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Glossary
100
101
Early type of escapement that saw the Oscillating organ
*
nearly permanently
engaging the escape wheel
*
, thus forcing a recoiling motion with every
oscillation.
Adjusting or regulating the Period of oscillation
*
of a movement.
Together with the Release spring
*
and Discharging pallet
*
, it builds the
characteristic part of the Chronometer escapement
*
.
See Release arm
*
.
Describes the small distance on the Locking plane
*
that the escape wheel
*
tooth travels from the time it makes contact with the Locking plane to its glide
over to the impulse plane. This is a necessary security element that prevents
the escape wheel
*
tooth from directly hitting the impulse plane and blocking
the continued oscillation of the balance.
In the detached Riefler escapement, the pendulum
*
is suspended in a
knife-edged revolving frame and is powered by additional bending of the
suspension spring. Riefler
*
used a special double escape wheel
*
for lifting and
resting. The Riefler escapement made excellent rate
*
results possible, but the
suspension of the knife-edges in jewel bearings is complicated to adjust and
relatively sensitive.
After the death of his father in 1876, Sigmund Riefler took over the drawing
set company Clemens Riefler with the support of his brother. In 1877, he
developed a revolutionary compass system with which he became world-
renowned. In 1878 he moved to Munich where he decisively improved the
detached escapement he developed in 1869 and had it patented in 1889.
Riefler made the most exact precision pendulum
*
clocks of his time and
for this was bestowed with the honorary degree Dr. phil. h.c. in 1897 by the
University of Munich.
Very hard mineral of the corundum family. Synthetic rubies are used in
high-quality timepieces as bearing jewels.
Also known as the guard pin. A component found in a Swiss Lever
escapement
*
that secures the meshing
*
of the pallet
*
fork and the
discharge
*
pallet together with the Safety roller
*
.
Also called the little roller. A component of the Swiss Lever escapement
*
placed directly on the balance staff directly above the Impulse roller
*
. Together
with the Safety pin
*
it secures the meshing
*
of the Impulse pallet
*
and
the pallet
*
fork.
Recoil escapement
Regulation
Release arm
Release spring
Rest, lock
Riefler escapement
Riefler, Sigmund
(1847-1912)
Ruby, jewel bearing
Safety pin
Safety roller
Phillips, Edouard
(1821-1889)
Pillar
Pinion
Pinning point
Pitch
Pivot
Platform Escapement
Point of inversion
Precision pendulum
clock
Ratchet
Ratchet wheel
Rate
French engineer. Occupied himself intensely with Abraham-Louis Breguet’s
*
experientially discovered Terminal curves
*
for balance springs and delivered
the mathematical proof.
Also called the movement pillar. Keeps distance between the plates
*
; both
components create the movement frame.
A gear wheel
*
with less than 20 teeth, usually made of steel. Normally, there
are five hardened steel pinions
*
: the Center wheel
*
pinion
*
, the center
pinion, the minute pinion, the escape pinion, and the third-wheel pinion.
The point at which the inner end of the balance spring is secured to the
balance spring collet.
The distance between the center of one tooth to the next one, measured by
the circumference of the effective circle or pitch circle of a wheel
*
.
Thinner end of an arbor or stem. It is the part that guides the arbor into
bearing holes. In precision timepieces, the pivots are hardened and make up
a component together with the stem and the pinion
*
.
An exchangeable unit or subgroup comprising the balance and the
escapement components.
For visual upgrading: a lavishly finished, rhodium-plated, diamond-milled
escapement with Screw balance
*
, blue balance spring, and blue screws is
available.
At the end of the complementary arc the balance is decelerated by the
balance spring
*
until it comes to a stop and then once again accelerated in
the opposite direction.
The unconditional timekeeper with excellently high rate
*
performance.
Pendulum
*
clocks with compensating pendulums were utilized well into
the late 1960s as the timing norm for scientific purposes and the official time
determination.
Please see click
*
.
Please see click
*
.
The daily rate of a timepiece is understood by the expert to mean the
comparison to a reference clock (like a radio-controlled clock) for a period of
24 hours, which will show the difference in time display to the timepiece
being examined.
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