Yeah I was imprecise in the description here, because I started trying to describe how a mechanical movement works and it went into the weeds really quickly :) More accurately, the balance nudges the pallet fork just enough to allow the escapement wheel to advance, and that advancing motion imparts some of the mainspring's force back through the pallet fork and into the balance, so that it continues to oscillate without dampening.It's a very clever mechanism, and surprisingly subtle. I can't be the only one who first saw a running mechanical watch and thought "wait, isn't that perpetual motion? How does that springy thing keep going without stopping?" Not magic, it turns out, just very very careful engineering :)
No comments yet.