How The Escapement Of A Watch Works And What Is Its Function - Custom Watches Factory

The escapement of a clock is the mechanism that regulates the time scale, either by means of a pendulum, in wall clocks for example, or by means of a balance wheel, in wrist watches.

In short, what is sought is that the energy developed by the spring is released little by little, instead of exerting an immediate movement.

On this occasion we are going to analyze what is the function of the escapement of a Watches Factory watch and what is its influence on the general mechanism of watches, especially on mechanical wrist pieces.

What is a watch escapement and how does it work?

Technically, the escapement of a watch is the mechanism in charge of maintaining the oscillations of the regulating organ. This task is carried out by blocking and releasing the movement of the mechanism, generating a series of intervals at the same frequency, determined in any case by the clock's regulating organ.

What we are looking for is that the spring does not relax immediately, but that it moves or is dosed, when released at a fixed rate, the complex system of gears moves in relation to a certain cadence, usually in rates of between 10 and 15 thousandths.

It is important to minimize the shock or friction between parts, current models ensure that the regulating organ transmits only 30% of the force of the barrel, this avoids the wear of the parts, which cause long-term loss of accuracy.

There is no single model of escapement, in fact, as we will see below, several models of escapement are used in relation to its operation.

What types of escape currently exist

Many brands work with their own exhausts, developed for specific parts, however, most of them can be grouped into the following types.

Anchor escapement

It is the most traditional escapement. This escapement does not drive directly from the balance or pendulum, but through an intermediate piece, the anchor, at the ends of which there are two blades that regulate the movement.

This type of regulating movement originated in the year 1759 by the engineer Thomas Mudg, since then it has been applied to all kinds of pieces with slight variations.

Paddle exhaust