George Daniels

Before there was a watch, there was a race. On the Isle of Man, where George Daniels made his watches and raced his cars, a shared love of beautiful mechanics brought him together with David Roscoe and his family. A decade later, that friendship would find its expression in the present Millennium wristwatch.

Made in 2001 for David Roscoe’s son, the present watch is one of only 48 yellow gold examples produced and is personally engraved HBR00. Its design carries many of the characteristics found in Daniels’ handmade pocket watches. The overlapping chapter rings are decorated with contrasting engine turned patterns and deeply engraved Roman numerals, complemented by the counterweighted seconds hand and distinctive arrow tipped hour hand. At six o’clock, the date displays the more classical of the two configurations found within the series, with the 31st indicated by a diamond shaped marker. The broadly spaced Daniels London signature, unusual crown placement at seven o’clock, stepped case and discreet lugs complete a design immediately recognisable as Daniels.

The same attention continues beneath the dial. The movement is finished in the traditional English manner, with gilded plates and blued screws, while the 18k gold winding weight is engine turned and set within a hand engraved eccentric holder. Preserved by its original owner since 2001, the present watch remains a remarkably complete expression of Daniels’ work.

Of all Daniels’ achievements, the co axial escapement remains perhaps his most important contribution to modern watchmaking. Conceived in the 1970s to reduce friction and dependence upon lubrication, it was finally introduced into serial production by Omega in 1999. The Millennium was created to celebrate this long awaited achievement, with the young Roger W. Smith working alongside Daniels on the project from 1998 to 2001. The series therefore represents both the realisation of Daniels’ life’s work and an early chapter in the career of the man who would continue his legacy.

Away from the watchmaker’s bench, Daniels shared the same fascination for vintage motor cars as David Roscoe, a longstanding member of the Vintage Sports Car Club, an active racer of his 4.3 litre Alvis Special and a director of Rolls Royce Motors at Crewe. True petrolheads, the two shared an appreciation for engineering, craftsmanship and the beauty of a well made machine, whether measured in millimetres or horsepower. They raced together on a number of occasions, including on the Isle of Man, where Roscoe’s family first met Daniels at the 1991 Manx Classic.

A decade later, following the 2001 Colerne sprint meeting, Roscoe asked Daniels if he might acquire two Millennium watches, one for each of his sons. Daniels was evidently touched, writing that he was “complimented” that Roscoe wished to give his sons watches he had designed and built. The present watch was delivered in December 2001, its case personally engraved with the initials HBR followed by “00”, a nod to the new millennium. In the same correspondence, Daniels indicated that the watches then being made “will be the last to be made”, placing the present wristwatch within the closing chapter of Millennium production.

Fresh to the market and offered directly by its original owner, the watch remains accompanied by an exceptional group of original documents, including Daniels’ handwritten “Made for” certificate, individual invoice, original instructions and personal correspondence with David Roscoe. Today, the watch leaves the family for the first time, yet the connection that began on the racetrack remains: its original owner still retains the very 4.3 litre Alvis that his father once raced alongside George Daniels on the Isle of Man.