This past weekend I welcomed Roger and his lovely wife, Caroline, to Southern California. Sunday afternoon & evening I enjoyed their company together with some LA watch enthusiasts at a very kind lady & gentleman's home in Orange County.

Monday afternoon, I was graced with the Smith's presence in Solana Beach. A select group of watch afficianado's enjoyed dinner and got to hear from Roger about his work, collaborating with Dr. Daniels and culminating in his creations that he brought with him. The two new pieces were stunning and what a treat to get to handle and enjoy them!

Roger & Caroline Smith:

Dinner begins and Roger says a few words between the soup & salad course:

Now to the main event, this is a 42mm rose gold Flying Tourbillon with Daniels Co-Axial escapement and Roger's version of the Grand Date. Commissioned by a LA collector, this one off piece took 3 years to execute.

Here we see the traditional English frosted finish on the plates, screwed gold chatons and stunning black polish on the steel Flying Tourbillon cage.

Not an easy image to capture well I'm afraid, but here it is, the Tourbillon cage close up:

Now the new execution of the classic Series 2, the Open Dial Series 2 in rose gold, 38mm case:

Here is a revelation, especially since Roger is such a low key fellow, he has improved upon Dr. Daniels Co-Axial Escapement, by designing a single wheel in the place of the two, in Dr. Daniels' original design. This Roger says, has made setting up the movements much easier from a watchmaking standpoint and has helped his job of making these watches run extremely well. In his own words, he doesn't want to see them coming back to his workshop not running properly as he doesn't have time for this! A few companies could benefit from this viewpoint...

Here is a image provided by Roger of the Single Wheeled Co-Axial Escapament, which is now being incorporated into the current Series 2 watches coming from his workshop.

It was an absolute pleasure having Roger & Caroline visit, and a huge thank you to them for making the effort to come to possibly (other than Hawaii) the furthest reaches of the US from the Isle of Man.