Section 01 · 6 entries
Escapements
Every entry here answers the same question in a different way: how do you let a train under constant pressure move forward in equal steps without disturbing the thing that is counting them?
Entries in this section
- Something Must Let the Train Forward in Equal AmountsThe central difficulty of every mechanical timepiece: energy has to reach the oscillator without disturbing it, and the oscillator has to release the train without being pushed off its own rhythm. Every escapement is one answer to that.
- The VergeThe first workable answer, and why it interferes with the oscillator so badly.
- Anchor and RecoilBetter, but it pushes the train briefly backwards at every beat. What that costs.
- The DeadbeatRemoving the recoil so the seconds hand stops dead. Why precision regulators use it.
- The LeverThe escapement in nearly every mechanical watch: detached, self-starting and tolerant of being carried around.
- The DetentThe most accurate mechanical escapement and the least practical to wear — why marine chronometers used it.