English gold tourbillon chronometer escapement Circa 1970

Important gold twin barrel one minute tourbillon watch
–
An English important gold twin barrel one minute tourbillon watch with spring detent chronometer escapement and retrograde hour hand made for Edward Hornby, circa 1970, gilded movement, Earnshaw type spring detent chronometer escapement mounted in a polished steel one minute tourbillon carriage under a polished steel bridge, two going barrels supported by a single bridge and engaging a common offset centre pinion, 36 hour duration, mono metallic stainless steel four arm balance with gold adjusting weights, temperature compensated overcoil balance spring with isochronal adjusting screw, retrograde hour hand mechanism, signed Geo. Daniels, London, e.m.h.
Silver engine turned dial with three different decorative designs, eccentric satin finished minute ring, satin finished sector for retrograde hours with Roman numerals, large interlocking satin finished subsidiary seconds ring, matching silver cartouches signed Daniels London, blued steel Daniels’ hands.
Gold engine turned case with Daniels’ pendant and bow, the back centred with a plain reserve and opening to reveal glazed cuvette with an aperture for winding, hallmarked 18 Carat gold with London date letter for 1970, case maker’s mark GD for George Daniels.
Short graduated yellow gold double link chain with gold and blued steel Daniels’ double ended key.
–
Diameter: 62 mm
–
Signed: Geo. Daniels London, e.m.h.
–
Accompanied by a handwritten letter from George Daniels and a George Daniels fitted presentation case.

This extraordinary and important timepiece is a wonderful example of the early watches made by Dr. Daniels. After making his first watch for Cecil Clutton in 1969, Dr. Daniels went on to produce a further seven similar elegant designs, all with slight variations. The Clutton watch had a pivoted detent whereas the subsequent watches had spring detent chronometer escapements. It was not however a standard spring detent escapement, Dr. Daniels had to improve upon it. The problem with a chronometer escapement is that, as any traditional textbook will tell you, it is not self starting. Dr. Daniels altered the geometry of the escapement to ensure that the escape wheel is always unlocked when the balance is in the inert position which means that the Daniels chronometer escapement will always self start, the watch simply appears to come alive.

The movement signatures of the first 8 watches are followed by the initials of the original owner in the manner of a coded number. This, the fourth, therefore carries Edward Hornby’s initials: E.M.H.

All 8 pocket watches from Daniels’ first series are illustrated and described in the George Daniels Retrospective Exhibition catalogue, published by Sotheby’s in 2006 and in Michael Clerizo’s book, George Daniels, A Master Watchmaker & His Art, published in 2015. Below is a summary of the eight.

Early Series George Daniels Watches 1969 – 1974

1

c.c.

One minute pivoted detent chronometer tourbillon

Cecil Clutton C.B.E., 1969

2

r.a.m.

One minute spring detent chronometer tourbillon

Robert Marryat, 1970

3

s.b.

One minute spring detent chronometer tourbillon

Sam Bloomfield, 1970

4

e.m.h.

One minute spring detent chronometer tourbillon

Edward Hornby, 1971

5

c.h.e.

One minute spring detent chronometer tourbillon

Cecil Elsom C.B.E., 1970

6

s.j.d.

One minute spring detent chronometer tourbillon

Sarah Jane Daniels, 1970

7

t.e.

One minute spring detent chronometer tourbillon with reserve of winding indication

Professor Thomas Engel, 1974

8

 g.s.s.

One minute spring detent chronometer tourbillon

Gerald Saunders, 1973

Total Production of George Daniels

23 pocket watches (plus one unfinished)

4 wristwatches

49 gold millennium wristwatches (incl. protoype)

7 white gold millennium wristwatches

1 chronometer

2 three wheel clocks

5 grasshopper conversions

In 1999, the present watch was offered for the first time at auction at Sotheby’s London. At the time, George Daniels wrote the following note for the catalogue:

“Edward Hornby began collecting watches in the 1930s. His interest centred on the origins of his purchases and their aesthetic qualities. I first met him in 1960 when he began to intensify his interest in horology. We became firm friends and, in 1970, Edward expressed a wish to add a Daniels to his collection. This tourbillon was added to the collection in 1971. It was the fourth example made and can be seen on the bench in the illustration below. When Edward Hornby sold his collection at Sotheby’s in December 1978, he kept the tourbillon and a double wheel chronometer which he purchased in 1975. Concerned that the tourbillon could not equal his new quartz watch, he ran the two together. The test lasted 8 months before the battery went flat and he cheerfully awarded the honour to the tourbillon. Its daily variation rate at room temperature averaged 0-3 seconds per day.”