Ebosa 119

Purely mechanical movements wound by hand via the crown, which tensions the mainspring to store energy. As the spring unwinds, it drives the gear train at a controlled rate set by the escapement and balance. Typical power reserves range from 38 to 80 hours, requiring daily or near-daily winding to keep the watch running.

Winding the mainspring by turning the crown attached to the stem, transmitting torque through the winding pinion. Patented by Adrien Philippe in 1842, it replaced key winding and remains the standard manual winding method for both pocket watches and wristwatches.

The dominant modern system: pulling the crown out to a setting position engages the hand-setting mechanism. Introduced in the late 19th century and refined into multi-position crowns (date, time, GMT). Used in virtually all modern wristwatches and most 20th-century pocket watches.

Also known as the Roskopf escapement, this is a simplified, low-cost variant of the Swiss Lever using steel pins instead of jewelled pallet stones. Less accurate but inexpensive to produce, it democratized mechanical watchmaking in the 20th century, populating affordable alarm clocks and entry-level watches worldwide.

The heart of mechanical timepieces, the balance wheel is an oscillating component that, together with the hairspring, forms a harmonic oscillator regulating the gear train's pace. Its steady back-and-forth motion ensures the even release of energy from the mainspring, governing the watch's accuracy.

The most traditional regulator, consisting of a movable index pointer fitted with two curb pins (or a pin and a boot) that embrace the hairspring. Sliding the index along its scale changes the spring's active length, adjusting the rate. Simple, reliable, and easy to service, it remains the workhorse standard across countless mechanical movements.

It is the most common form that we can find.

A small seconds hand typically located on a sub-dial and is separate from the central hour and minute hands. Originating from early pocket watches where the main balance wheel drove the seconds hand, it offers an elegant way to track the passage of time without crowding the main display. It remains a testimony to the watch's mechanical precision and history.