Co-axial escapement

The primary document is a patent. The European Patent Office's publication server carries EP 0 018 796 A3, Watches, clocks and chronometers and escapements therefor, in the name of George Daniels, filed on 25 April 1980 with a priority date of 30 April 1979 (GB 7915006). Its own opening words set out the object: "The invention relates to a detached escapement which preferably does not require oil to be applied to the escape wheel. The escapement has an escape wheel (10;30), a balance wheel and a pivoted lever (14;37) arranged so that during each movement of the balance wheel in one direction of rotation an impulse is applied direct to an element (25;33) attached to the balance wheel."

Omega's own chronicle dates the commercial release to 12 April 1999 and calls the result "the industry's first practical new watch escapement in some 250 years", one that "produces less friction and requires less lubrication, making it far more reliable than traditional movements". Elsewhere Omega states that the design "used smaller contact surfaces, which meant less friction, less lubrication and greater reliability". Those are the company's own claims about its own product, not figures from a neutral testing body.

An Omega press release held in Swatch Group's online archive under 2010 supplies the calibre numbers: "When Omega launched its Co-Axial calibre 2500 in 1999, the entire mechanical watch industry was put on notice", and, of the 2007 calibre 8500, "For the first time, the company built the entire movement around the Co-Axial Escapement and every one of its 202 parts was developed and produced in-house." The same release quotes Daniels on his escapement: "It is intended to sustain the public affection for the mechanical watch during the 21st century."