/fa/ - Fashion

>>14225856
In general, free sprung balance wheels display greater rate stability over the time between services for two related reasons. Firstly because regulated balances use regulating pins on either side of the outer coil of the hairspring to change its effective length, the hairspring touches the outer and inner pin. As the lubricants age between services the amount of energy the balance wheel swings with tends to decrease over the years between services, and this changes how the hairspring interacts with the regulating pins in a way that changes the timing rate. This effects is magnified because that method of regulation causes more positional variance than free sprung balances normally experience, since gravity changes how the hairspring interacts with the pins in various positions. The reduced energy of the escapement over time tends to amplify that effect on the rates.

So, yes, free sprung balance wheels tend to show less rate drift over time, but no, its not because regulated balances "chew up" the hairspring.

>>14225862
The problem with plastic in an escapement is not deformation but rather mechanical wear. A traditional escapement uses synthetic rubies for the pallet forks and steel for the escape wheel. When properly lubricated, such an arrangement experiences very little abrasive wear between services.

Plastics used in these roles experience significantly more abrasive wear and as they wear the parts change shape slightly and thus the behaviour of the whole escapement will tend to change.