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Watchmaking Hardcover – May 3, 2011

4.8 out of 5 stars 651

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Twenty-eight years after its first publication, the best-selling Watchmaking continues to inspire and encourage the art of watchmaking, especially among new generations of enthusiasts. As a supreme master of his art, George Daniels' advice is constantly sought by both students and watch repairers, his understanding of the problems that can beset the would-be watchmaker, especially in an age of mass production, and his expert knowledge of the history of watchmaking being second to none.

Here, the making of the precision timekeeper is described step-by-step and 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. As Daniels is particularly interested in the development of the escapement - many are described in this book, several of his own design - the reader is encouraged to explore this aspect of watchmaking in even greater detail.

This classic handbook still remains indispensable to generations of watchmakers and repairers, and also provides a fascinating insight to the enthusiast and watch-collector who, until its publication, had rarely been able to admire the superb craftsmanship of a fine watch without understanding how it works.


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Editorial Reviews

Review

"I truly believe that this book [...] will be held in high esteem both by its future collectors, as well as by the common watch enthusiast looking for a publication that summarizes their favorite hobby and presents its secrets in an easily understandable way." - A Blog to Watch

"
Watchmaking by George Daniels is a very fascinating book, a must read for everybody interested in the watchmaking." - www.learnwatchmaking.com

About the Author

George Daniels, 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, especially those made by Breguet. 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.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Philip Wilson Publishers; New edition (May 3, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 462 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0856677043
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0856677045
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.65 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8 x 1.25 x 10.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 out of 5 stars 651

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Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
651 global ratings
Esoteric
4 Stars
Esoteric
It depends what you want. I only made it about 90 pages before I stopped reading it. He goes into extreme detail about every tool that has been out of use for the last 150 years. The book is almost worth getting just for the diagrams and pictures on every page.
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Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2024
This is a classic watchmaking guide. Full of hard to find information. Nice format, good pictures. Really enjoy going back time and again.
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2021
George Daniels wanted to write a book about hand made high quality watches and how to build them. This book covers every aspect of that process. If you could only have one book on the subject, this would be it. The mechanical drawings, some in color, plus the photographic plates of assembled and disassembled watches are excellent. Another aspect of this book deals with the watchmaker's workshop and what tools, machines and skills are needed to accomplish this difficult, to say the least, task.

Clearly Daniels was a master of this craft and he also had a world view of the watchmaking industry. You learn that the expensive high quality mechanical watches from Switzerland are still made in batches (series) where the parts are mass produced. Daniels' approach reverts to the one of a kind, hand made watch where every part is produced by hand. There is no mass production.

Concerning the various subsystems that make up a watch, Daniels goes through all of them, explaining how they work and their advantages and disadvantages. On the topic of movements (escapements) he starts with the primitive verge escapement and takes it from there through the standard lever designs to his modern invention known as the coaxial escapement. He provides much detail in how these movements actually work. Daniels clearly had a great knowledge of the past great watchmakers such a Breguet and Arnold to name a few. And it is also clear that Daniels was guided but not a copier of these classic mechanical watch designs. He completely understood their mechanisms and used that knowledge to innovate and make significant design improvements and breakthroughs such as his coaxial escapement.

Daniels understands the interplay between the watch consumer and the watchmaker/watchmaking industry. The fact that we still have a thriving industry in mechanical watches in a world were an electronic quartz watch can be more accurate and cost much less, shows that there is still a viable market for those who value a high quality, high priced, mechanical timepieces.

Daniels' timepieces required thousands of hours to complete and because of their quality and function, he was able to keep this art form alive appealing to connoisseurs who are willing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to own one of these unique timepieces.

I think that Daniels wrote this book because he wanted to leave a legacy to future generations about his work and unique accomplishments that might otherwise be forgotten as the world continues to move from a real representation of things to a digitally contrived artificial representation. Hopefully, the fascination and appreciation of fine mechanical timepieces will continue and this book will continue to be a source for building or at least deciphering them.
29 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on February 2, 2023
I'd known of George Daniels for 50+ years -there was a common interest in vintage Bentleys. I was spellbound by his watchmaking. He fought against the trend of mass-produced electronic watches as a London bespoke watchmaker. His magnificent escapement designs and the sheer complexity fascinated me. The book was first published in 1981 and this edition does the man and his work justice. The illustrations are very useful as well as works of art in themselves. It is nicely produced and the binding looks good and durable. I treasure it.
3 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2016
Truly one of the great texts on watchmaking. As an amateur, I don't deign myself proficient enough to truly take advantage of the majority of the knowledge here. However, Daniels was nothing if not a great teacher, if this book is any indication. Being smart or extremely proficient in a subject does not at all have any bearing on your ability to pass that knowledge to another. Often, I'd argue, those that operate on the highest levels become incapable of explaining things to those on their way up. Any of you who have taken more advanced specialized physics/math/science classes will know exactly what I mean - that professor who was a genius but clearly was not capable of phrasing things in a way you were able to comprehend. Daniels clearly has no such problems and almost seems to remove the veil of complexity that surrounds many of the advanced watchmaking topics. His ability to teach is immediately apparent from the get-go.

Daniels makes things beyond simple, despite their apparent complexity. While I am far from putting, as I said, the majority of the book into practice, I understand conceptually how every single thing in this book works on a mechanical level after about 3 complete reads. I have put a lot of what I've learned into use in my own watchmaking, and it shows. Daniels truly is one of the most important figures ever to touch the art of horology. Even just as a casual coffee table book, this one is a gem. The diagrams and explanations are beyond compare. If you are an engineer or mechanically inclined person of any field, you will delight in reading this. One of the best books I have ever had the privilege of reading.
34 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2023
This book is not about the story about watches or George Daniels watches. This book is literally about watchmaking. If you read it, and have the tools, you will probably be able to make your own watch. I doesnt have a lot of pictures, it does have a lot of diagrams and blueprints of how to make pieces and gears. Is a long and daring read, it doesnt do a good job as a coffee table book.
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Zaza
5.0 out of 5 stars Livro incrível para produção de relógios mecânicos!
Reviewed in Brazil on December 16, 2022
Esse livro se retornou uma referência para quem quer se aprofundar no mundo da horologia e relojoaria. Ele ensina como usar os equipamentos e aprojetar um relógio mecânico de forma minuciosa, daí a necessidade de tempo para praticar e absorver o conteúdo do livro. O acabamento do livro é impecável, e o papel glossy deixa ele mais bonito ainda, digno de um livro do Watchmaker George Daniels.
lsjm
5.0 out of 5 stars Libro de un genio
Reviewed in Spain on January 4, 2024
Me encanta todo
AC
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
Reviewed in India on August 27, 2023
Great Book for those who are into horology
Shantanu Sen
5.0 out of 5 stars Watchmaking by George Daniels
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 29, 2022
Excellent book by the legendary George Daniels, inventor of the low-friction co-axial escapement, now used by Omega in almost all of their watches. This is an excellent and detailed book, and it mainly deals with actual watch manufacturing, as opposed to assembly and disassembly. There are voluminous chapters on machining, turning, milling, drilling, calculation of vector forces, eyc. A true engineer's book but not recommended for the non-professional enthusiast unless he/she wants to specialise in the technical, design and manufacturing intricacies of the various components that make up mechanical watches.
6 people found this helpful
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Gabriel
5.0 out of 5 stars Genial edición
Reviewed in Mexico on October 26, 2020
Gran edición la información es muy clara y se habla sobre temas técnicos de la relojería
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Gabriel
5.0 out of 5 stars Genial edición
Reviewed in Mexico on October 26, 2020
Gran edición la información es muy clara y se habla sobre temas técnicos de la relojería
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