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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Component record · Escapement

Solid Banking

Partially verified

Milled limits in the plate restricting lever travel.

What it does

Defines the fork's outer limits without adjustable pins.

How it works

Fixed bankings remove an adjustment point and so make escapement geometry a manufacturing rather than a bench variable.

Evolution

Displaced adjustable banking pins in mass production.

Known variations

  • Solid banking
  • Adjustable banking pins

Identification for collectors

  • No banking pins visible beside the fork.

Common failure modes

  • Damage from forcing the fork
  • Debris in the banking recess

Diagram

top plate or bridgespillar platebalance and cockwheel train between the plates
Schematic: plate and bridge layout. An outline schematic drawn to show the arrangement of the parts discussed here. It is not a dimensioned working drawing and does not depict a particular maker's calibre.

Sources & references

  1. de Carle, D., Practical Watch Repairing
  2. de Carle, D., Watch and Clock Encyclopedia
  3. Daniels, G., Watchmaking

Where sources disagree, the disagreement is stated rather than resolved silently.