George Daniels is one of the most prolific innovators of the 20th century, particularly his contributions to creating a more practical escapement (his book by the same name is highly recommended). Through the early ‘70s, Daniels developed his novel co-axial escapement, the first such improvement since the lever escapement was put forth in 1755 by Thomas Mudge. With further refinements through the ‘80s and ‘90s, the co-axial escapement was eventually adopted by Omega for broad commercialization. The Millennium is a watch developed by George in celebration of this momentous occasion, using the Omega movements to employ his escapement.
The co-axial escapement was developed to eliminate sliding friction experienced by the stones set into the palette fork as they make contact with the escape wheel, meaning less stress on the escapement and less reliance on lubricants. The Millennium represents a culmination of this feat of development and serves as a cornerstone of Daniels’ impressive body of work. As such, this is a hugely important watch that would go on to inform the design language of his notable apprentice, Roger Smith, to this day.
From the article by Allen Farmelo, Paige Reddinger, Victoria Gomelsky, Oren Hartov, Blake Buettner
