English and American Watches

English and American Watches

by George Daniels
English and American Watches

English and American Watches

by George Daniels

Hardcover

$55.00 
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Overview

In this long-awaited reprint - first published in 1967 - the late George Daniels, a master watchmaker of the twentieth century, documents the important contribution made by England and America in the development of the pocket watch from the earliest times to late 1960s America. Daniels tells of the sequence of technical developments that led to the production of electric and electronic watches.

It is a fascinating story for all who appreciate not only a watch's technical niceties but also the intrinsic beauty with which devoted craftsmen endowed it. Mr Daniels' concise, learned account, which places each phase of the story in its true perspective, will be found indispensable both by collectors and by those new to the history of watchmaking. Over a hundred photographs together with a series of clear line drawings, emphasise the watchmakers' achievement in marrying pure function and beauty, and at the same time illustrate the changes in movements that accompanied progress in external appearance.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781781301319
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Publication date: 04/08/2025
Pages: 128
Product dimensions: 7.09(w) x 8.62(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

George Daniels (1926–2011), CBE, HON DSC, FSA, FCGI, FBHI, FAWI was a practising horologist with over fifty years' experience in both antiquarian and modern watchmaking and was a past master of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. In addition, he was an expert on the history and development of the watch, with special emphasis on the precision period of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. He was unrivalled as a sympathetic restorer of important time pieces.

Amongst his awards for his contribution to the art and science of watchmaking – including the design of his own escapements – were the Tompion Gold Medal, The British Horological Institute Gold Medal, The City and Guilds of London Gold Medal, The Arts Sciences and Learning Award of the City of London and the Victor Kullberg Medal of the Stockholm Watchmakers' Guild.

Daniels authored other bestselling horological titles, including All in Good Time, The Art of Breguet, The Practical Watch Escapement, Watches and Watchmaking.

Table of Contents

Note to Reprinted Edition
Introduction
1 - The Beginning
2 - English Watchmaking in the Seventeenth Century
3 - The Balance Spring
4 - Pioneer Precision Work
5 - The Emergence of the Precision Watch
6 - The Early Lever and Duplex Escapements
7 - The English Watch: Final Development and Decline
8 - American Watchmaking
9 - Post-War Developments in America

Appendix A - The Verge
Appendix B - Cylinder Escapement
Appendix C - The Duplex
Appendix D - The Chronometer
Appendix E - The Lever

Biographical Notes
Plates
Index
Bibliography

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