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Regulator Keywound Wood Case Clocks: How Do They Work?

Regulator clocks, first introduced in the early 18th century, were an innovation in accurate timekeeping. During the 18th century, new inventions in the world of clockmaking, combined with increased demand from professional purchasers of clocks, led to unprecedented accuracy in wall clocks. Key-wound regulator clocks were an important step in the quest for precise modern timepieces.

History
- The pendulum clock, the precursor of the regulator clock, was invented by Christiaan Huygens and implemented by Dutch clockmaker Salomon Coster in 1656. Huygens was inspired by the work on pendulums conducted by Galileo Galilei and his son in the early 1600s. The pendulum increased the accuracy of clocks from the range of 15 minutes per day to the range of 15 seconds per day.
  
  Clockmakers' pursuit of more precise clockworks led, during the 18th century, to an increasingly narrow pendulum swing and the use of more and more precise "escapements" --- various devices designed to control the amount the clock's internal gears unwind with each pendulum swing.
The Regulator Clock
- The first regulator clock was pioneered in 1715 by George Graham and used a "deadbeat escapement." This type of escapement was invented by Richard Towneley in 1675, though it is often erroneously attributed to Graham. This type of escapement allowed the pendulum and gears to move freely for part of each cycle, minimizing the interference of friction with the precision clockworks. In regulator clocks, a wind-up key introduced tension into a wound spring attached to a system of gears and the pendulum. Carefully coordinated movements among the pendulum, gears and escapement created a clock that ticked each second with more precision than any earlier clock.
How it Works
- The historic regulator, found in such well-known antique clocks as the Vienna Regulator, is a type of pendulum clock. All pendulum clocks have five basic parts: a power source, which is usually a weight on a cord that turns a pulley in regulator clocks; a gear train that increases speed from the power source so it is strong enough to power the pendulum; the escapement, which releases the gear train a fixed amount each time the pendulum swings, and gives a precisely measured power impulse to the pendulum; the pendulum itself, which takes one second to swing when properly calibrated; and the clock face, which measures the number of times the pendulum swings and, thus, the passage of time.

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