Summit Watches information please.

Does anyone have any information on the history of Summit Watches,I understand these were made at Summit House on Nursery St and were supplied to the forces in ww2.Better still anyone got one to sell? Did anyone work there?

I lived just off Nursery St. during the war and I cannot recall that factory.I would be interested to know the outcome of your question.

I would be surprised if the watches were actually made in Sheffield, and I can't find any mention of a watch factory in old directories, but I remember in the 1960s and 1970s Summit House on Nursery Street was the home of Julius Isaacs, watch importers and wholesalers. Here is an entry from the 1965 Kelly's Directory..

This may help you all

 

My first watch was a Summit. (1951 aged 11) Yes Summit watches came from Summit House on Nursery Stret

 

They were not made there, the company in Summit House had them made elsewhere, but no idea where

 

They were wholesalers of watches anf jewellery

 

My Uncle was a Watchmaker/Repairer/Jeweller located in Wodhouse. I went regularly to Summit House with my Uncle and my Father. Summit House was in fact a company owned by a Jewish Family by the name of Isaacs - the original company was called Julias Isaacs. I remember old Julias. He handed over to his son who was always known as Teddy. Also there was a Mr Stephens in the shop - married to Teddy's sister

 

They had a number of travelling salesmen during those years

 

I used to go in there regularly for items, up to mid 1960's when I moved to Driffield, then 2006 to Malaysia

 

With my father and uncle having passed away few years ago I cannot find out more. My father was good friends with Teddy.

 

Hope this is a help - Grey Emminence - Subang Jaya - Malaysia - 9-25pm Friday and 93 degrees !!!!

Thanks for that info Victor much appreciated,i will carry on my search.Thanks Hillsbro, i did see some thing a few years ago in Kelham Island museum about them but its all been altered now.

Edited October 25, 2013 by bullerboY

...the original company was called Julias Isaacs. I remember old Julias. He handed over to his son who was always known as Teddy...

Yes - census returns from 1891 show Julius Isaacs, born in Poland. He must have come to England in the 1880s, at first living with his older brother Henry in Leeds. He married Etty "Tillie" Appleson in 1901, and Teddy would have been their son (Albert) Edward, born 1910. The 1942 directory shows Julius Isaacs on Montgomery Road, with his business at the same address, and Albert E. Isaacs on Bents Road. It would have been Teddy that I met in 1975 when I took a Roamer watch for repair. It seems from BMD records that Teddy moved to Brent, North London where he died in March 2007 at the ripe old age of 96.

Where abouts on Nursery Street was this building?

Where abouts on Nursery Street was this building?

Just past the old Coroner's Court, on the corner of Joiner Street.

Prior to moving to Nursery Street, the business was run from premises visible from Moorhead, on the left going towards the Town Hall; I forget the name of the street. The move, I think, was in the late 1950's.

Does anyone have any information on the history of Summit Watches,I understand these were made at Summit House on Nursery St and were supplied to the forces in ww2.Better still anyone got one to sell? Did anyone work there?

 

Is this the watch you are on about?= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Mechanical-Summit-Square-Faced-Wristwatch-/271239525328

Is this the watch you are on about?= http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Mechanical-Summit-Square-Faced-Wristwatch-/271239525328

Yes thats a summit but ime after a round one like they supplied to the forces.Thanks for your interest and help.

Sounds 100% correct Hillsboro. Teddy was slightly older than my Father, so 1910 would be corect and the same guy.

When you took your watch there, the guys usually in the shop were Teddy - average build with silver grey hair, spectacles and usually smiling. His bother in law Mr Stephens would be a bit younger, taller, dark hair and moustach - that's all my 73.1/2 year old brain matter can curently remember.

Yes it was next to the Court House - wasn't that known as the Juvenile Court in the 1950's ?

Re your Roamer watch - Only other time I have heard of that make was in the mid 1950's. An Uncle who is a retired Coroner and lives in Worthing won one in a competition at Worthing Hospital in the mid 1950's. I know he still has it and in god working order - he was 90 earlier this month. I think at the time they were fairly expensive - only aspiring Coroners and Bank Employees could aford them !!!!!!

Grey Eminence - Subang Jaya - Malaysia