Watches: A Complete History of the Technical and Decorative Development of the Watch

携帯時計の歴史に興味があるならこの本が最高だと英国の懐中時計ディーラーから勧められて購入しました。16世紀のヒゲゼンマイが使われる以前から始まり、バージ、シリンダー、ヴァーギュル、デュプレックス、各種レバー脱進機への進化の過程を含め簡潔明瞭な解説と現物の写真そして機構図が添えられた名著です。巻末には著名な時計師の略歴や専門用語解説まで記されています。携帯時計史を俯瞰できる稀有な書物の筆頭格と言って間違いはないと思います。

I was looking for a general but intelligent introduction to the world of watches and watchmaking but this is not it, and the beginner or casual enthusiast should check the preview more thoroughly than I did. The writing (clearly a historical and technical masterclass) is really aimed at someone who knows an enormous deal about watches and watchmaking - but the text is so dense that although I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person I could barely struggle through a few sentences. The book is originally a fairly old text (about 1965 I think although this seems to imply that it is a new edition) and for me the photographs were very poor (a colour section and a black and white section) and too small to provide any information or detail to someone new to the subject - also the severe separation of text and plates is quite difficult to navigate. For the price I was surprised at this. There are certainly no helpful diagrams and although there is a glossary of terms, each relies heavily to information and terms explained in other entries so anyone ignorant of the detailed structure of a watch is left struggling and going round in circles. I've given it 5 stars because it would be foolish to imply that there was anything wrong with text written by George Daniels but if you are not an expert already, it might be better to look elsewhere. It was simply way beyond my level. I have returned it and will do some research into other books available.

I bought this as a significant birthday present.The book arrived ahead of time, well wrapped and sealed.The book covers a wide and significant range of topics.Written by a legend.The book was very well received and delighted the recipient.I would buy through this portal again