It is perhaps no accident that a teenager from Bolton with modest academic ambitions ended up as the chosen apprentice to the man who fundamentally rewrote the laws of modern timekeeping. The legendary pairing of Dr. George Daniels CBE and Roger W. Smith OBE is widely celebrated as the modern fairytale of British horology.
In reality, this fairytale did not happen by magic. It demanded an obsessive level of grit, initial rejection, and two masterful minds willing to converge and chase perfection across a windswept island. Born near Manchester in 1970, Roger Smith was just sixteen when his father suggested enrolling him in the Manchester School of Horology. It proved to be a “duck to water” moment. Roger graduated top of his class and clinched the British Horological Institute’s Bronze Medal.
During his time at the school, a distinguished gentleman appeared as a guest speaker. This was the renowned titan of horology George Daniels, inventor of the groundbreaking co-axial escapement. It was 1987, and feeling the reverberations of the Quartz Crisis, Daniels compellingly explained the art of crafting timepieces completely by hand – a master craft that would later inspire a new generation of independent watchmakers. Sitting in the classroom that day, a seventeen-year-old Roger Smith had his destiny set. Hearing Daniels speak made an indelible impact, giving him all the inspiration he needed to view watchmaking as a lifelong passion and vocation.
Equipped with conviction and a copy of Daniels’ textbook Watchmaking, Smith spent his spare time obsessively constructing his first pocket watch. In 1990, he nervously travelled to Daniels’ base on the Isle of Man, laying his creation before the master. It was met with a brutal rebuff. Daniels took one dispassionate, clinical look at the timepiece and told Smith to go back and try again. He was told to make it look like a proper watch created from “thin air”, rather than something merely “handmade”. Rather than turning on his heels demoralised, Smith found his fuel. Retreating to his workshop for five gruelling years, he set out to master the thirty-two separate traditional horological skills required to conquer the rigorous “Daniels Method.” When he returned to the Isle of Man with his second pocket watch, Daniels inspected the mechanism and smiled in approval. The relief at that moment must have been palpable, the years of self-doubt dissolving into pure validation. Decades later, in June 2023, that very same second pocket watch shattered records at a Phillips auction in New York, selling for an astonishing $4.9 million.
From the master’s nod of approval followed a golden ticket: the invitation to join Daniels on the Isle of Man as his apprentice. There, the duo forged the historic Daniels Millennium series. Produced between 1998 and 2001, the series celebrated the Swiss watch industry’s adoption of Daniels’ revolutionary co-axial escapement. The crowning jewel of the collection was the final, unique white-gold piece of 2001. Handed to Smith in lieu of a financial bonus, it was the only watch co-signed by both Daniels and Smith on the dial, later hammering for a staggering $2.42 million at Sotheby’s Geneva in November 2023.
Emboldened by this triumph, Smith stepped out from the master’s shadow to shape his own destiny. He debuted the Series 1, a run of only nine rectangular timepieces with a mesmerising retrograde calendar, before following it up with his critically acclaimed Series 2 in 2006.
However, the cosmic pull of the Daniels-Smith partnership was not finished. In 2010, they united for their swan song: a thirty-five-piece anniversary edition celebrating Daniels’ friction-free co-axial escapement. Conceived by Daniels to celebrate his invention, Daniels designed the aesthetics and movement layout. Being in the twilight of his life, he commissioned his protégé to entirely hand-produce the line in Smith’s Isle of Man workshop.
Sadly, Daniels passed away in 2011, just weeks after approving Smith’s first working prototype. Smith spent the next decade executing and delivering the series according to the master’s wishes. Today, those thirty-five watches are universally revered as the absolute holy grail of independent watchmaking.
Daniels bequeathed his entire workshop to his protégé. If actions speak louder than words, there is nothing left to be said of George Daniels’ immense regard for Roger Smith. Today, the workshop operates as a living cathedral of horology, utilising tools dating back to the 1820s. Decorated with his own OBE received in 2018, Roger W. Smith now stands alone at the apex, handcrafting a handful of elite timepieces each year, ensuring the legendary baton of British horology continues to tick in masterful hands.
Roger W. Smith O.B.E is a guest speaker at the Watch & Clockmakers of Australia National Conference, from 23-25 October 2026, at the Stamford Plaza Hotel, Melbourne, proudly supported by Leonard Joel. Registration and information: wca.org.au
By Patricia Kontos, Senior Jewels & Timepieces Specialist
Top Image: Roger Smith platinum watch handmade on the Isle of Man / Alamy
October 2026