Thomas Engel (1927-2015) started his professional career in post-war Germany as a dishwasher for the occupying American army. He was an autodidact and his fascination with plastics and a versatile, inventive mind eventually led to his claim over 120 patents, many in the field of polymers – inventing cross-linked polyethylene (PEX) that’s widely used in pipes and cables - but also the under-soil heating of the Munich Olympic Stadium. Those inventions made him a millionaire many times over, and Engel lived life fully, having been married thrice. But his true passion was watches, particularly those of Abraham-Louis Breguet. Engel not only published a book dedicated to his Breguet collection, but also produced watches in the style of the French watchmaker as a second career.

Already middle aged, Engel moved to Switzerland to study watchmaking with Richard Daners (1930-2018), a talented Swiss watchmaker who worked for Swiss jeweller Gübelin for most of his career. Daners not only taught Engel the craft, but also helped produced most of Engel’s timepieces, which were mostly finely crafted pocket watches powered by observatory chronometer-quality movements obtained from Zenith, but also included several Breguet inspired carriage clocks. Many of the pocket watches incorporated a tourbillon regulator featuring a distinctive three-armed carriage and open-worked cock, and a handful were even fitted with a thermometer driven by a bimetallic strip, just as found in some Breguet pocket watches.