Sunday Rewind: Balance Springs Are Special Things

February 02, 2020

Balance springs are one of those things that manages to be both very important and also generally out of mind. A key component in the function of a mechanical watch movement, balance springs come in a handful of different formats, spanning everything from the flat types you see in more common movements to specialized designs meant to promote improved performance. In this two-part series that Jack wrote in January of 2017, we get a closer look at two very cool Girard-Perregaux pocket watches, with each offering a special balance spring execution.? Be they spherical or cylindrical, these two pocket watches sport some serious spring and Jack uses the design of each as a starting point for a larger discussion of 19th-century precision watchmaking (and a lot more).?Click here to read: In-Depth: Two Sweet Vintage Pocket Watches From Girard-Perregaux With Balance Springs To Die For and here for Part 2.