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The very last interview with George Daniels - a truly breathtaking read.

Snoopyfanguy
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Every OMEGA fan should know him, this man was a genius and not well known enough...

https://swisswatches-magazine.com/blog/the-final-interview-with-george-daniels/

The-Final-Interview-with-George-Daniels-by-Serge-Debrebant-Photo-Olivia-Arthur.jpg
 
Danwales
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Screenshot_20211021-223307_Chrome.jpg
I wonder which model Omega he is wearing?

It's a good article on a fascinating man. I watched a series of interviews he conducted on YouTube and found it amazing how he literally dragged himself from poverty to become the genius he was.

One thing that I do wonder though is if he would have done things any differently if he'd had his time again. Certainly in relation to his family. He addmittedly wasn't the greatest family man. Did that ever cause GD any regrets or was he happy that he dedicated his life to the pursuit of horological excellence? We'll never know.
 
Archer
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Just reading this, and this is not a good start...

" he also made a revolutionary breakthrough, inventing the first lubrication-free escapement system for mechanical watches, which he termed the Co-Axial escapement"

::facepalm1::
 
pdxleaf
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Archer Archer
Just reading this, and this is not a good start...

" he also made a revolutionary breakthrough, inventing the first lubrication-free escapement system for mechanical watches, which he termed the Co-Axial escapement"

::facepalm1::

How about "inventing the first [formerly] lubrication-free escapement system for mechanical watches..,"?
 
M'Bob
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Danwales Danwales
He addmittedly wasn't the greatest family man.

A surgeon in my community had his wife leave him because he “wasn’t around enough.” She ran off with her child’s teacher at school. The guy had a pony tail…
 
Archer
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pdxleaf pdxleaf
How about "inventing the first [formerly] lubrication-free escapement system for mechanical watches..,"?

It was never lubrication free....but the myth that it was lives on...
 
Danwales
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M'Bob M'Bob
A surgeon in my community had his wife leave him because he “wasn’t around enough.” She ran off with her child’s teacher at school. The guy had a pony tail…

We had a guy in the UK called Fred Dibnah, he was a steeplejack and engineer who was largely self taught . He became a bit of a celebrity and used to present a TV programme focusing on Britain's industrial heritage. He reminded me of George in some ways, completely self absorbed in his own interests. Any spare money went on his hobbies rather than others, family holidays were missed, hours spent in a shed fixing his steam engines. As much as I liked him I couldn't help think him selfish. Several wives left him too. I suppose my thinking is that these were great fellas but there was another side to them too. A lot less admirable.
 
M'Bob
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Danwales Danwales
I suppose my thinking is that these were great fellas but there was another side to them too. A lot less admirable.

A tough balancing act. Sometimes society wins, but the family loses.
 
Snoopyfanguy
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Danwales Danwales
Screenshot_20211021-223307_Chrome.jpg
I wonder which model Omega he is wearing?

Looks like OMEGA De Ville Co-Axial Chronometer just on the leather strap... here on this photo of GD, it seems to be blue, but should be with a black dial... it is probably the light.


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Snoopyfanguy
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Archer Archer
Just reading this, and this is not a good start...

" he also made a revolutionary breakthrough, inventing the first lubrication-free escapement system for mechanical watches, which he termed the Co-Axial escapement"

::facepalm1::

can you really be dissatisfied with a story like this? I would be grateful that there are still people who dig something like this (10 years old interview!) out of the archives and make it available to us... as I understood, there was only printed version of it and that would have disappeared without a trace.

Secondly... when you try to give a critique, you first read to the end and don't just say what you didn't like, but also what was good. That's how I understand constructive criticism. Or am I wrong about that? 😀
 
tyrantlizardrex
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Snoopyfanguy Snoopyfanguy
compared to Gerald Genta, he is less known, but he shouldn't be.

I think you’re letting your own bias show there.

I don’t believe that anyone with an interest in watches knows of one without knowing of the other.
Edited:
 
Archer
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Snoopyfanguy Snoopyfanguy
can you really be dissatisfied with a story like this? I would be grateful that there are still people who dig something like this (10 years old interview!) out of the archives and make it available to us... as I understood, there was only printed version of it and that would have disappeared without a trace.

Secondly... when you try to give a critique, you first read to the end and don't just say what you didn't like, but also what was good. That's how I understand constructive criticism. Or am I wrong about that? 😀

Well, if this is purported to be some form of actual journalism, then interviews shouldn't be conducted by fans.

Yes, it's good that older interviews are not lost, but IMO they should also be updated with new information when possible, or it's just nostalgia.

As for reading to the end, I certainly did that, and it was more of the same. As others have noted, it seems rather tragic that he alienated his family, so to me the whole thing was a bit sad.
 
Danwales
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tyrantlizardrex tyrantlizardrex
I’ve heard a few people who knew him well describe him as “abrasive”.

I met one old member of the BHI who said he was "intimidating ".
 
tyrantlizardrex
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Danwales Danwales
I met one old member of the BHI who said he was "intimidating ".

I've met a couple of BHI folks who used much stronger language than that. 😗
 
Archer
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I never met Daniels, but I've met a number of independents like Peter Speake-Marin, Romain Gauthier, Kari Voutilainen, Philippe Dufour, etc. They were all a joy to be around, friendly and open, willing to share information on pretty much anything you asked about related to watches. Dufour in particular has an absolutely wicked sense of humour.

Maybe Daniels is just from a different era, or had become slightly bitter about the lack of traction for the co-axial over the years (understandable if no one was interested in the thing you toiled over for decades), or maybe he was just a gruff personality...
 
tyrantlizardrex
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M'Bob M'Bob
I heard he was not well lubricated…

If we wasn't, then he was a truly unique member of the British watchmaking community.

icegif-231.gif
 
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