The New York Watch Auction: EIGHT takes place on June 10 and 11, inside our Manhattan headquarters at 432 Park Avenue. The auction includes more than 120 of the world's finest watches; here, we look at the world of Roger Smith, in honor of the Roger Smith Pocket Watch Two.
Roger Smith is more than a master watchmaker. He is a man of resilience, focus and drive.
At the age of 16, Smith's parents sent him to watchmaking school in Manchester where he graduated in 1989 and won the British Horological Institute's Bronze medal for the most outstanding student in his final year.
It was around that time that he met George Daniels, an encounter that would shape his life as a watchmaker.
After graduation, Smith joined TAG Heuer in the repairs department and contacted Daniels, offering his apprenticeship. A dry refusal led Smith to create his first entirely hand-made pocket watch. He set up his workshop in his parents' garage, quit his job at TAG Heuer and set out to create a tourbillon pocket watch with detent escapement.
The watch took a year to finish but Daniels did not find it to be good enough. Smith went back to his workbench and spent another five years working on a tourbillon pocket watch with a perpetual calendar. Upon completion he went to see Daniels, who asked Smith where the case, dial, movement etc. were made. When Smith replied they were made by him, Daniels turned to him with these resounding words “Congratulations, you are now a watchmaker.”
That very watch will be sold at auction for the very first time on June 10, 2023, during the New York Watch Auction: EIGHT.
In honor of the occasion, we've compiled a list of the most important watches touched by Roger Smith – including those he worked on under the George Daniels name – that have sold at PHILLIPS over the past few years.
Roger Smith Pocket Watch Two
Auction: The New York Watch Auction: EIGHT, June 10, 2023
Estimate: In excess of $1 million
In recent memory, there has been no other singular watch known to have completely defined the life of a renowned watchmaker as Roger Smith's Pocket Watch Number 2. It epitomizes a “make or break” moment for both Smith himself and, subsequently, for contemporary English watchmaking. Without the completion of this watch, and its acceptance by George Daniels, there would be no Roger Smith brand today. Arguably, then, the renaissance of English watchmaking in the 21st century would have been stilted, or at least its most proficient scion would have never been. The painstaking, years-long creation of Pocket Watch Number 2 is a poetic tribute to one man's absolute focus in the pursuit of his chosen trade. It was with this watch that Roger Smith became George Daniels' only apprentice, anointed to continue Daniels' legacy beyond his lifetime.
Over the course of five years, from 1991 to 1996, Roger Smith devoted himself to this second pocket watch. The aesthetics draw inspiration from English watchmaking in the late 19th century, as well as the Daniels method and Daniels' own watches. According to Smith, the bastions of English watchmaking are gilded and frosted plates that cover the winding works, straight bevels, minimal coloration, purple-blue hand-heated screws, and gold chatons.
Every single component of the watch was hand created from raw materials by Smith himself. Each part of the movement was drawn on a piece of sheet steel, hand-cut, filed, and polished. The three-part case began as a single bar of gold, hammered and soldered to perfection. The crystals that protect the dial and the movement were heated, shaped, and fitted – all by Smith, in his small workshop in Bolton. He would spend a few days a week on the clock and watch repair and restoration work that paid his bills, and the rest of the time on this pocket watch. The watch, with all its components taking an enormous amount of time, would near completion only for Roger to realize that the more recent components were superior to the older components, and he would have to remake them. Five times he remade the entire pocket watch, tempering and refining each individual element up to 11 times. Finally, his efforts culminated to a point where he was happy with the result. and he presented the watch to Daniels.
In total, Roger Smith has made only three pocket watches. His Pocket Watch Number 1, deemed insufficient by George Daniels, was disassembled and only the movement remains now, still in the workshop on the Isle of Man. Pocket Watch Number 3, made as a private commission, remains in private hands. Pocket Watch Number 2, the present watch, stayed in Smith's possession until 2004, when it was sold to fund the launch of his eponymous brand. Offered by an important collector, it has never surfaced publicly – until now. Virtually unused since it was sold in 2004, even the original caseback sticker applied by Roger Smith remains in place.
For its spectacular aesthetic beauty and presence, its incredible level of hand-craftsmanship requiring half a decade to perfect, and its profound impact not only on contemporary English watchmaking but also 21st century mechanical watch culture, the significance of the present lot cannot be understated. It is without any doubt, one of the most important and impressive timepieces made by any contemporary Independent watchmaker or brand, and consequently one of the most important watches in the world.
Roger Smith Model Series 2 Open Dial
Auction: The New York Watch Auction: SIX, June 11, 2022
Result: USD $840,700
With just four platinum examples of Roger Smith's open-worked Series 2 ever manufactured out of a total of 12 across all metals, the Series 2 Open Dial sold during the New York Watch Auction: SIX presented a unique opportunity to acquire one of the rarest and most exceptionally independently-made timepiece es of the 21st century.
Cased in a 40mm platinum case and executed with a sublime open-worked dial at the request of the owner, the watch was first ordered in January 2015 and completed in the first months of 2018. The dial and the engraving of the movement speak to the discerning taste of the owner and the savoir-faire of Roger Smith. The blued-steel Roman numerals float over the exquisite and lavishly hand-finished dial. The only traditional dial elements that haven't been removed are the up/down indicator and the ring indicating the subsidiary seconds, both crafted in silver. Otherwise, the talents of Smith are on full display, accented by flame-blued screws and the purple-flamed spade-tipped hour and minute hands.The gilded plates are frosted in the traditional English style, reflected on the movement.
The movement is where English watchmaking takes center stage as far as the combination of mechanical performance and aesthetic skill. It is none other than Roger Smith's improved Daniel's co-axial escapement, as Roger takes on the mantle of British horology and the legacy of his mentor , with a single-wheel co-axial escapement. Each client who orders a Roger Smith is offered their choice of engraving detail on the balance cock and part of the mainplate, and as a wine-lover, the consignor chose Smith's closed floral design engraving .
Roger Smith Series 1 No. 1 18k pink gold
Auction: The 2021 New York Watch Auction, December 12, 2021
Result: USD $730,800
After the production of the rectangular Series 1 came the Series 2, a round wristwatch with a power reserve display. In 2013, Roger Smith was invited to be part of the GREAT Britain campaign, showcasing the splendid and innovation of contemporary British watchmaking. He created a unique piece: “The GREAT Britain,” in platinum, with an off-centered Union Jack motif, hand-finished and highly three-dimensional.
Following this, Smith says he was “inundated with requests for a time-only piece.” And thus, the new Series 1 was born, displaying only the hours, minutes, and seconds via a subsidiary seconds dial. It was meant to be the quintessential gentleman's watch, with all of the refinement, experience, and heritage of three hundred years of British watchmaking distilled in a single 38 or 40mm round timepiece – all painstakingly hand-built and hand-finished by Roger Smith and his few trusted colleagues.
The Series 1 sold during the 2021 New York Watch Auction was also, remarkably, number 1, making it the very first produced, assembled, and likely delivered of this new generation of Series 1 watches. It came directly from the collection of the original owner, a staunch champion of British watchmaking. The 40mm case is rendered in 18k pink gold, with Roger Smith's characteristic hand-engraved dial and unique elongated spade-tipped hands. The movement is finished in a classical English style, with frosted and gilded plates, a floral scroll motif hand-engraved on the barrel bridge and balance cock, and, of course, Smith's refined take on Daniels' co-axial escapement.
Roger Smith Series 1 No. 17 in 18k pink gold
Auction: The Geneva Watch Auction: XVII, May 14, 2023
Result: CHF 730,250
Roger Smith is in a way the standard bearer of British high horology; meticulously crafting mechanical masterpieces in his workshop on the Isle of Man to which only a happy few would have access, not by deliberate choice, but due to the limited production of 15 watches leaving his atelier each year.
The Series 1 sold during the Geneva Watch Auction: XVII is part of the same production run as the previous watch, but carries number 17 and is one of only three 18k pink gold models in a 38mm case and the only one with its specific dial configuration.
Roger Smith Series 2 Ref. 68-C with embossed dial in 18k pink gold
Auction: The Geneva Watch Auction: XIV, November 5, 2021
Result: CHF 655,200
In 2006, Smith presented the Series 2, a round watch of perfect proportions featuring Smith's first fully in-house developed and made caliber using the Daniels co-axial escapement.
According to Roger Smith, the Series 2 “is probably the most important watch in the history of [my] company. The original Series 2 was the first watch to be completely made in-house. It was a huge step forward for us from the Series 1 and was also the first production watch by a British watchmaker in modern times. From a personal perspective the Series 2 came during a very difficult time for the business; its genesis didn't just result in a watch – it re-invented the studio and assured our future."
The Series 2 sold at the Geneva Watch Auction: XIV is cased in 18k pink gold and features a caliber with a typical English finish, with frosted and gilded plates, gold chatons, and heat-colored screws. It is enhanced with a hand-engraved floral motif on the barrel bridge, balance cock, and crown. The same floral motif is also beautifully and intricately present on the dial. The engraving was completed in London by Charles Scarr, requiring over a full week to complete.
This watch was only the nineteenth 18k pink-gold Series 2 to have been delivered, only one of two Roger Smith watches to feature an engraved crown, and one of five 18k pink gold examples with an engraved dial and silver chapters. Among those five, it is one of two with an engraved barrel bridge and balance cock.
Roger Smith Series 1 ‘Onely Theo Fennell’
Auction: The Geneva Watch Auction: XIII, May 9, 2021
Result: CHF 541,800
In the late 1990, Smith joined Daniels as an apprentice to work on the Millennium wristwatches Daniels was to make. In the early 2001 Smith decided to set out on his own and create his own wristwatch. Impressed by the Arkade presented by the newly revived A. Lange & Söhne that housed a rectangular movement, Smith decided to create a rectangular case housing a rectangular movement.
And so the Series 1 was born, heavily inspired by Daniels' work. It displays an intricate guilloché dial, a retrograde date, and a rectangular movement with a typical English finish, with frosted and gilded plates, gold chatons, and heat colored screws.
Of the nine rectangular Series 1s that were made, three of them were part of the “ONELY” series commissioned by celebrated London jeweler Theo Fennell. The Fennell logo is placed at 12 and had his name engraved on the main plate. The present watch is the only Series 1 in white gold made, making it truly unique.
To the best of our research, the Roger Smith Series 1 “Theo Fennel” sold during the Geneva Watch Auction: XIII was the first to appear at an international auction house.
Other Roger Smith Results At PHILLIPS:
https://www.phillips.com/detail/roger-smith/HK080222/845
https://www.phillips.com/detail/roger-smith/HK080216/1092
https://www.phillips.com/detail/roger-smith/EX080519/286
George Daniels Anniversary in platinum No. 00
Auction: New York Watch Auction: SIX, June 11, 2022
Result: USD $2,389,500
George Daniels' concept for the Anniversary series of watches was to commemorate the 35th anniversary of his invention of the co-axial escapement. He approached his one and only protégé, Roger Smith to collaborate on the series together.
The George Daniels Anniversary Watch sought to create a manually-wound wristwatch with co-axial escapement inspired by Daniels' 1991 chronograph wristwatch, and 1994 four-minute tourbillon wristwatch, which display the essence of Daniels' craftsmanship. Daniels and Smith would create an all-new British caliber, with the casing, dial, and finishing work to be produced by Smith to Daniels' style and standards.
The escapement within uses Roger Smith's single escape wheel version of the Daniels co-axial escapement, where the upper and lower wheels of the original design were combined into one escape wheel with added teeth. The result permitted the wheel to be fabricated in a single operation and removed a potential error source.
Forty-seven George Daniels Anniversary watches were produced following its launch in 2010, including 35 examples in yellow gold, four examples in white gold, four examples in pink gold, and four examples platinum. During the New York Watch Auction: SIX, in June 2022, we sold an example of the platinum series, bearing serial number "00" on the movement.
Not only was it one of only four examples produced in platinum, it was also the very first platinum Anniversary made, and the only one with this coveted serial number. The watch is accompanied by a signed and date letter by George Daniels to the original owner, along with guarantee, presentation box and setting pin. A portion of the proceeds went to the George Daniels Educational Trust, the Alliance of British Watch and Clock Makers, and the Horological Society of New York.
George Daniels Millennium 00 in 18k yellow gold
Auction: The Geneva Watch Auction: XVI, November 5, 2022
Result: CHF 828,600
The co-axial escapement was fitted to seven Daniels pocket watches created between 1979 and 1994. During this period Daniels approached the Swiss watch industry with a view to incorporating the escapement in a wristwatch. In 1999, Omega triumphantly launched the Co-axial at the Basel Fair, subsequently investing heavily in it to enable mass production. It is now used in virtually every Omega model in the current wristwatch collection, and has been further refined and developed by them, and separately, by Daniels' protégé Roger Smith for use in his superlative watches.
As part of the Omega contract, Daniels received a number of ebauches to be used as a platform for a small series of wristwatches of his own design. The Millennium series of watches shares many characteristics with Daniels' pocket watches and were, with the assistance of Roger Smith, constructed over a three-year period. Initially the idea was to make a dozen watches, but this number soon grew due to demand from eager friends who wished to own a Daniels. In total forty-eight watches in yellow gold including the prototype, and eight in white gold were made.
The movements were meticulously hand-finished in the traditional English manner, with gilded plates and blued screws. In the distinctive Daniels style, the silver dials are exquisitely engine-turned with three different patterns for a distinctive and legible look. The glazed gold cases, with their off-set winding crown at seven, are London hallmarked and each discreetly exhibits the original owner's initials. Not only does the present watch come with its original fitted box, photos, instruction manual and advertising leaflet, but most importantly, it is accompanied by four hand-written letters from George Daniels to the original purchaser.
George Daniels Anniversary No. 09 in 18k yellow gold
Auction: The New York Watch Auction: SEVEN, December 11, 2022
Result: USD $816,500
Quintessential Daniels in every aspect, the Anniversary, with its perfectly balanced, symmetrical 40mm profile, gives off a sense of order and serenity. A large gold ring engraved with black Roman numerals is anchored by two small sub-dials indicating the date and seconds on the dial. Echoing the addition of a fan-shaped power-reserve indication beneath 12 o'clock, the DANIELS signature harmoniously balances the layout of the dial.
The 18k yellow gold example sold during the New York Watch Auction: SEVEN was the ninth example completed by Daniels and Smith and came from the collection of the original owner.
Other Notable George Daniels Results At PHILLIPS:
https://www.phillips.com/detail/george-daniels/CH080322/30
https://www.phillips.com/detail/george-daniels/CH080119/32
You can learn more about and register to bid in the New York Watch Auction: EIGHT by visiting our online catalog.
About Phillips In Association With Bacs & Russo
The team of specialists at PHILLIPS Watches is dedicated to an uncompromised approach to quality, transparency, and client service. Phillips in Association with Bacs & Russo holds the world record for the most successful watch auction, with its Geneva Watch Auction: XIV having realized $74.5 million in 2021. Over the course of 2021 and 2022, the company sold 100% of the watches offered, a first in the industry, resulting in the highest annual total in history across all the auction houses at $227 million.
Recommended Reading
Roger Smith On Working With George Daniels On The Anniversary Series (Video)