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Here is a one-of-a-kind Series 1, a rare watch of which only 18 examples exist, with a closed waiting list. The watch features a dial with customisations proposed by A Collected Man, with a view to creating a minimal interpretation of Smith’s immediately recognisable aesthetic. The 38mm case is crafted from white gold and is paired with a silver dial. The Roman numeral hour markers typically found on all Roger W. Smith watches have been replaced by simple baton markers. Twenty per cent of the profits from this sale will be donated to the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers.

Worth Reading

The new Series 1 was created in 2013, the result of popular client enthusiasm for a time-only watch, much like the Roger W. Smith GREAT Britain unique piece, a travelling exhibition watch crafted to showcase the best of British watchmaking around the world. To date, only 18 examples of the Series 1 have been produced.

On this particular example, the round, white gold case measures 38mm across, excluding the fluted crown. It marks a return to a more classical case size, after the 40mm size Roger W. Smith watches have been offered in over the last few years. It wears sapphire crystal on the front and back and the rear of the case bears the engraved hallmarks of the precious metal the case is forged from. The lugs are straight, and the watch comes on a black Saffiano leather strap, supplied by Roger W. Smith. It features a signed tang buckle.

The silver, round dial, is recognisably one of Smith’s, but with customisations by A Collected Man. The outer chapter has engraved black minute markers. A fluted trench separates it from a second chapter of brushed silver with engraved hour markers. Those familiar with Roger W. Smith will note that the Roman numerals typical of the watchmaker’s dials have been replaced by batons, A Collected Man’s pared back interpretation of the watchmaker’s aesthetic. Further in, the dial is adorned with engine-turned, basket-weave guilloche and at 12 o’clock, a cartouche bears the “R. W. SMITH" mark, engraved in black.

At six o’clock is a large, subsidiary-seconds register decorated with diamond guilloche, circled by drilled, black dots marking the seconds. A slim, white gold seconds’ hand, with the signature pronounced counter-balance, traverses the face of the seconds’ register. The white gold hour and minute hands feature spade tips, scalloped by hand, much like the rest of the dial.

The movement, seen through the sapphire caseback, is very much of the British school, visually centred around the three-quarter main plate. The finishing, inspired by pocket watches of Tompion, Graham and Arnold, shows why Roger W. Smith is widely regarded as the flag-bearer of British haute horology. It is understated, finished with English frosting in a warm, golden tone, with heat-blued screws and the red of the rubies offering visual contrast. A raised barrel bridge adds a level of depth to the movement. Cartouches with the Roger W. Smith mark, the serial number as well as the triskelion motif of the Isle of Man are on the main plate. Another cartouche bears the numbers 2021, the year the watch was created. The owner of the watch will have the option of replacing this with a cartouche with an engraving of their name or initials.

Smith says, “A Collected Man was looking to do something different. The idea was a very simplistic, stripped back dial. I was a bit doubtful initially. However, as soon as the designs came through, I was very impressed, and I thought it was a good fit with my work.” Silas Walton, the founder of A Collected Man, added, “The goal was to marry our design philosophy, that favours less over more, with Roger’s refined aesthetic. The minimal dial, together with the simplicity of the 38mm white metal, time-only Series 1, perfectly expresses what we at ACM love best about R.W. Smith”.

While A Collected Man is the exclusively approved seller of pre-owned Roger W. Smith watches, this one-of-a-kind watch is the culmination of a close relationship with the watchmaker. “The watch is a result of our friendship that has developed over many years. A Collected Man has always been very interested in independent watchmaking and has in part been responsible for the light that has been shone on it today,” says Smith.

If sold within the United Kingdom, this Roger W. Smith Series 1 One-of-a-kind Piece For A Collected Man will be subject to 20% VAT.

The story of Roger W. Smith

Name: Series 1, Unique Piece, White Gold, Auction
Brand: Roger W. Smith
SKU: WWG_R920
Price: 120000.00 GBP
Availability: OutOfStock

The canon of independent watchmaking, particularly since the turn of the Millennium, would be truncated without referencing Roger W. Smith. Long before he famously became the sole apprentice to the late Dr George Daniels, mastering the 34 skills that comprise the Daniels Method, he was a young teenager looking for his way in life. Not particularly academically inclined, he enrolled at the erstwhile British Horological Institute in Manchester.

While legend goes that that he would meet his mentor at a talk Daniels was giving at the Manchester School of Horology, it was during his time working as a watchmaker with Tag Heuer that Smith would have his first meaningful interaction with the master watchmaker. He wrote to Daniels, asking to be his apprentice, an advance the latter politely declined. Undeterred, he set up a workshop in his parents’ garage and began working on his own pocket watch. Despite his efforts – he had poured two years of his life into it – his first attempt at a pocket watch was a failure. Daniels dismissed it, saying it appeared “handmade”, rather than “created”.

Smith started again from scratch, perfecting his skills while relearning others to a standard Daniels would approve of. After working on it for five years, Smith nervously presented it to Daniels who, after closely scrutinising it, offered Smith the apprenticeship he had coveted for so long. Smith moved to the Isle of Man and there began a fruitful symbiotic relationship. “I got to learn all I could from the man, and he got a young pair of skilled hands to help finish the work he had started,” Smith said of his time working with Daniels.

The skills he acquired from this experience helped Smith transition from pocket watches to wristwatches. In 2001 he set up his own workshop, down the street from Daniels’ and began work on his first watch, marrying modern production techniques to the Daniels Method, whilst finding ways to improve on the Daniels’ Co-Axial escapement.

His watches, be they the Series 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5, have all featured Smith’s style, marked by the signature scalloped hands, intricate guilloche and ornate engravings that adorn the movement. Owing to exacting and hand-finished nature of his process, Smith’s body of work from the last two decades is understandably small. However, it is undoubtedly substantial in its significance as the very pinnacle of modern independent watchmaking in Britain. Today, his workshop employs the next generation of watchmakers whom Smith is mentoring much as Daniels guided him.

Brand:	Roger W. Smith
Model:	Series 1
Movement:	Roger W. Smith’s single wheel version of Dr George Daniels’ co-axial escapement
Functions:	Time only – hours, minutes, sub-seconds
Case material:	White gold
Case diameter:	38mm x 45.7mm
Crystal:	Sapphire front and back
Strap:	Black leather Roger W. Smith strap with Roger Smith signed white gold buckle
Lug width:	18 x 16mm
Year:	2021
Box & papers:	Full set – box, papers and accompanying materials

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Roger W. Smith Series 1, Unique Piece, White Gold, Auction

Worth Reading

Specifications

Closer look

The story of Roger W. Smith

Further Reading

From the Bench: Roger Smith

By A Collected Man

The Watchmaking Journey of Roger W. Smith

By Russell Sheldrake

George Daniels the Collector

By Simon de Burton