Daniels grew up during the struggle of the Great Depression, spending his foundational years at the mercy of his drunkard father who was a carpenter in North London. He discovered his creative outlet at 8 years of age when he found a watch and began to deconstruct it, examining it in an effort to understand its complexity. As he said to The Independent in a September 2010 article: ``It was like seeing the center of the universe, I knew that`s what I wanted to do; I wanted to spend the rest of my time with watches``.
And he did. Like most men who grew up in his era, he was recruited to the British Army in 1944; though dangerous it provided the much-needed refuge from his household. During his time in the service, he spent his spare time working on his craft by fixing soldier`s watches for pocket money. After finishing his tour in the Army, he made his way back to conventional society with a deeper thirst for his passion for watches. At that time, Daniels only saw himself as a watch repairer; never in his wildest dreams did he expect to become a world-famous watchmaker. As he dove deeper into his calling he sharpened his skills that enabled him to go well beyond the world of watch repair. The first ever Daniels watch was purchased in 1969 for 1200 pounds. However, the last one purchased in the 90`s sold for 200`000 pounds, proving what an accomplished and desired timepiece he was capable of producing.
Not since the 16th century and the development of the watch itself had the world witnessed such brilliance in timekeeping. George Daniels, the world waited 400 years for a brilliant mind like yours. With the standards you set forth, I am sure that even in another 400 years we will remember your work, your diligence, passion, and creativity. Your contributions to this industry were immeasurable.
