Space Traveller - The design so far

The idea of construction a version of Space Traveller first occurred to me shortly after graduating from the Birmingham School of Jewellery in 2017. I have studied Daniels work since and viewed the 2nd Space Traveller watch in person in London in 2019.

I was most struck by the sheer size of the watch, it was much larger than I expected and I have wanted to make a version of it since. A portion of my education was paid for by the George Daniels Trust so paying tribute to the work feels very fitting.

Despite the fact that the initial Space Traveller watches have already been created and a wealth of excellent information provided, the design work required is still very comprehensive. Daniels' text "Watchmaking" provided great detail in regards to train counts and escapement design but there are still a few gaps in terms of other dimensions.

I found an outside diameter of 62mm for the watch by an enthusiast who examined the watch in person. This was key as it allowed us to extrapolate other cosmetic dimensions by ensuring the ratios appear correct. This combined with the technical information such as tooth counts and gear modules provided by George Daniels allowed me to work out various centre distances. 

There are other dimensions provided in Watchmaking related to balance wheels and wheel thicknesses in other watches, which we have used to inform the design.

By piecing together as many breadcrumbs as possible and combining them with our own experience we are able to come up with a good deal of the dimensions required to at least begin designing and eventually producing prototype parts.

Drawing every part of the watch has been beneficial in understanding how the components operate, this was especially useful when drawing the escapement, the in depth study which is required to draw the parts definitely aids the understanding of their operation.

It also brings home the level of the challenge, the accuracy and precision which is required to accurately produce these dimensions is daunting. If one of the clearances is not accurate the escapement simply won't operate. This will be a difficult project but success will ensure we are well equipped as watchmakers afterwards.