balance wheel

Watch's beating heart

A balance wheel is the oscillating wheel in a mechanical watch or clock that regulates timekeeping through its steady back-and-forth motion.

The balance wheel works with the hairspring to divide time into equal segments, controlling how fast the hands move.

By extension, balance wheel can describe any stabilizing or regulating element in a system.

horology

escapement

Tick-controlling clock component

regulatorDevice maintaining steady output
hairspringCoiled timing regulator
mainspringClock's power coil

oscillation · jewel · pivot · chronometer · watchmaker · timekeeping · movement · tick · amplitude · coil

mechanism

gear

Toothed wheel or belongings

springRecoiling metal spiral
oscillatorCyclic signal generator
bearingPosture or orientation

torque · lever · cam · crank · cogwheel · sprocket · flywheel · counterweight · axle · spindle

stability

equilibrium

State of balance

steadinessState of being constant
poiseGraceful, unshakable calm
regulationOfficial rules governing conduct

constancy · symmetry · levelness · consistency · compensation · homeostasis · firmness · reliability · evenness · uniformity

Categories

chronometersmarine chronometer, mainspring, escapement
timekeepingclock, watch, watches, clocks, timer
clock partsmainspring, pendulum, escapement, dial, gear train
clockworkescapement, mainspring, gear train, hairspring, movement
oscillatorsoscillator, local oscillator, LFO, NCO, pendulum
watch partshands, hand, dial, hour hand, minute hand

Opposites

timekeeping mechanism type

balance wheelpendulum

Suspended swinging weight

clock pendulum · verge escapement

timekeeping technology

balance wheeltuning fork

Vibrating standard for pitch

Family

balance, wheel, balanced, unbalanced, imbalance, balancing, balances, wheeled, wheeling

Familiarity: Top 500,000
Profile: Used worldwide · Timeless · Concrete · Rated G