G99
13685
We English have a great history of clock/watchmaking often forgotten
it seems that even english watchmakers today feel the need to locate to Switzerland, but over 300 years we have had a great history. the Longcase clock is a piece of English heritage. i wish we could retain a watch industry in UK other than just low volume, very high end pieces like George Daniels. thats life i suppose.
my mum and dad met in Fleet Street so its always been a good place for us.
thanks for the hard work and great pics.
Graham
The real English Masters
London is a city of continual change. For the latter half of the twentieth century, Fleet Street was thought of as the centre of the English newspaper industry. But turn the clock back 300 years, and the same area was the centre of English watchmaking. Ab...
Thank you Andrew...
for this great post. Interesting to see the continuity over 300 years of watchmaking, both in goals, improving the timekeeping, and in finishing. Thanks again for the great pictures and report, Don
Roger Smith and Peter Speake Marin are the ...
younger generation to carry on the tradition after George Daniels. Thanks Andrew for the wonderful report. Regards Ling
I would argue along with Stephen Forsey and Robert Greubel
who share the same English/French ancestry in terms of watchmaking as Daniels. Forsey and Daniels also share another common interest - that of restoring vintage racing Bentleys: ahci.watchprosite.com Thanks for reading Andrew H
Thank you, Andrew . . .
. . . for this post, as well as the posting on the private museum in Switzerland . . . most cordially, Art
Great read, Andrew!
There's something romantic about these masterful pieces you've photographed...really, really lovely clocks and watches. Thanks for sharing. It's also nice to see how you traced visually for us the continuity of certain design elements from the 18th centur...
Wonderful article! But there might be a tiny error ...
You wrote that the small subdial on the top right is a compass, but I doubt that. First, because a compass does not make much sense on a carriage or mantel clock, but even more, because North and South should normally be on the opposite, and not in a righ...
I think you are right - not sure where
I got the original thought from that it was a compass - what an idiot! Thanks Marcus. Andrew H
LOL! Eagle eye Marcus...
Even the academics among us benefit from "peer review..." thanks, Andrew, great article post! Did you see the Daniels in person? How would you compare the "finish" quality (no deeper meaning than that, for now...) compared to Roger Smith or KV/PhD? TM
Thomas, thanks! And thanks for the 'easy' question! I think what you have asked
is not really a valid question, and here is why. Yes, I did see the Daniels close up. I have not seen a Smith in the flesh and so cannot comment, nor a Kari, so the same disclaimer applies. I have seen Dufours, including the Duality, so I have some measur...
Brilliant.
Andrew, Thanks for a most informative post, love those clocks. Daniels' Tourbillon PW is sublime, Cheers, Tim
We English have a great history of clock/watchmaking often forgotten
it seems that even english watchmakers today feel the need to locate to Switzerland, but over 300 years we have had a great history. the Longcase clock is a piece of English heritage. i wish we could retain a watch industry in UK other than just low volum...
Thanks Andrew. You're on a roll.
First Beyer museum and now this. I can't wait for the next article. - SJX
Thanks SJX, although if you notice at the base of the main article
on the museum, there are links to other articles including this one. There is also an article on two special Rolex watches and an article on a very special Patek. Thanks for the kind words Andrew H
What a brilliant report!
Thanks Andrew - you've educated me a little more today and, to support traditional British watchmaking craftsmanship, edged me closer to a Roger Smith purchase...!!! Tim
George Daniels is one of the best watchmakers in the present.
Thanks for this exceptional report. I really can't stop looking at the pictures!
Thanks Andrew for the post
and as a Londoner I relly enjoyed it.Still shaking for the utter beauty and elegance of Daniels creation.But let me get it right,he only created a few models in his life,but are they available in auctions?Or they all have an owner by now?Yours,Mo.
Daniels watches only tend to come up for auction rarely
These are mainly the Millenium Watch he completed with the help of Roger Smith and after he had signed the deal with Omega for use of the co-axial escapement (a smart move by Omega in my book). The pocket watches (of which I think 30 something were produc...