Rolex modified by George Daniels fetches $520k at auction
The story of George Daniels’ mission to show Rolex how his co-axial escapement was superior to the standard lever escapement used by the brand is somewhat folklore within the watch industry.
It is therefore no surprise that a Datejust modified by the legendary watchmaker has fetched $520,000 at auction.
It vastly surpassed its $100k-$200k estimate in the FutureGrail sale, in which not a single lot was passed – a reflection of a buoyant pre-owned market for rare and fine timepieces.
The watch originates directly from the personal collection of George Daniels and was dispersed at Sotheby’s in London in 2012.
It was subsequently held in a private collection in the Middle East and was also displayed in 2006 as part of the “George Daniels Retrospective” exhibition at Sotheby’s.
As part of its listing, FutureGrail did outline that it should be noted that George Daniels never established a comprehensive documentation of his experimental pieces realised on watches from third-party manufactures.
The available information rests primarily on indirect sources such as auction catalogues, testimonies and general publications which accounts for the persistent uncertainties regarding the precise dating of certain works.
It means that while certain published accounts have associated this watch with the demonstrations of 1986, technical and documentary analysis favours a later dating, most plausibly between the very late 1980s and the mid-1990s.
The piece nevertheless retains considerable historical significance as a direct witness to George Daniels’ experimental work and to the genesis of one of the most important innovations in modern watchmaking.
FutureGrail is an auction house with global reach via its online platform and public museum. It continues to grow from its Singaporean origins and has recently expanded into Switzerland and the UAE.
