Omega Speedmaster Clutch Action in Extreme Slow Motion

Gav Free, of The Slo Mo Guys, takes an up close look at his Omega Speedmaster Dark Side of the Moon in slow motion.

10,000 frames per second is where things start to get interesting and I wish Gavin had been able to dial things in even slower.

The ricochet action between the gears of the sliding clutch mechanism hint at similarly violent, sub-millisecond interactions happening between the pallet fork and the escape wheel. The audio waveform of the interaction at the escapement, which can readily be captured at at an even higher sample rate, also hints at the notable forces that are at play here. There is an old, internal, slow-motion video showcasing the interaction of the escapement that circulates around Rolex every now and then. To recount the words of one watchmaker, "It looks like a train wreck."

The fact that we have so adeptly learned to harness and control this energy with such a high degree of repeatability and precision remains remarkable.

Gav's comment shortly after the eleven minute mark, about only leaving the brightest of the lights he employed on for a few seconds at a time so as not to cook the watch, was warranted and even a bit tardy. It was clear from the close-up shots of the escapement earlier in the footage that nearly all of the lubricant at the pallets had already evaporated, most likely from heat given off by the large, primary spotlight. Speaking from experience, having filmed a number of close-up shots under powerful lights back in the day for Alliance Horlogère, it doesn't take long for watch lubricants to evaporate under that kind of exposure.