TRIPPING

Tripping is a malfunction specific to certain types ofEscapement, particularly those lacking a safety device against rebound. It occurs when, instead of a single tooth of the Escape wheel being released at each Vibration of the Balance, two or more teeth escape simultaneously: the wheel “trips”, advancing erratically and severely distorting the watch’s rate, generally through a sudden and significant gain. This phenomenon particularly threatens old escapements renowned for their precision but fragile, such as theDetent escapement (or chronometer escapement) and the Duplex escapement, which do not have a redundant locking mechanism. A shock, an excessive Amplitude of the balance, or a fault in the Regulation / Adjustment are enough to trigger a Tripping. Conversely, the lever Escapement, thanks to its safety horns and its double roller, is practically immune to it, which largely explains its almost universal adoption in mechanical watchmaking. Tripping thus illustrates the historical trade-offs between chronometric precision, robustness, and reliability that have guided the evolution of escapements.