This path led him to work as the keeper of the clocks at the Old Royal Observatory and National Maritime Museum (1974-1977), and then to emigrate to America, first to be curator at The Time Museum (1977-1987) and then on to Harvard University, where he was the David P. He also entered and won a competition from the Royal Mint to design and model a set of three medals (in gold, silver, and bronze) to commemorate the tercentenary of the Old Royal Observatory. To support himself financially, he got a part-time job teaching design, metalwork, and clockmaking at Eton College, near Windsor.
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Soon after graduating from Kingston College of Art in 1972, Andrewes also worked for a short time with the celebrated chronometer maker Anthony Randall, who showed him how to make a detent. During their long friendship, Daniels taught Andrewes many life lessons, but, most importantly, he conveyed to Andrewes the meaning of good workmanship and a way to approach horological problems: think non-conventionally and find solutions in a holistic way.ĭuring his apprenticeship, Andrewes worked on weekends constructing the first sculptural clock of his own design under the guidance of the remarkable artist-clockmaker Martin Burgess. “I was in the right place at the right time,” says Andrewes. It turned out that night was George Daniels’ 45th birthday – and a pivotal moment in the 21-year-old Andrewes’ life.
One Thursday in August 1971, when his wife and daughter were away, Daniels looked up from his workbench, spun around on his stool, and, holding out a £20 note, asked Andrewes to go buy a bottle of whiskey and some fish and chips for a late night dinner – they polished off that bottle of whiskey while discussing the restoration project and the world of horology. George Daniels set before Andrewes a test of making the escape wheel arbor, and, when satisfied with the result, he agreed to take Andrewes under his wing.įor two years, Andrewes spent every Thursday with Daniels in his workshop, sometimes staying for dinner and even overnight when working late. After several meetings, Quill asked Andrewes if he would be interested in working under the guidance of George Daniels to complete the clock that Harrison had never finished and took him to meet the master. Among the many treasures in this collection was an unfinished wooden regulator started by John Harrison. Wanting to continue this study as his main thesis project, Andrewes wrote to Colonel Humphrey Quill, the leading authority on Harrison’s life and work, who also served as the curator of the collection of the Worshipful Company of Clockmakers. Upon leaving school in 1968, Andrewes went to Kingston College of Art where, as one of his first-year projects, he wrote a paper on John Harrison, the man who invented the first successful marine chronometer.
This led to a job as an apprentice clockmaker at Knowles-Brown, a well-known clock, watch, and jewelry shop in his hometown of Hampstead in North London. One day, his curiosity drove him to take apart an old family clock, and elated by the success of putting it back together in working order, he attempted a more complicated repair on another clock. However, this apparent disaster turned out to be a blessing as he was encouraged to further his exploration into the arts as well as his interest in music and mechanical devices.
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When he was 15, he failed a series of important exams, which forced him to repeat a year of school.
Hailing from (and educated in) England, he loved art and design, but he found his academic studies challenging. Most importantly, The Time Museum, founded by Seth Atwood and formerly located in his home town of Rockford, Illinois, had been a place where the greatest experts, collectors, and dealers in the field had come together in a unique quest to build the most comprehensive collection ever assembled to illustrate the history of time measurement from its earliest period to the present day.Īs is often the case, an early setback turned out to be an immense opportunity for Andrewes. Almost every lot represented an adventure in acquisition and hours, days, weeks, and sometimes months of research. His knowledge of the pieces being sold and his passion for horology were unsurpassed, but for Andrewes, who spent 10 years of his life as curator of the Time Museum (1977-1987), seeing The Time Museum being de-accessioned was heartbreaking. Andrewes consulted with the auction house in cataloguing and organizing the sale, though it was a bittersweet time for him. I first met Will Andrewes in the 1990s when I was working for Sotheby’s on the now famous December 2, 1999, Time Museum sale (the auction that featured the record-setting sale of the Henry Graves, Jr.
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