A coiled mainspring wants to unwind all at once. The whole art of the movement is to refuse it — to let the spring release its energy only in identical, countable increments. That refusal, ticking eight times a second, is the escapement.
01 · Store
Mainspring Barrel
A flat spring wound inside the barrel holds the day's energy. As it relaxes it turns the barrel — the single source of motion for everything downstream.
≈ 40 h reserve
02 · Reduce
Going Train
Barrel → centre → third → fourth wheel. Each mesh trades torque for speed by an exact tooth ratio, so the centre wheel turns once an hour and the fourth once a minute.
ratio 1 : 60 to seconds
03 · Meter
Lever Escapement
The escape wheel is caught and released by a pallet fork — locked, impulsed, locked — surrendering exactly one tooth per beat. This is the tick you hear.
2 beats / tooth
04 · Regulate
Balance & Hairspring
A weighted wheel swings against a fine spiral spring at its own natural rhythm. It decides the beat; the fork merely keeps it swinging. Time made pendulum.
4 Hz · 28,800 A/h
28,800vph
Vibrations per hour — eight balance swings every second, each one a countable slice of time.
1 : 720ratio
The reduction from centre wheel to escape wheel, threaded through interlocking teeth that must never slip.
±2s/day
What a finely regulated lever movement can hold — order coaxed from a spring that only wants to let go.