George Daniels

This is the second reprint of the standard work on watchmaking; indispensable to watchmakers and restorers of mechanical watches. George Daniels completed his first watch in 1969, arousing enough interest to generate a renaissance in the art and skills of designing and making individual watches. Watchmaking describes every aspect of the antique craft of watch construction. Line drawings detail every manufacturing technique employed, and completed watches and their component details are illustrated in color. The author's principal aim in writing this book has been to inspire and encourage the art of watchmaking, especially among a new generation of enthusiasts. As a supreme master of this art, his advice is constantly sought both by students and watch repairers. His understanding of the problems that can beset the would-be watchmaker, especially in an age of mass production, his expert knowledge of the history of watchmaking, together with his concern for the continuation of the art, have convinced him of the need for a comprehensive study of the subject. One of the most interesting aspects of George Daniel's work, which this book describes, is that he makes every component of the watch himself. In addition to explaining the techniques required, many of which he has evolved himself, Daniels describes the tools that will be necessary for working, both by hand and machine, and also defines the ideal workshop and its contents. The making of the precision timekeeper is described, step by step, and is illustrated at each stage with line drawings and brief explanatory captions. The text is easy to follow and care has been taken to avoid complicated technical descriptions.

Watchmaking

The year 1968 is commonly remembered for the massive social and political upheaval occurring around the world at the time, but it was also the year of the Olympic Games of Mexico City. XIX Olympiad, the seventeenth volume in The American Century series, tells the story of one of the most exciting and controversial Olympics of the modern era. In addition to being the first Olympics held in Latin America, the Mexico Games were also held at high altitude, a factor that likely contributed to the many record-breaking performances. Among these was Bob Beamon's incredible gold-medal-winning 8.9-metre long jump, a record that would stand for 23 years, and Al Oerter's fourth consecutive gold medal in discus, a first for a track athlete. In a reflection of the times, the book tells the story of American sprinters Tommie Smith (gold) and John Carlos (bronze) who created the iconic image of the Mexico Games when they famously raised their gloved fists in a black power salute on the medal podium.The second part the book focuses on the 1972 Winter Games of Sapporo, Japan. Star athletes of Sapporo are profiled, like Galina Kulakova of the USSR, who won three golds in cross-country skiing, and Ard Schenk of Holland, who matched that feat in speed skating. It also tells the story of three Japanese ski-jumpers who became national heroes after sweeping the 70-metre event. Juan Antonio Samaranch, former President of the International Olympic Committee, called The Olympic Century, "e;The most comprehensive history of the Olympic games ever published"e;.

XIX Olympiad

One of George Daniels's central contributions to horology is his co-axial escapement. Having observed that the dominant lever escapement begins to change its rate after a year or two - a disturbance caused by the sliding action of the impulse elements of the escapement - Daniels set about developing a mechanism that avoided this problem. The result of his efforts was the co-axial escapement, a mechanism in which he sought to combine the strengths and eliminate the deficiencies of existing watch escapements, the lever escapement foremost among them. First devised in 1977, today it remains largely the same as fitted in watches of Daniels's own manufacture, as well as those of several wrist-watch manufacturers. This book explains the action of the escapement in terms accessible to both expert and layman, and is accompanied by a series of detailed line drawings.

The Practical Watch Escapement

All in Good Time is the remarkable story of George Daniels (1926-2011), the master craftsman, who was born into poverty but raised himself to become the greatest watchmaker of the twentieth century. Daniels stands alone in modern times as the inventor of the revolutionary co-axial escapement, the first substantial advance in portable mechanical timekeeping over the lever escapement, which has dominated ever since its invention in 1759. Daniels's love of mechanics embraced not only the minute, however - he was also a passionate collector and driver of historic motorcars. This revised and expanded edition of his autobiography also contains a new section that illustrates and discusses over thirty of the pocket and wrist-watches Daniels himself made over the years. Witness here the triumph of intelligence, ingenuity, matchless skill and singularity of purpose over the most unpromising of beginnings.

George Daniels

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