does mid August sound to you?
Andy starts at the beginning of August and the new workshop will only just have been finished. The couple of weeks will give me time to let things settle down again, your watch will have been completed by then and I will have had ample time to thoroughly test it. George’s tourbillon wristwatch will also be much further on for your inspection.
Please let me know what you think.
Best regards
Roger
[In a phone conversation, Roger mentioned the difficulty of insuring high-value shipments. I recommended Parcel Pro (www.parcelpro.com) who specializes in that business. Ultimately Roger’s own insurer came through.]
9/9/03
Re: Insurance cover for watch delivery
Dear Bill,
Today, I received a verbal ok from my insurers, and I will be covered for items in the post from the end of this week.
I am now in contact with the USA Embassy/Customs Department as I have been told that there may be problems with sending a crocodile strap through the US customs. Hopefully I will receive a reply to coincide with my insurers and then will send the watch to you. In the meantime can you please confirm your postal address and also your wrist size?
I will let you know the delivery details as soon as I have them to hand.
Best regards,
Roger
[I’ve had several adventures with Customs, mostly involving getting repaired watches back from Switzerland, and had visions of several months flying by. I replied that it would be easy to get a good strap here, and asked Roger to send the watch without one. Instead he sent a very high quality plain leather strap, along with an extra set of spring bars and a second gold buckle, with the promise of a crocodile strap to follow.]
9/12/03
Hello Bill,
Good to talk to you last night.
The paper work for your watch is now done. I tried to post the watch late this afternoon but was told that the parcel would probably sit in a warehouse until Sunday evening and so thought it would be best all round to post it on Monday of next week, that is if the Isle of Man postal service arrives in the 21st century over the weekend!! . . .
Over the past few months I have been working on a web site and as the information has accumulated I have realized that due to the handmade & hands on nature of the work, I can offer a personal service which to my knowledge no other watch manufacturer can. Now that the workshop is complete and Andy has started work I can put the finishing touches to the site and have it up and running by the end of the month. I will send you link.
Today I ordered a strap from my maker in France and will forward it as soon as I receive it.
I hope that you have a good weekend and will email you on Monday with the postal details.
Best regards,
Roger
9/15/03
Hello Bill,
This afternoon I posted your watch using Royal Mail, signed for international, Ref R1 1989 5GB. They said that it would take 5 to 7 days to reach you. I would be grateful if you could let me know when you receive it . . .
Look forward to hearing from you.
So on Friday September 19, a rather careworn package arrived on my chair,
bearing an exotic postmark.
Beneath the heavy brown wrapping paper was a box, bearing signs of a rough trip in the mails, wrapped all over with stout filament strapping tape.
Inside, perfectly protected by 6” of cushioning material on all sides and a sealed waterproof bag, was a beautiful blue leather box.
And inside that, on a velvet cushion, the Real Deal:
Part of my letter to Roger (e-mail won’t do for milestones):
Dear Roger,
. . . this morning the Wristwatch arrived, in perfect condition.
To say that the wait was worthwhile is understating. Having seen only photographs, I was bowled over. It’s breathtakingly beautiful from every angle and as English as (the) Dickens. [It] does truly look like it came “from the air” to quote Dr. Daniels.
I can only thank you, and wish you the long continuation of your much-deserved success. Please do not hesitate to refer any prospective client to me. It will be a joy to tell anyone who does not already know about Roger Smith!
Sincerely,
Bill Taylor ASC
In summary, he’s a pleasure to deal with, completely straightforward, a real gentleman and a great craftsman. And this is still the beginning of the Roger Smith story!
Additional comments from Bill
Roger Smith Wristwatch – October 2, 2003
In summary, Roger is a pleasure to deal with, completely straightforward, a real gentleman and a great craftsman.
Of course the best part of the story is that I wound up (sorry) with a wonderful watch. It fits my medium-size wrist perfectly and winds with almost uncanny smoothness. And it has caused some delightful neck-craning double-takes in one top watch store. “I thought I knew watches,” said the salesman.
A very pleasant half-hour spent looking around the dial and the display back with my 20X Nikon stereo field microscope revealed some remarkable details. For example, the engine-engraved field of the dial seems to be made of three pieces on two levels, not counting the applied hour markers. The engraving of the lettering and numbering is flawless.
My only quibble is that I can’t read the date without glasses. I guess it’s analogous to sports cars: when we get to the point in life where we can buy a great watch, our eyesight might not be good enough to read the dial!
It’s a good omen for the future of horology that Roger has achieved all this while still quite a young man. There’s no doubt we will be hearing much more from Roger Smith!
Bill Taylor
My photos of Bill's watch taken after dinner.
Fantastic watch, Bill! Congratulations and thanks for the time and effort in photos and text.
Cheers,
Curtis
(edited to correct hyper link tag)
This message has been edited by thepurist178 on Nov 13, 2003 10:09 PM This message has been edited by watchmaker on Nov 13, 2003 6:31 PM This message has been edited by watchmaker on Nov 13, 2003 6:01 PM
