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Daniels Wristwatch




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visit http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/lotw/2015-08-19



Daniels,  George  (1926-2011), master watchmaker, always believed he was born in London on 19 August 1926, although his birth was never registered. He was the first of ten children born in near poverty to George Thomas Daniels, cabinet maker, and Beatrice Cadou, a widow, and daughter of Robert Guy, colliery official. His parents married on 13 November 1926, at which time they were living at 106 Thorpedale Road, Islington. His elementary education was largely acquired on the streets of north London, and from the age of fourteen as an employee in a mattress factory. In 1944 he joined the second battalion of the Yorkshire regiment, and served in the Middle East until 1947.

Daniels's first career was that of watch repairer to the trade; a thankless occupation, cleaning and repairing watches for unappreciative and cost-conscious shopkeepers. However, a chance meeting with Cecil Clutton introduced him to the world of antique watches and from then on he quite simply never looked back. So rapid was his assimilation of this complex subject that within five years he was able to write, with Clutton, a major treatise on the history of watches (Watches, 1965). He married Juliet Ann Marryat (b. 1940), courier, and daughter of Robert Anthony Marryat, electrical engineer, on 13 June 1964. They had one daughter, Sarah Jane (b. 1965).

Once Daniels had decided to concentrate on the restoration of antique watches, it was inevitable that he would become acquainted with the work of the late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century French master horologist, Abraham-Louis Breguet. So close was his involvement with the Breguet company, which continued in existence in Paris, that it was even suggested by the then proprietor, Georges Brown, that Daniels might ultimately take over the company. This offer was declined but the encyclopaedic knowledge of Breguet's work gained from the many pieces which passed through his workshop enabled Daniels to write a definitive book, The Art of Breguet (1973).

Daniels's decision in 1968 to start making watches entirely by hand could not have been taken at a more inauspicious time. The watchmaking industry in the United Kingdom was virtually extinct and craftsman-made watches belonged to the previous centuries. Nevertheless, he succeeded, and his achievement in mastering the thirty-four separate crafts involved assured him a permanent place in the history of watchmaking. In all, he produced twenty-eight superb pocket and wrist watches which, on the rare occasions that they came on the market, commanded prices which reflected the widespread appreciation of his work. Each watch was made without a client in mind and was only sold when its maker was fully satisfied with both the performance of the watch and the suitability of its first owner. The philosophy underlying their design and manufacture soon became the familiar Daniels mantra, that a watch should have 'historic, intellectual, technical, aesthetic, amusing and useful properties'  (All in Good Time, 74).

Notwithstanding their elegance and superb craftsmanship, the first eight Daniels pocket watches exhibited little that was new to mechanical horology. They required a key to wind them and used an escapement that had been invented 200 years earlier. All this changed in 1974 when he received a commission to make a watch for the Time Museum in Rockford, Illinois. This commission, the only one he ever accepted, was from Seth Atwood, the owner of the museum, and specified that the watch must incorporate some innovative feature designed to enhance its performance. For several years Daniels had been pondering the possibility of improving the ubiquitous lever escapement, used in almost every watch for the previous 150 years. His deliberations culminated in the invention of the 'Daniels independent double-wheel escapement', which first saw the light of day in the watch made for Atwood. In this escapement, impulse is delivered directly to the balance, reducing sliding friction and promising both improved accuracy and significantly longer service intervals.

Such a watch, with its two escape wheels, symmetrical trains, and apparent complication was of immediate appeal to collectors, and four more examples were made over the next few years. However, the need for two mainsprings and nearly double the number of wheels was an effective bar to the commercial development of the new escapement. The solution lay in simplification, and much time was spent at the drawing board and in contemplation trying to achieve the same improvements with only one escape wheel. Ultimately, this proved impossible, but a design in which the two wheels are mounted one above the other and driven by only one mainspring did seem promising. Work began in 1976 on a completely new watch incorporating this escapement, by now called the 'Daniels co-axial escapement', and initial tests soon confirmed the maker's expectations. The watch had been in daily use for more than two years when it was sent to the chronometer department of the Royal Observatory at Herstmonceux for testing. The watch performed spectacularly well, recording no variation while in a constant position and only 1.6 seconds variation in rate between different positions. This extraordinary achievement was recognized by the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers who, in 1980, awarded Daniels their coveted Tompion medal.

It was at about this time that Daniels made his first approach to the Swiss watch industry. In 1975 he had successfully fitted a Daniels co-axial escapement to an Omega calibre 1045 wristwatch, but this had been received with indifference by an industry in crisis. Not only was traditional Swiss watchmaking in danger of collapse due to competition from the new electronic watches being developed in Japan, it was also the victim of an introverted, indeed xenophobic attitude to anything not originating in Switzerland. It must, therefore, have come as a welcome surprise when, in 1979, he was approached by Patek-Philippe who expressed serious interest in evaluating the co-axial escapement. Sadly, the negotiations did not go well. Equally frustrating meetings took place with Rolex.

The next ten years were difficult ones for Daniels. He continued to produce exquisite handmade watches while persevering in the promotion of his new escapement. It was not until 1994 that he noticed a change in the attitude of the Swiss industry towards his invention. By this time, the industry was enjoying a resurgence of interest in mechanical horology, and new luxury brands and models were being introduced. All the major brands competed to develop models incorporating more novelty and more complications than their rivals. It was in this atmosphere that the movement manufacturer, ETA, took a renewed interest in the co-axial escapement. After the production of a satisfactory prototype, ETA moved straight to production and, despite tooling delays of two years, the new watch was ready for its launch at the Basle Fair in 1999. Marketed under the Omega brand, the watch was now proudly labelled as having the 'Omega co-axial escapement'.

To record his invention of the co-axial escapement and to document his study of both the history and theory of watch escapements, Daniels wrote his own book on the subject, The Practical Watch Escapement (1994). This was undoubtedly the best treatise on escapement theory and the only one written by a practising watchmaker. Among his other books was an autobiography, All in Good Time (2000).

Daniels remained active until the end of his life. He continued to produce watches, ably assisted by his talented apprentice Roger Smith, who subsequently became a celebrated watchmaker in his own right. He also continued to enjoy his hobby of vintage motoring and in particular the restoration and driving of vintage Bentleys. This was perhaps the only thing that could seriously tempt him away from the watchmakers' bench. His honours and awards were numerous. These included the MBE in 1982 (advanced to CBE in 2010), an honorary doctorate from City University, and fellowships of the Society of Antiquaries of London, the British Horological Institute, and the American Horological Institute. He was awarded medals by the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers, the City and Guilds Institute, and the City of London.

Daniels's watches were a monument to his determination to succeed, whatever the obstacles, a determination which enabled him to survive throat cancer and two heart bypass operations as well as numerous major illnesses which would have seen off lesser men. He died on 21 October 2011 at his home on the Isle of Man, where he had lived since 1982. He was survived by his daughter, his marriage having ended in divorce. He had set up the George Daniels Educational Trust, linked to City University, to fund scholarships and research in horology, engineering, medicine, and construction. His collection of vintage cars was sold at auction in July 2012, raising some £10 million for the trust, and his collection of watches and clocks added another £8 million in November 2012. This included more than £1.3 million (a record for an English watch) for his 'Space Travellers' Watch' of 1982, incorporating the Daniels independent double-wheel escapement.

Andrew Crisford 

Sources  G. Daniels, All in good time (2000) + Independent on Sunday (5 Sept 2010) + Daily Telegraph (25 Oct 2011) + Economist (26 Nov 2011) + The Times (5 Nov 2011) + R. Smith, memorial service address, 16 April 2012, http://www.rwsmithwatches.com/george-daniels/ <http://www.rwsmithwatches.com/george-daniels/>,  accessed on 14 Aug 2014 + http://www.danielslondon.com/dr-george-daniels-cbe <http://www.danielslondon.com/dr-george-daniels-cbe>,  accessed on 14 Aug 2014 + personal knowledge (2015) + private information (2015) + m. cert.
Archives  FILM http://www.webofstories.com/play/george.daniels/22 <http://www.webofstories.com/play/george.daniels/22> + 'Clockwatch: The Daniels Wristwatch', BBC, 1999, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_XK2sR30Kw <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_XK2sR30Kw>
Likenesses  P. Jackson, photograph, 1976, Rex Features, London [see illus.] · obituary photographs · photographs, repro. in www.danielslondon.com/,  accessed on 19 June 2014 · photographs, repro. in http://www.rwsmithwatches.com/george-daniels <http://www.rwsmithwatches.com/george-daniels>/,  accessed on 19 June 2014




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