1974 - 2024 marks 50 years Co-axial escapement by George Daniels

Curious to see if Omega will mark the 2024 co-axial escapement anniversary but probably not due to their busy involvement in the 2024 Olympics, so they'll probably await 2026 which will mark the 100th anniversary of British horologist George Daniels (1926-2011) and at the same time 50th anniversary of the co-axial being revealed for the first time in 1976.
But in 1976 the watch world wasn't really interested in the co-axial escapement, but Patek Philippe and Omega showed interest with Omega claiming the "win" as they officially presented a George Daniels co-axial time piece at the Basel fair in 1999.
Sharing a few photos taken in the Science museum - London. The six time pieces in the photo are: 1986 pocket watch fitted with a slim co-axial escapement, 1981 prototype co-axial for Patek Philippe, 1982 co-axial Patek Philippe wrist watch, 2010 Daniels-Smith prototype marking cooperation with Roger Smith (Isle of Man), the 1999 Millennium wrist watch for Omega and an Omega DeVille co-axial in 18ct Gold.
(Photos: MoonwatchUniverse)
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Well 2026 will see two anniversaries:
https://www.fratellowatches.com/who-was-george-daniels/
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Timely article about English watchmaker George Daniels (1926-2011)
Space aficionados remember the "Space Traveller" pocket watch which had a 12 hour dial for sidereal (star) time and a Moon phase inset in honour of the Apollo 11 mission.
Daniels always said that such a watch would be handy to be used on future trips to Mars, it remained his personal pocket watch for 3 decades!
While Patek Philippe were the first to give Daniels the opportunity to make a "co-axial" wrist watch in 1981/82, Daniels wore it for "testing" during ten years, fame came with Omega.
In 1999, Omega embraced the "co-axial" movement and Daniels got fifty Omega ébauches as basis for his 18 carat Gold "Millennium wrist watch" with Silver dial.
The same year, Daniels created a limited edition (999) of the 18 carat Gold Omega "De Ville" Chronometer Automatic with 2500 co-axial movement.
Will Omega plan anything as spring 2026 will see the 50th anniversary of the "practical co-axial" movement (patented in 1980), and August 2026 will see the 100th birthday of George Daniels.
Top tip:
As seen in my original post, visit the Science Museum in London, which has the largest George Daniels collection on display!

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On this date... October 21, 2011
English horologist watchmaker George Daniels passed away aged 85...
Producing a single horological master piece and all its components required 2,500 hours, about a year and Daniels built 23 amazing pocket watches and two wrist watches.
In 1999, Omega launched its first production watches with the Daniels co-axial escapement, among which the 18 carat Gold-cased "DeVille" automatic chronometer in 999 limited edition.
Some of the display cases at the London Science Museum...
(Photos: MWU)
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