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Escapement

Precision timing for mechanical clocks

Your iPhone is already a timegrapher. Place it near any pendulum clock and Escapement will measure rate, deviation, and beat error just by listening. No contact mic, no cables, no bench equipment. Though if you really want to get serious, try slipping an AirPod inside the case near the movement.

Coming Soon Learn More

Every Pendulum Clock

🕰

Grandfather Clocks

Quintessential longcase clocks with seconds pendulums. Check regulation after a move or a bushing job without pulling the hood.

🏛

Mantle Clocks

Quite possibly the most varied category. Bracket clocks, carriage clocks, shelf clocks. Just set your phone next to it.

🐦

Cuckoo Clocks

Just as finicky to regulate as any other pendulum clock. Dial in the right pendulum length and know when you've got it.

Table & Wall Clocks

Your schoolhouse regulators, Vienna regulators, desk clocks. If it ticks, Escapement can time it.

How It Works

1

Place

Just set your iPhone near the clock. The built-in mic picks up most pendulum clocks from across the room. For a grandfather clock, try resting the phone on the seatboard.

2

Listen

Quietly, the app picks out the tick and tock of the escapement from background noise. It adapts to your room automatically.

3

Measure

Quick results. Rate, seconds-per-day deviation, and beat error show up within a few seconds. Enough to regulate the movement right there.

Precision Instruments

Rate Detection

Template matching figures out your clock's beat rate automatically. Works with everything from a seconds pendulum down to a quick French movement. Locks on in under five seconds.

Rate Deviation

Your clock is either gaining or losing time. This tells you how much, updated live. You'll know which way to turn the rating nut and roughly how far.

Beat Error

Tick and tock should be evenly spaced. When they're not, the clock is "out of beat" and will eventually stop. Just knowing which direction to nudge the crutch is half the battle.

Adaptive Detection

The detection threshold adjusts itself to your room. Quiet workshop, noisy living room, doesn't matter. Sensitivity ramps up gradually to catch faint ticks without picking up the strike train.

Signal Confidence

Quantifies how trustworthy the reading is. A confidence score based on signal-to-noise, jitter, and interval consistency. Green means solid. If the signal is questionable, it'll tell you.

📊

Human-Reviewed

Yes, actual people review tick samples from real sessions. We flag false detections, study the weird edge cases, and retune the algorithm before each update. It gets better over time because someone is actually looking at the data.

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Built in upstate New York by the grandson of the man who assembled a 1976 Emperor grandfather clock kit. That clock is still running. This app exists because of it.
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By The Numbers

±0.1
Seconds / Day Resolution
0.1ms
Beat Error Precision
<5s
Time to Lock
48kHz
Audio Sample Rate

Built For

Clockmakers & Repairers

Just a timegrapher in your pocket. Check a movement on a house call, verify your work after a service, diagnose beat error on the spot. Leave the bench tool on the bench.

Clock Owners

You shouldn't need a clockmaker every time the pendulum needs a tweak. Escapement tells you what's off and how much to adjust. Your clocks, your hands.

Collectors & Dealers

Question every movement before you buy. Pull out your phone at an estate sale or antique shop, listen for a few seconds, and know what you're dealing with before you write a check.

Start Measuring

Quietly getting better with every build. Join the list to know when it hits the App Store.

Coming Soon to the App Store