George Daniels Co-Axial Anniversary Watch by Roger W. Smith

A very rare and distinguished wristwatch of exceptional prestige and significant historical importance, as the last horological masterpiece to be developed by the late, great George Daniels, the eponymous Daniels Co-Axial Anniversary watch is a career defining swan song, manufactured in a limited series of thirty-five individually crafted pieces, and produced in collaboration with the legendary British watchmaker’s protégé, and successor to the title of Britain’s most important contemporary watchmaker, Roger W. Smith.

With its inimitable styling which epitomises the distinctive, classical aesthetics which typified the life works of George Daniels, and featuring a newly developed manual winding movement in the style of early English pocket watches, the Co-Axial Anniversary Watch project was conceived by Daniels with Smith in 2008, to commemorate the thirty-fifth anniversary of his co-axial escapement: one of the most profound technical advances in two centuries of horologic development, and one of his most celebrated innovations.

With only the prototype completed before Daniels’ passing in 2011, the production of the Co-Axial Anniversary series was undertaken in its entirety by Roger W. Smith, with only thirty-five examples being manufactured in 18ct yellow gold.

Measuring 40mm across, the case features a stepped bezel and a slim, fluted crown, while the blunt, square-edged lugs accentuate and contrast with the rounded contours elsewhere.

Beneath the sapphire crystal, the solid silver dial has been decorated with three distinctly different guilloché patterns, which are individually applied to the surface by hand-turned rose engine. Set onto the dial, the circular brushed chapter ring and subdials are manufactured in solid 18ct gold, and display the small constant seconds at the 4 o’clock position, pointer date at the seven, and power reserve at the twelve. The reference markings are engraved and then hand painted with black lacquer, while the signature George Daniels hands are slender solid gold rods, with an arrow tip on the hour hand.

A sapphire caseback reveals the fabulous manual winding calibre which was created specifically for the Anniversary watch by Daniels and Smith. Featuring the classical frosted finishing which defined the work of the pioneering English watchmakers of the eighteenth century, as well as the pronounced but understated architecture of the time, the Anniversary movement also boasts Smith’s own innovative take on the Master’s co-axial escapement. Refining the original’s two-wheel concept into a single wheel, which incorporates an inner ring with raised teeth, the Smith escapement replicates all of the benefits of the original, while making it even more compact and efficient.

Beneath the tapering balance cock, the free spring balance wheel oscillates elegantly at a leisurely 18’000 vib/h, while other details include the Daniels conical stop-start switch and polished, flame-blued screws.

A celebrated masterpiece, which encapsulates many of the signatures and nuances of one of the most important watchmakers of the twentieth century, the Daniels Co-Axial Anniversary is certainly a fitting bookend to an exceptional career, and with only thirty-five examples ever produced, a piece which increasingly rarely comes to market, and so one which can truly live up to the clichéd expression of being a genuinely authentic collector's grail watch.