Why engineers are leading the battle of the balance spring

CLOSE 4 min read Ever since Christiaan Huygens invented the balance spring in 1675, its history has evolved alongside progress in watchmaking technology.

And as engineers, in particular materials specialists, joined the payroll at manufactures, the balance spring entered a new era Silicon spread like wildfire at Ulysse Nardin, Patek Philippe and Swatch Group brands Jaquet Droz, Harry Winston, Omega, Blancpain and Breguet; more discreetly at Tudor and Rolex, which already had its high-performance Parachrom balance spring There have been other noteworthy incursions into silicon: talked-about at Frédérique Constant, disputed at Baume & Mercier, and possibly promising at Firehouse Horology, a New York-based brand whose engineers have filed a patent for a completely new silicon balance spring that caught the eye of François-Paul Journe in the initial testing stages.

Metal alloys haven't said their last word, as illustrated by the paramagnetic balance spring in Nivachron, a titanium-based alloy developed by Swatch Group and Audemars Piguet The fact remains that the battle of the balance spring - a perfectly understandable concern in the race to produce the most precise movement, and highly representative of the directions watch R&D is currently taking - is waged by engineers, not watchmakers Yes, the balance spring and the escapement are crucial components, but components nonetheless. Source