The BBC reports Dr George Daniels: Funeral for 'greatest horologist' "The funeral of a man described as the "greatest horologist of all time" took place on the Isle of Man on Wednesday."
His website has some pictures of his watches and a biography.
Stephen Colbert this week had Thomas Thwaites on who tried to make a toaster from scratch, including smelting iron. He didn't do very well. George Daniels was one of the few people who could make a watch from scratch. "Dr Daniels created 37 watches in his career. Each one, created from scratch by hand and from raw materials, demanded the mastering of more than 30 separate skills and took more than 2,500 hours to complete."
He also created new escapements including the co-axial escapement which Omega put into production in 1999. They have a nice site with an animation of how it eliminates a sliding surface which means it doesn't need to be lubricated with oil which eventually gunks up and requires maintenance. It's apparently the biggest advance in watch making since the level escapement was invented in 1750.
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