Preminuo George Daniels :'(

[nikola0406]

Sinoc sam procitao ovu jako tuznu vest. Napustila nas je jos jedna legenda casovnicarstva. Pocivaj u miru. :'(


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_...s_(watchmaker)

[dragon]

Veliki gubitak još jednog velikog vrhunskog časovničara. Neka počiva u miru.

George Daniels

[nikola0406]

da li je moguce da na forumu koji je posvecen iskljucivo ljubiteljima satova ima samo jedan odgovor na ovakvu vest.....izvinite me ali ovo je zalosno za ovaj forum..................


During his career, George Daniels has completed 37 watches, not including prototypes. Throughout his career he has applied himself relentlessly to the major task of redesigning the mechanical watch escapement to compete on equal terms with the quartz watch which had threatened its future.

The two most successful of his revolutionary escapements are the co-axial and the independent double-wheel, both of which have found international support in the notoriously conservative watch industry. These escapements represent the first advance in the practical design since the invention of the lever escapement by Thomas Mudge in 1754.

Their success lies in the tangential impulse and lock in both vibrations of each oscillation without sliding friction which, unlike the conventional lever escapement, are unaffected by changes in viscosity of the lubricant.

A Daniels watch is made entirely under one roof without assistance. Every component is made from raw materials in the workshop without the use of repetitive or automatic tools. Thus, no two watches are identical and each is accepted as a work of art. Daniels watches are never made to order and all start life as a vehicle for testing escapements. The form of the watches is complete simplicity and no concessions are made to artificial styling. The hand engraved dials are turned for contrast while the hands are of the simplest form first used on watch No. 1 in 1969.

The advance of the quartz watch in the 1970s was responsible for the closing of the Swiss watchmaking schools. The revival of the mechanical hand-made watch by George Daniels in 1969 attracted the attention of connoisseur collectors of watches from which blossomed the new era in precision wrist watches.

The most recent attempts by the Swiss industry to produce a innovative escapement leave much to be desired. To assist them understand the required principles he has written The Practical Watch Escapement.

Extra complications are included in some watches. These can include tourbillon, temperature and equation sectors, chronographs and reserve of winding indicators. Such mechanisms can be beneficial when adjusting high-precision mechanical watches needing a stable power supply. The work with experimental prototypes continues in Daniels' workshop because he sees horology as a continuous scientific art, with social significance and useful qualities.

The decline of the mechanical watch industry is reversed and there can be no doubt that George Daniels, with his improved designs and individual interpretation of progress, has made the most substantial contribution by demonstrating that the mechanical watch can perform as well has the electronic watch and is more attractive to the public.

The Millennium watches were especially designed to fulfill the wish of some friends and acquaintances to own and wear a Daniels watch. 50 examples were made and were the first series of watches with the especially designed extra flat co-axial escapement. As with all Daniels London watches simplicity is the keynote while artificial styling is avoided.

By 1974 he had completed designs for the co-axial escapement, and after rigorous testing the results were extremely positive and later earned him the prestigious Tompion Medal - then, only the fifth ever to be awarded. Consequently, the co-axial escapement was later adopted by Omega for use in its premium watches.

In July 2006 Sotheby’s of London staged a retrospective exhibition of all 36 timepieces which was the first time all pieces have been displayed together and presented a unique view of the progression of his work.

George has also been given the title of "living national treasure" by Country Life Magazine and his life story detailed at the People's Archive.

[BedMadaFaker]

A conversation with the legendary master watchmaker

Dr. George Daniels has been a watchmaker for more than sixty years and has been presented with more of his profession’s highest honours than any other person. He invented the Co-Axial escapement which was adapted by OMEGA for series production. It has revolutionized the mechanical watch industry.
A past Master of the Clockmaker’s Guild in London and past President of the Horological Institute, George Daniels has been awarded the Gold Medal of the Clockmaker’s Company, the Gold Medal of the British Horological Institute, the Gold Medal of the City of London Guild and the Kullberg Medal of the Stockholm Watchmakers’ Guild. He was made an MBE by Queen Elizabeth II for his contributions to watchmaking.
The Co-Axial escapement is typically described with adjectives like “radical” and “revolutionary”. Are you comfortable with these?

I am comfortable with hearing the Co-Axial escapement described that way because it is, in fact, revolutionary and radical. The Co-Axial escapement solves a problem which had been perplexing watchmakers for 500 years and that is the problem of lubrication.
Is there room for another major breakthrough as dramatic – as radical and revolutionary – as the Co-Axial escapement in mechanical watches?

It might sound immodest to say it but I honestly don’t think so. Mechanical watches have a long history and the challenges of improving them have been taken on by centuries of master watchmakers. The problems of the viscosity of lubrication and the need for lubrication caused by sliding friction had been addressed by watchmakers for hundreds of years and not solved until the introduction of the Co-Axial escapement.
Different materials may be used in the construction of certain parts of the movements but these won’t affect a watch’s fundamental performance in the way that the Co-Axial escapement does.
Will the Co-Axial escapement, in time, be the most widely used escapement in the construction of new mechanical watches?

The watch industry is by nature very conservative and slow to adopt new things. But basically, every maker who continues with other escapements will ultimately be trampled by the Co-Axial for the very simple reason that it’s better. OMEGA have been able to show that the Co-Axial escapement can be serially produced on a large scale so while it will take some doing to convince the mechanical watch industry, it’s just a matter of time.
Are you surprised by the renewed popularity of mechanical watches?

Not at all. I have often said that I’ve never been in doubt that the mechanical watch would survive and I started its revival with my first watch fitted with the Co-Axial escapement in 1969 in London.
My mantra has long been that the survival of the mechanical watch is ensured by its qualities: it is historic, technical, intellectual, aesthetic, useful and even amusing. These properties have sustained the popularity of mechanical watches through the ages and are bound to carry it well into the future.
It can be said, though, that a generation ago the mechanical watch was in need of improvements which would prevent its attractions from being overshadowed by quartz timekeeping.
That, in short, is one of the real benefits of the Co-Axial escapement: it will play a major role of extending the popularity of mechanical watches into the 21st century and beyond.
An article in the Financial Times said that you don’t create detailed drawings of your watches until after they are finished. Is that true? If so, do you improvise when you are making a watch?

It’s true that I don’t create the detailed drawings until after the watch is completed. Remember that none of the great watchmakers in the past worked from drawings! When I start a new watch, I have the whole thing in my head. It’s possible that I will make some small revisions as I go along if I think of something which would be an improvement.
One of the problems with a detailed drawing of a watch is that the width of a pencil line will sometimes be several times wider than the smallest parts of a watch movement.
I should point out that the exception is escapements. Because of the very small tolerances in an escapement – just a few thousandths of a millimetre – detailed scale drawings are made of these. I’ve sometimes created a dozen drawings of an escapement in order to work out its maximum efficiency.
A few years ago, Sotheby’s assembled an exhibit of 36 of the 37 watches you’ve made. Do you have particular affection for any of these or do you love all your “children” equally?

There are two for which I have special affection. One is the Grande Complication watch which lives up to its name: it’s a gold one-minute tourbillon with a slim Co-Axial escapement and every possible complication: minute repeating, instantaneous perpetual calendar, equation of time, phase of the moon, thermometer and indication of the reserve of winding. I still have that one, by the way. The other is the Space Traveller. It has an independent double-wheel escapement and also has a large number of complications: mean-solar and sidereal time, age and phase of the moon and equation of time indications.
None of these watches were commissioned. All were especially created for experimental purposes. When I started making watches, I had already taken the decision not to make watches to order but rather to make them entirely to my own design and satisfaction. I would sell them when, and if, a suitable client materialised.

In 2009, OMEGA celebrated the tenth anniversary of the first Co-Axial escapement in an OMEGA calibre. The escapements have been a part of your life for forty years. Are you pleased with OMEGA’s interpretation and introduction of the escapement?

When OMEGA made the commitment to produce the Co-Axial Escapement at a series production level I was very pleased. They were brave enough to take on this revolutionary technology in the face of a lot of criticism and scepticism from the rest of the industry. At the time, there was no praise for OMEGA. I could sympathize with them because there had also been none for me when I invented the Co-Axial escapement.
Because it is very much my baby, I had intense discussions with a number of their technicians, especially in the beginning. We have collaborated for several years on the specification of the components to define the forms of the special tools needed for production. The Co-Axial escapement is more complex than the classic lever so I kept very close to the technicians during the run up to production. Working with others was a new experience for me and I have very much enjoyed the relationship that developed between OMEGA, its technicians and me.
The end product is most satisfying to see working and it is of course a thrill for an inventor to see his aspirations fulfilled so perfectly. The performance has been remarkable, showing long-term day-to-day use that cannot be equalled by the classic lever escapement. OMEGA is to be commended for their courage in taking on the Co-Axial escapement and I wish them every success with it.

[Vladan Stevanovic]

Jos jedan zanimljiv video klip o ovom velikanu, i zaista vam preporucujem da ga odgledate.

[lemi]

sta reći.................samo nam ostaje da se nadamo da će neko naslediti njegovo znanje i strast prema satovima koju je posedovao....