George Daniels

It is no exaggeration to say that Daniels shaped the course of independent watchmaking as we know it. Inspired as much by traditional English style and craft as he was by the work of Abraham-Louis Breguet, from his workshop on the windswept Isle of Man, he single-handedly created a small number of highly finished pocket and wristwatches. Towards the latter period of his career, Daniels took on Roger W. Smith as his sole apprentice, with the two jointly creating the Anniversary and Millennium watches. Smith today carries on Daniels’ legacy.

When handling a Daniels’ piece, it becomes apparent that beyond the traditional application of finishing by hand and superior mechanics, it represents a part of horological history. The small number of wristwatches he made, owing in part to the labour-intensive nature of the Daniels Method, has meant that as knowledge about Daniels’ kind of watchmaking has spread, so has the interest in this momentous chapter of history. He has served as an inspiration to successive generations of watchmakers, many of whom like Kari Voutilainen and François-Paul Journe, have referred to the several books Daniels wrote as manuals to inform their craft.

With the watchmaker creating just one piece a year, each Daniels watch represents a kind of rarity seldom found even within watchmaking. Studying his philosophy and speaking at length to his sole apprentice and heir to his legacy, Smith, has heightened our appreciation of Daniels’ role in the story of independent watchmaking, especially in the British context.

Over the years we have been lucky to handle several examples of Daniels’ work, including elusive ones such as The Blue which, alongside a sibling piece called The White, was one of only four commissioned pieces Daniels enlisted Smith to create on his instructions.