A balance spring for a balance with a blank containing: niobium: the remainder to 100 wt %, titanium: between 40 and 60 wt %, traces of elements selected from the group formed of O, H, C, Fe, Ta, N, Ni, Si, Cu, Al, between 0 and 1600 ppm by weight individually, and less than 0.3 wt % combined, a step of -quenching the blank with a given diameter, such that the titanium of the alloy is essentially in solid solution form with -phase niobium, the -phase titanium content being less than or equal to 5% by volume, at least one deformation step of the alloy alternated with at least one heat treatment step such that the niobium and titanium alloy obtained has an elastic limit higher than or equal to 600 MPa and a modulus of elasticity lower than or equal to 100 GPa, a winding step to form the balance spring being performed prior to the final heat treatment step, prior to the deformation step, a step of depositing, on the alloy blank, a surface layer of a ductile material such as copper, the surface layer of ductile material being retained on the balance spring, the thermoelastic coefficient of the niobium and titanium alloy being adapted accordingly.

A process for producing a metal alloy balance wheel by molding, the process including the following steps: a) making a mold in the negative shape of the balance wheel, b) getting hold of a metal alloy that has a thermal expansion coefficient of less than 25 ppm/ C. and is able to be in an at least partly amorphous state when it is heated to a temperature between its glass transition temperature and its crystallization temperature, c) putting the metal alloy into the mold, the metal alloy being heated to a temperature between its glass transition temperature and its crystallization temperature so as to be hot-molded and to form a balance wheel, d) cooling the metal alloy to obtain a balance wheel made of the metal alloy, e) releasing the balance wheel obtained in step d) from its mold.

A device for autonomous adjustment of the active length of a balance spring includes a regulator mounted on a plate with a cock, a balance spring stud holder being pivotally mounted on the cock, the regulator being pivotally mounted on the stud holder and including a pivot arm and device for changing the active length of the balance spring by pivoting the regulator. The device includes an elastic stress device to exert an elastic, return-to-position action on the regulator, and an inertia block, mounted for free rotation on the cock and connected to the pivot arm of the regulator, arranged to move the pivot arm of the regulator between a rest position and a correction position of the device, and simultaneously act on the device for changing the active length of the balance spring.

A method for maintaining and regulating frequency of a timepiece resonator mechanism around its natural frequency, the method including: at least one regulator device acting on the resonator mechanism with a periodic motion, to impose a periodic modulation of resonant frequency or quality factor or a position of a point of rest of the resonator mechanism, with a regulation frequency between 0.9 times and 1.1 times the value of an integer multiple of the natural frequency, the integer being greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to 10, and the periodic motion imposes a periodic modulation of the quality factor of the resonator mechanism, by acting on losses and/or damping and/or friction of the resonator mechanism.

An attachment part for attaching a free end of an outer last coil of a balance spring of a horological movement, this balance spring taking the form of a ribbon wound in coils and being delimited by first and second faces which extend parallel to and at a distance from one another, the attachment part including elastically deformable clamping means which are arranged to be brought into contact with the free end of the outer last coil of the balance spring in order to exert a resilient clamping force on this free end so as to guarantee the immobilisation thereof, this resilient clamping force being exerted along at least a first line of contact (A; B) on the first face of the balance spring and along a contact surface (S) on the second face.

A rigid horological component (6, 7, 8) for an oscillator mechanism or for an escapement mechanism of a horological movement, the component extending along a principal plane (P) and including at least a part made of a composite material (1), the composite material (1) including a matrix (2) and a multitude of nanotubes or nanowires (3) distributed in the matrix (2), the nanotubes or nanowires (3) being juxtaposed and disposed substantially parallel with an axis (A) substantially perpendicular to the plane (P) of the component, the matrix (2) includes a rigid material (4) to fill the interstices and join the nanotubes or nanowires (3) to one another, the material (4) having rigid mechanical properties to block the elastic deformation of the component, the rigid material (4) comprised in the component having a Young's modulus greater than 2 GPa.

For example, an escape gear portion as a watch component includes a substrate containing silicon as a main component, and a light reflecting layer including a first silicon oxide layer, a silicon layer, and a second silicon oxide layer that are stacked, in this order, at the substrate, wherein, when the light reflecting layer is viewed in plan view, the light reflecting layer includes a first region and a second region, and a thickness of the silicon layer in the first region is different from a thickness of the silicon layer in the second region.

The invention relates to a method which comprises the steps of providing a plate (2) made of a micromachinable material, forming the timepiece component (1) with at least one attachment (3) for keeping the component attached to the rest of the plate (2), by etching the plate (2); and creating, along a desired breakage line of the attachment, a pre-detachment area (4) comprising at least one gap (5) obtained by etching into the body of the plate (2).

A governor includes a balance spring including a base member made of silicon, for example, and a balance wheel. The balance spring includes a coating film of DLC that is applied to a surface of the silicon base member to improve the strength of the balance spring. A spring constant of the balance spring changes in accordance with the temperature change. A moment of inertia of the balance wheel changes in accordance with the temperature change. A change in an oscillation period due to the temperature change is suppressed by the change in the spring constant of the balance spring and by the change in the moment of inertia of the balance wheel.

A method for maintaining and regulating frequency of a timepiece resonator mechanism around its natural frequency, the method including: at least one regulator device acting on the resonator mechanism with a periodic motion, to impose a periodic modulation of resonant frequency or quality factor or a position of a point of rest of the resonator mechanism, with a regulation frequency between 0.9 times and 1.1 times the value of an integer multiple of the natural frequency, the integer being greater than or equal to 2 and less than or equal to 10, and the periodic motion imposes a periodic modulation of the quality factor of the resonator mechanism, by acting on losses and/or damping and/or friction of the resonator mechanism.