On the site People's Archive a long interview with master watchmaker George Daniels is available on demand. The master talks about his beginnings and, above all, the history and evolution of the Co-Axial escapement. And if you don't want to go to the trouble of listening... the transcribed version is also available!
About the Co-Axial, for example, Daniels says: "the real problem was to find someone who would agree to produce it by modern methods and I began looking in about 1976, 1977 for someone who would have enough wit to realise that this escapement could be the solution to the 500 year old problem of eliminating the lubricant from the escapement and having a tick-tock mechanism that would ensure that the components didn't stop."
