diagrams.ink / timekeeping
How a mechanical watch
meters time
The mainspring provides the energy. A swinging balance decides when the gear train may release it.
FIG. 01 / LEVER ESCAPEMENTPaused
Escapement
Completed beats
Escape wheel advance
Space: run / pause · →: step · Home: reset
A lock, then a small release
The pallet fork alternately holds the escape wheel and lets it advance. Each beat releases half a tooth pitch: a 15-tooth wheel advances 12° per beat. The train is held still between releases.
A regulator, not an engine
The hairspring restores the balance; a small impulse replenishes its losses. This enlarged teaching model uses prescribed oscillation, schematic contacts and illustrative gearing—not watchmaking dimensions or a timing calibration.