George Daniels Millennium wristwatch at Sotheby's sale Sept 25th

[inspector gadget]

A chance to own an example of possibly the finest watch ever made, George Daniels Millennium wristwatch at Sotheby's sale.

https://tinyurl.com/yd2lv26w

Catalogue here

https://tinyurl.com/yddrqrje

[inspector gadget]

A nice Rolex GMT at less than RRP, or possibly the 'Kermit' flat four, there are so many nice pieces there to drool over even if I don't win the lotto tonight. 6538 anyone?

[Nicholas]

A chance to own an example of possibly the finest watch ever made, George Daniels Millennium wristwatch at Sotheby's sale.

https://tinyurl.com/yd2lv26w

Catalogue here

https://tinyurl.com/yddrqrje

I would love to afford a George Daniels watch and suspect that will go for a great deal more than the estimate.

[gettinon]

I would love to afford a George Daniels watch and suspect that will go for a great deal more than the estimate.

Nail on the Head, which will push it a tad over my budget

[alfat33]

Thanks for posting. I always love reading about Daniels’ watches and I think he was a rare genius. The co-axial balance really appeals to me.

This may be a stupid question but that has never stopped me before. Is that an Incabloc shock protection in the balance? That would seem at odds with the philosophy of making everything himself.

[greenandblack]

Hadn’t read the comments before looking at the link - that estimate was way lower than I expected


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[stefmcd]

I can pay cash today....

[Skier]

Would love to have the spare cash to bid on the George Daniels watch. I also noticed the Breguet pocket watch with a £4k to £6k estimate; I suspect it will go for a huge amount more than that even though it's a relatively plain design.

[Der Amf]

Thanks for posting. I always love reading about Daniels’ watches and I think he was a rare genius. The co-axial balance really appeals to me.

This may be a stupid question but that has never stopped me before. Is that an Incabloc shock protection in the balance? That would seem at odds with the philosophy of making everything himself.

The Millennium watches were not made by George Daniels alone. They were designed and made by him and Roger Smith. See here:

He then asked Roger to assist him with production of a new series of wristwatches.

The Millennium series was launched in 1998 to celebrate the acceptance of the Daniels Co-axial escapement by the Swiss watch industry, and were made using the first movements to contain the Daniels Co-axial escapement that came off the Omega production line.

George Daniels and Roger Smith worked together for over three years creating the Millennium series and, following the huge success of this series, Roger finally opened his own studio making watches under his own name, R.W.Smith.

If anything, these watches have more in common with the low production series created by Roger Smith than the various one-off watches created by Daniels during his life

[P.Sheridan]

Lots 78 & 81 are quite nice.

[Parabola]

I love the comically low estimates

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[alfat33]

If anything, these watches have more in common with the low production series created by Roger Smith than the various one-off watches created by Daniels during his life

Good point, I remember reading about these now. A run of about 50 or so? Thanks for pointing it out.

[Nicholas]

It went for £200k + fees.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/...54/lot.99.html


Still seems a good deal.

[WhopperSenior]

I understand watches like this but I don't think anyone actually wears them. Interesting from an academic standpoint although not my cup of tea.

[JimbobIJones]

It went for £200k + fees.
http://www.sothebys.com/en/auctions/...54/lot.99.html


Still seems a good deal.

My theory is that the fact that the movement is a base Omega/ETA one held back the price. I bet it would have gone for a lot more if it was one of his "handmade from scratch" ones.

Daniels worked with Omega/ETA to demonstrate the co-axial movement for these particular watches/movements. It's essentially (but obviously finished to a ludicrously higher standard) an Omega 1120 - which itself is a ETA 2892 modified for Omega - which Daniels modified to take his co-axial movement. So one can see it as the prototype for the 2500 co-axials Omega used before they moved to the 8500s.

[inspector gadget]

I love this quote

Dr George Daniels began making watches in 1967 as he was motivated by, and deeply sceptical of, the rise of the quartz watch movement; one entirely reliant upon a battery. Never one to shy away from speaking his mind, he admitted that he was, "incensed by the hysterical adulation of the quartz watch by people who didn't really understand it's failings". One of these failings he went on to describe, stating that, "it is the dedicated ambition of every battery to commit suicide as soon as possible."

My theory is that the fact that the movement is a base Omega/ETA one held back the price. I bet it would have gone for a lot more if it was one of his "handmade from scratch" ones.

Daniels worked with Omega/ETA to demonstrate the co-axial movement for these particular watches/movements. It's essentially (but obviously finished to a ludicrously higher standard) an Omega 1120 - which itself is a ETA 2892 modified for Omega - which Daniels modified to take his co-axial movement. So one can see it as the prototype for the 2500 co-axials Omega used before they moved to the 8500s.

[alfat33]

”One of these failings he went on to describe, stating that, "it is the dedicated ambition of every battery to commit suicide as soon as possible."

He sounds a bit reactionary there, but to be fair of the 5 non functioning watches that I currently have, 3 are battery powered.

[Skier]

I note that the Breguet pocket watch is no longer listed; anyone know what happened to it?