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The Encyclopedia of Horology

Component record · Power

Click Spring

Verified

A small flat or curved spring that presses the click into engagement with the ratchet wheel's teeth.

What it does

Keeps the click seated against the ratchet wheel so it reliably locks the wheel against reverse rotation.

How it works

The click spring is a simple leaf spring, one end fixed and the other bearing on the click, biasing it toward the ratchet wheel. Its tension must be enough to keep the click seated against the substantial reverse torque of a wound mainspring, but not so stiff that winding becomes needlessly stiff or noisy.

Because it is small, thin and highly stressed at its fixed end, the click spring is a common point of metal fatigue failure in older watches, especially if it has been over-tensioned during a previous repair.

Evolution

Materials and fixing methods refined over time, but the basic leaf-spring principle is unchanged.

Known variations

  • Blued steel click spring (decorative, common in pocket watches)
  • Plain steel click spring

Identification for collectors

  • A watch that winds with a loud, weak ratcheting sound and does not hold power often has a broken or fatigued click spring

Common failure modes

  • Fatigue fracture at the fixing point
  • Loss of tension (setting)
  • Corrosion

Related photographs

Nineteenth century miracles, or, Spirits and their work in every country of the earth - a complete historical compendium of the great movement known as "modern spiritualism" (1884) (14596522817)
Nineteenth century miracles, or, Spirits and their work in every country of the earth - a complete historical compendium of the great movement known as "modern spiritualism" (1884) (14596522817) — Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions. Wikimedia Commons file page

No confidently matched photograph of this subject has been found yet. These photographs show a closely related record, and are not examples of the type described on this page.

Sources & references

  1. de Carle, D., Practical Watch Repairing

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