The power reserve of the mechanical watch

Reminder: how a mechanical watch works

A mechanical watch has a barrel that generates the energy necessary for the watch to function properly. This energy is produced by the barrel spring which will attempt to return to its initial shape.

The force thus exerted by the spring will drive the different elements that make up the watch and make the hands move.

This barrel can be recharged in two ways depending on the type of watch:

- By manual action, directly with the crown.
- By a movement of the wrist for automatic watches.

What is the power reserve of mechanical watches?

The power reserve corresponds to the autonomy of your watch. It is defined by the number of cycles that your watch is capable of performing when it is wound up to the maximum. Like a battery, when this reserve is empty, your watch is no longer able to function. Depending on the model, this autonomy can vary from around ten hours to several days. For automatic watches, this reserve is generally equivalent to around forty hours.

The power reserve can be displayed on your watch face. The purpose of this display is to allow you to anticipate the end of this autonomy so that the heart of your Beaubleu watch never stops beating.