Signed Thomas Engel, no. 15, circa 1980

A very fine and particularly attractive and elegant example of a Thomas Engel tourbillon, the present watch is a testament to his skills as a watchmaker. It features a regulator-style dial whereby the hours, minutes and seconds are displayed separately in the manner of a precision clock, as well as days of the week and power reserve. In common with the majority of Engel watches it is strongly influenced by the style of the legendary Abraham Louis Breguet. The tourbillon carriage was manufactured by the celebrated watchmaker Richard Daners.

Richard Daners (b. 1930), who made most of the tourbillon carriages for Professor Engel’s best watches, is one of the most respected and formidable watchmakers of his generation. He worked largely for Gübelin, being among others responsible for the design and making of their famous “bras en l’air” wristwatches and triple-axis tourbillon. It is a reflection of Professor Engel’s high standing as a watchmaker that Richard Daners agreed to supply the tourbillon carriages for his watches. In 1997, Richard Daners received the Prix Gaia, which is awarded annually by the Institut l’Homme et le Temps of the Swiss town of La Chaux-de-Fonds in collaboration with the Musée International d’Horlogerie, to people who have earned themselves a reputation for watchmaking. The museum honored the watchmaker ten years later with an exhibition of his life's work and an illustrated book.