Bonhams 1793 : George Daniels. A very fine and rare 18ct white gold automatic calendar centre seconds wristwatch, one of only seven made in white gold, together with original box and receipts, correspondence and 2006 Retrospective Exhibition catalogue signed by Dr George Daniels Millennium, Made in 2000 and Sold November 22nd 2000

George Daniels. A very fine and rare 18ct white gold automatic calendar centre seconds wristwatch, together with original box and receipts, correspondences and 2006 Retrospective Exhibition catalogue signed by Dr George Daniels Millennium, Made in 2000 and Sold November 22nd 2000

18 Dec 2012 14:00 GMT London, New Bond Street
Fine Watches and Wristwatches
Back to auction 19810

George Daniels. A very fine and rare 18ct white gold automatic calendar centre seconds wristwatch, one of only seven made in white gold, together with original box and receipts, correspondence and 2006 Retrospective Exhibition catalogue signed by Dr George Daniels

Millennium, Made in 2000 and Sold November 22nd 2000
Jewelled automatic movement with Daniels' Co-axial escapement, free sprung balance with adjusting screws, gold guilloché engraved oscillating rotor, silvered guilloché engine turned dial with silver cartouches signed Daniels, London, with brush finish eccentric Roman chapter and outer five minute dot divisions, Arabic calendar chapter at 6, hand finished blued steel Daniels hands and typical form square ended sweep centre seconds, polished stepped white gold case with crown at 8, crystal exhibition back with hallmarks and original owner's initials engraved on the surrounding back bezel, fitted Daniels leather strap and 18ct white gold buckle, together with fitted Daniels box and spare leather strap, correspondence and instructions from Dr. Daniels to and from the owner, original receipts and signed copy of the 'George Daniels Retrospective Exhibition catalogue from 2006,' commemorative 'George Daniels, story of time' stamps issued in 2000, case, dial and movement signed
37mm.

Sold for £157,250 inc. premium

Footnotes

The late Dr George Daniels CBE was undoubtedly the most famous and well respected watch maker this world has known. Since 1969, Dr Daniels worked hard to successfully continue and revive the world of handmade mechanical watches which were threatened by the emergence of the quartz watch. He was most famously the first watchmaker in 200 years to invent a new watch escapement,'The Co-Axial,' which he declared to be 'designed to have low friction and so not affected by viscosity of oil, so that the greatest cause of change in rate is eliminated..'the escapement will actually run indefinitely.'

In 1994, Dr Daniels, by this time 68 years of age, not only wrote and published the entitled, 'The practical watch escapement,'but the launch of his Co-axial escapement at the Basel watch fair proved a huge success, after which ETA (part of the retail giants Swatch and Omega) agreed to commercially produce watches with this escapement. The prototype Daniels watch with the Co-axial was also completed in 1999, and thereafter 12 watches were made each year for four years.

This particular lot is only one of seven made in white gold and fitted with the Co-axial escapement. A similar watch is illustrated in the retrospective brochure, on page 87.(item 34)

Dr Daniels mentions in one of the letters to the owner dated 9th of February 2001 that, 'the production of watches by Omega are proving to be a huge commercial success. It is now delare [declared, sic] policy of the Company to use the Co-Axial escapement throughout their products...Yours is the first series of the Co-Axial which I'm sure will give you much pleasure.' In another he asks that 'as it is one of the first ever series with the Co-Axial watches, I would be interested, from time to time, to have your comments on its progress...'

We are most grateful to Mr David Newman for his help with the research on this watch.

Category: Clocks and Watches / Watches

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