F. SMITH & Son, Southampton, début du XXème siècle Two-day marine compass or chronometer with brass case and gimbal. Mahogany and gilded brass case, with two side handles, beveled glass lid and white composition plaque on front with name and number. Silvered dial, signed and numbered 11.824, hour markers with Roman numerals and minute scale in black. Two small dials at 6 and 12 o'clock for seconds and power reserve with 56-hour maximum winding. Brass winding key. Case diameter: 12.7 cm. Case: 17.1 x 18.1 x 18.6 cm. A few scratches and minor wear bumps; a few spots of oxidation. With its inspection certificate (tear) from F. SMITH & Son dated December 17, 1970, giving the name of the ship the "Andes" on which it would have served and indicating that it gained 5 tenths of a second per day. Two liners have borne this name: One was built in 1913 and destroyed in 1952. The other, the steam turbine-powered RMS ANDES, built 1937-1939, was the cruise ship of the Royal Mail Lines fleet. She was requisitioned by the Royal Navy as soon as England entered the war as a troop transport. She returned to civilian life in 1948 on the Southampton, Rio de Janeiro - Buenos Aires route. From 1959-1960, she returned to Europe and became a cruise ship in the Netherlands. She was scrapped in Ghent in 1971. The certificate seems to correspond to the second liner, and appears to have been issued when the ship's bridge instruments were removed in December 1970, prior to her dismantling the following year. F. SMITH & Son was a manufacturer and reseller of optical and measuring instruments for the navy, both civilian and military, founded in Southampton in 1870 and still active at the beginning of the 20th century.