Girard Perregaux Tip of the Week #72

The balance-spring assembly is one of the main components of the regulating mechanism, which ensures a watch's accuracy. It comprises of hairsprings which is of high complex manufacturing. Indeed the hairspring only weighs two thousandths of a gram. Furthermore, the technical strength level required for this component is enormous: the force transmitted by the spring will require it to complete 432,000 vibrations per day. Therefore a point on the edge of the wheel travels 20 kilometers daily: which equates to circumnavigating the Earth in 5 and a half years with a 0.00000001 horsepower engine.