Anglo-Celtic Company
Anglo Celtic
The reader is drawn to the two Smiths histories, Geoffrey Evans' "Time, time and time again" and Mansel Jones' very limited edition history of the Tick-Tock works.
At the government's instigation, the British company, Ingersoll Ltd, joined with Smiths (S Smith & Sons Ltd) and, briefly, Vickers-Armstrongs in setting up the Anglo-Celtic Watch Company Ltd (incorporated August 1945) on the Ynyscedwyn estate - affectionately known as the 'Tick Tock' works (officially Gurnos) - on the outskirts of the village of Ystradgynlais, near Swansea, Wales. Smiths then built their new Enfield clock (and watch-case) works next door.
The first model featured the same movement as the earlier American-designed British Ingersolls, now designated calibre PY. These watches were branded Ingersoll (Triumph for export markets) and Smiths Empire. A Swiss inspired RY low-jewel pin-pallet wrist-watch was developed in 1949 later followed by in-house designs such as the versatile fully jewelled TY and final SL. Ingersoll Ltd pulled out of the venture in 1969. Anglo-Celtic's final models included budget Swiss-made models. Between 1946 and 1980, when the factory closed down, over 30,000,000 watches were made, and exported to 60 different countries throughout the world.
