Model Boat Mayhem

Mess Deck: General Section => Chit-Chat => Topic started by: Neil on November 06, 2012, 01:49:44 pm

Title: watches and time pieces
Post by: Neil on November 06, 2012, 01:49:44 pm
there was a thread on here a while ago about what you would pay for a watch.........well just have a look at these........all hand made in the latter part of the last century, 1980's by a chap in Isle of Man, called george Daniels..............all made from scratch and hand made..............some of the most beautiful workmanship I have ever seen.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/george-daniels-so-l12313/lots.list.1.html (http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/ecatalogue/2012/george-daniels-so-l12313/lots.list.1.html)
Title: Re: watches and time pieces
Post by: Artistmike on November 06, 2012, 02:01:54 pm
Yes he was an amazing watchmaker, unfortunately he died in 2011 but was the inventor of the co-axial escapement that Omega now uses. Not many people are capable of hand-making watches like his. One of the great men in the industry....
Title: Re: watches and time pieces
Post by: Grumpy Dave on November 08, 2012, 09:53:44 pm
There was a write up about him in the SaturdayTorygraph colour supplement a couple of weeks ago also about the fact that English hand made watches are some of the best in the world. I just wish I had the money to collect them.
Title: Re: watches and time pieces
Post by: Artistmike on November 09, 2012, 07:27:51 am
There was a write up about him in the SaturdayTorygraph colour supplement a couple of weeks ago also about the fact that English hand made watches are some of the best in the world. I just wish I had the money to collect them.

Indeed, and George Daniels stands out, even amongst a very rich heritage of clock and watch making that this country had, being considered the top watchmaker in the world in his lifetime and arguably one of the best for a couple of centuries.  I'm very pleased to say that at least amongst the many honours he received from around the world, he was awarded the CBE from this country for his contribution to the science before he died.

It's a great shame that we have lost our watch making heritage, like many other engineering based skills it has slowly vapourised but his invention of the co-axial escapement has arguably been the salvation of Omega and the Swatch/ETA group. It was a huge step forward in horology and a real piece of innovation.

It's worth noting that his skills enabled him to hand make a watch that was accurate to within less than a second a month, absolutely amazing workmanship....

His most famous piece, the Space Travellers watch sold at the auction for £1,329,250 and in all the total was over £8 million, ' which has gone to the George Daniels Educational Trust, which helps students seeking higher education in the fields of horology, engineering, medicine, building or construction.'

It's a huge shame that in these days where celebrity status is applied to those with the most basic abilities, that people like George Daniels aren't better known and held up as an example of the real engineering skills that some are still capable of and whose efforts have gone on to help the young excel in their own fields.