[sowbug]

There's one basic question I couldn't figure out from the article. Where is the spring that you wind up and that stores the "power reserve of about 60 hours"? Is it part of the silicon? Or is it external? I figured out that the three crescent-shaped parts are springy ("flex laterally to provide a restoring force as the oscillator vibrates through six degrees of amplitude"), but it doesn't look like there's anything else that could stretch/relax over 60 hours. My sense of intuition is useless, of course, at this scale and with these materials.

[nichodges]

This video may help, as you get to see the movement in action: https://youtu.be/xWh0p9Irznw

It doesn’t clearly show the mainspring, however at around 10:45 you can see the small gear spinning. That is being driven by the mainspring, and if you removed the escapement it would spin super quick until the mainspring was unwound.

It’s the constant rocking back and forth of the regulator that limits the speed that small gear (called the escape wheel) can rotate, therefore limiting how quickly the mainspring releases it’s energy.

[sowbug]

Indeed it helped. Thanks.

[SAI_Peregrinus]

That spring will be connected to drive the escapement. The resonator is the equivalent of a pendulum, even though it contains a spring. The escapement wheel is driven by a non-constant force from the drive spring. The resonator regulates its motion to tick at a regular rate, and in so doing draws power to keep resonating. The rest of the watch is driven from the same source.

[jonsen]

This video lecture might interest you:

http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/15895-an-electrical-engineering...

[twic]

The energy is stored in a big spiral spring, the mainspring, as in a conventional mechanical watch. The oscillator does away with another spring, the balance spring.