The majority of the Deluxe branded British Rail watches are in fact Astral grade, and perfectly good watches, with the watch probably made to a price to suit a large customer.
A friend bought one of these for me the other day, a great friend who is always on the lookout for Smiths for me.
Oh well another indistinctive gold Deluxe and not in what he described as mint condition to be honest.
Cleaned it yesterday and finished the movement today, yes it is a Sunday, but I need next week to deal with customers repairs.
So I jumped the queue with the job, there's a few others of these awaiting preparation as the car dealers say.
Smiths are not Swiss when it comes to timekeeping adjustment. Most are a compromise of positions, but straight after servicing this movement gave theoretical timekeeping to within 15 secs a day in any one position, sometimes far better, often far worse requiring further investigation.
Anyway this little beauty with a fixed hairspring stud came up with a remarkable first reading, and to cut a long story short after further regulation the fourth run revealed a uniquely accurate Smiths, a hugely rare event and I show the four timing sessions on the summary readouts in order. You'll need to enlarge the image to read the details.
I know that real life performance will be normal, but its having the potential that gives it that edge.
Yes I know this is obsessive behaviour but if you're not a bit obsessive you're probably not a horologist.