PRECISION
The precision of a mechanical watch relies on two essential conditions. The energy transmitted to the escapement must be perfectly regular. The regulation must remain stable in all circumstances and positions. Several mechanical complications have been developed to meet these two requirements.
The Tourbillon houses the Escapement and the Regulating organ in a continuously rotating cage. This device compensates for errors in the rate induced by gravity in vertical position. The carrousel pursues the same objective according to a slightly different principle. Its drive is independent of the seconds wheel. These two systems aim to neutralize the effect of gravity on the escapement.
The Remontoir interposes an energy accumulator between the mainspring and the escapement. It delivers to the Balance a constant impulse, independent of the variable tension of the spring. Constant-force escapements apply an analogous principle directly between the escapement wheel and the Pallets (lever). These mechanisms improve timekeeping regularity without acting on gravity.
Resonance exploits a remarkable natural physical phenomenon. Two balances oscillating at a similar Frequency tend to synchronize with each other. Their coupling reduces the influence of external shocks and disturbances. Timekeeping stability is thus significantly improved over time.
THE TOURBILLON
Its purpose is to counteract the effects of terrestrial gravity on the watch’s timekeeping when it is in a vertical position. It cancels these effects by rotating the regulating organ around its axis in order to obtain an average rate across the different vertical positions, thereby optimizing the watch’s accuracy.
THE REMONTOIR
The Remontoir is a Complication whose purpose is to deliver constant energy to the Movement of a watch, in order to maintain optimal precision. By allowing a regular distribution of the energy stored by the mainspring, it compensates for the Amplitude variations of the Regulating organ that occur as its energy diminishes as it unwinds.
THE CONSTANT-FORCE ESCAPEMENT
The Constant-force escapement is a precision mechanism that delivers to the Balance rigorously identical Impulses of energy, independently of the tension of the Barrel. Unlike the Remontoir, which acts upstream in the Train, it integrates energy regulation within the Escapement itself. A flexible Blade or a small intermediate spring is recharged at constant tension with each beat by the Train, then relaxes to transmit an always identical Impulse. This consistency preserves the Amplitude of the Balance and thus improves the regularity of running throughout the entire Power reserve.
RESONANCE
This is a physical phenomenon that occurs when two objects (e.g. two balances) placed close together oscillate at similar frequencies. Through resonance, the oscillations of the two objects will align to a common average frequency and their respective amplitude will increase. A particularly interesting phenomenon when it comes to sustaining the frequency (and thus the accuracy) of a watch.
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