British Precision Springs

British Precision Springs was established at Bishops Cleeve, near Cheltenam, by Smiths in 1938 to meet Government requirements for precision springs.

Between 1938 and the mid 1960 production of hairsprings expanded more that a hundred-fold.

During the early 1970s hairspring production began to slow down with the latter half of the seventies seeing the decline of clock and watch manufacturing by all European and British companies as they were unable to compete with lower cost quartz products offered by makers in the Far East.

In 1977 Smiths Industries undertook a major restructure of its clock and watch division, forming two separate companies, Smiths Industries Clock Co and Smiths Industries Watch Co, at the same accepting an offer of a management buy out for the British Precision Spring Company.

Sources of Information

• [1] British Precison Springs