George Daniels the Collector
By Simon de Burton
The fact that the late George Daniels was regarded by many as the greatest watchmaker of the 20th century – and by some as the greatest since Abraham-Louis Breguet – makes it a given that he should have had a magpie-like attitude to collecting interesting wrist and pocket watches. So it was no surprise that the dedicated Daniels auction organised by Sotheby's in 2012 a year after his death should be replete with an eclectic array of portable timepieces.
Daniels racing his 'blower' Bentley at Prescott Hill, courtesy of Revolution.
Among the lots in what proved to be an £8.2m sale were everything from a cylinder watch made in Augsburg, Germany as far back as 1550 to an inexpensive, quartz-powered 'talking watch' produced by Trafalgar in 1983. There were pieces, too, which had served as test mules during the great man's development of the Co-Axial movement, examples of modern makers whom he greatly admired – such as François-Paul Journe – and many watches by Omega, the brand that so benefited from Daniels' horological genius.
But that Sotheby's sale gave an insight not just into Daniels the watchmaker, but also into Daniels the collector of all things quality.
Daniels at his home on the Isle of Man with a clock by Joseph Knibb behind him, courtesy of Roger W. Smith.
Elsewhere among the lots wer