Most expensive English watch ever…

Lest there was any lingering doubt, George Daniels horological legacy continues to be affirmed by global collectors.  Direct from George Daniels’ Personal Collection, the late English watchmaker’s piece de resistance sold yesterday at Sotheby?s in London for £3.20m, or about US$4.3m (incl. buyer?s fees).  Evidencing the importance of Daniels and his lasting impact on the field of horology, values fetched for George Daniels watches have risen steadily since his death in 2011 with the Space Travellers setting a new high bar for the Daniels legacy.  The piece is accompanied by a George Daniels presentation case, and is widely recognized as one of Daniels’ finest.  Daniels protege Roger Smith (now an esteemed watchmaker in his own right and the one who has arguable taken up Daniels’ mantle) fondly recalls the watch as follows: This piece holds special memories for me for this was more often than not George?s dress watch of choice at events and was the watch that he wore during his visit to the then Manchester School of Horology where I studied. It was the sight of this watch which steered me from the repair of watches to their making. The watch was made in circa 1982 and very quickly achieved its iconic status for its stunning aesthetic appeal and fascinating movement.
In 2012 I was fortunate enough to have been given the opportunity to refresh the piece which resulted in a complete strip down of the mechani...