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Picked this up today at an antiques shop, just because I thought it was interesting - an old mechanical watch movement, fascinating! There's no crown or winding stem, but the balance wheel and spring are still present, and if you swing the balance, you can see the escape wheel turning. Only after coming home did it occur to me it might be something nice to turn into a piece of jewellery, so I'm talking to someone about doing that!
For those that don't know;
- the balance is the wheel at about 8 o'clock here - the equivalent to a pendulum
- the escape wheel is tucked away at about 10 o'clock, and is part of the mechanism that both keeps the balance swinging and stops the whole watch unwinding at once
- at 2 o'clock is the crown wheel, which would be used to wind the watch, if there was still a way!
- at 4 o'clock is the barrel, which holds the mainspring, which is the power source of the watch. I bet that's long dead!
@airadam So intricate! I really admire watchmakers. I have clumsy, shaky hands and could never achieve such precision
@purplepadma I know what you mean, the precision and dexterity of watchmakers is absolutely mind-blowing!