The Practical Watch Escapement

Author: George Daniels

76 pages, illustrated


One of George Daniels' 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' own manufacture, as well as those of several wristwatch 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.

Since the adoption (and launch in 1999) of the Daniels co-axial escapement by the Swiss watchmakers Omega, there has indeed been a notable and renewed interest in the mechanical watch and the fascinating area of escapements. The Practical Watch Escapement is now reissued in a new edition with a foreword by the late Daniels' protégé and master watchmaker, Roger Smith, new colour images and an up-to-date time line of the co-axial escapement and its use today.