Escapement

Definition

The mechanism that releases the movement's energy in equal, counted steps. It sits between the gear train and the balance wheel: an escape wheel tries to run forward under the mainspring's push, a pallet fork lets one tooth go each time the balance swings, and the tick you hear is that release. Almost every mechanical watch here uses the Swiss lever escapement, a design settled in the nineteenth century. The exception is Omega's co-axial escapement, which reduces the sliding friction of the lever and runs in the 2500 and every Omega caliber since. Rolex's Chronergy, introduced with the 3255 in 2015, is a lever escapement made thinner and more efficient rather than a new type.