A horological movement includes an escapement with a magnetic system to generate magnetic force impulses, so as to sustain the oscillation of the mechanical resonator associated with the escapement. In order to make possible an effective self-starting of the assembly formed of the mechanical resonator and of the escapement during a winding of the barrel, after a stop of the horological movement due to the unwound barrel spring, the escape wheel includes teeth and the pallet assembly includes two mechanical pallet-stones arranged to receive, upon starting, at least one mechanical force impulse of the escape wheel via one of the teeth thereof, the mechanical force impulse generating a starting force torque on the pallet assembly that is transmitted to the balance of the mechanical resonator to begin an oscillation of the latter so that the assembly can operate normally after a starting phase.

By configuring a timepiece component to include an intermediate film provided on at least a portion of a surface of a base material formed by using a nonconductive first material as a main component and to include a buffer film stacked on the intermediate film and mainly composed of a second material having a tenacity higher than that of the first material, the timepiece component may be manufactured with high precision, the weight thereof may be reduced, and even when the base material is formed by using a brittle material such as silicon, the timepiece component becomes resistant to breakage and capable of exhibiting high strength when an impact is externally applied.

An inertial mass with adjustment of inertia and/or unbalance for a horological resonator, including a plurality of mobiles for adjusting inertia and/or unbalance, toothed or fluted, each mounted pivotably about a mobile axis with respect to a flange that the inertial mass includes, and with a centre of mass off-centre with respect to this mobile axis, each mobile cooperating by meshing with an inertia and/or unbalance adjustment crown, toothed or fluted, under a permanent constraint exerted by an elastic return force exerted by the crown and/or the mobile.

A paramagnetic stainless steel with a chemical composition including by weight: 26≤Cr≤40%, 5≤Ni≤20%, 0≤Mn≤5%, 0≤Al≤5%, 0≤Mo≤3%, 0≤Cu≤2%, 0≤Si≤5%, 0≤Ti≤1%, 0≤Nb≤1%, 0≤C≤0.1%, 0≤N≤0.1%, 0≤S≤0.5%, 0≤P≤0.1%, the remainder consisting of iron and any impurities each having a content less than or equal to 0.5%, the steel having a hardness HV10 between 500 and 900. It also relates to a part particularly a horological component made of this steel and to the process for manufacturing the part.

A balance-spring intended to equip a balance of an horological movement, comprising a core made of Nb—Ti made from an alloy consisting of: niobium: balance to 100% by weight, titanium: between 5 and 95% by weight, traces of elements chosen from the group consisting of O, H, C, Fe, Ta, N, Ni, Si, Cu, Al, each of said elements being present in a quantity between 0 and 1600 ppm by weight, the total quantity formed by all of said elements being between 0% and 0.3% by weight, wherein the core made of Nb—Ti is coated with a layer of niobium, said layer of niobium having a thickness between 20 nm and 10 μm.

A balance for a horological movement, including rigid parts including a hub defining the pivot axis of the balance, a felloe sector, at least one arm connecting the felloe sector to the hub, and including a slot for receiving and gripping an inertia-block in position, the slot opening into a housing delimited on the one hand by a rigid part of the balance, and on the other hand an elastic arm including a first end integral with a rigid part of the balance, and a second free distal end. The elastic arm has a hook-shaped body, the free distal end of the hook being parallel to a part of the balance having a rigidity greater than or equal to that of the elastic arm.

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.

A watch formed by a mechanical movement incorporating a mechanical resonator, including a display displaying the actual time, a correction device formed by a device for detecting the passage of at least one hand through at least one reference time position and by an electronic correction circuit allowing an overall time error for the display to be determined, and a device for braking the mechanical resonator. The correction device is arranged such that it can correct the actual time displayed as a function of the overall time error (loss or gain) previously determined.

For this purpose, the correction device is arranged such that the braking device can act on the mechanical resonator during a correction period to vary the running of the drive mechanism of the display, in order to correct the actual time displayed.

A bimetallic device, the difference in expansion coefficient of which is between 10 and 30 10.sup.−6 K.sup.−1, for providing a resonator with thermal compensation via the balance wheel.

A piezoelectric element for an automatic frequency control circuit, the element including: a balance spring formed of a strip of piezoelectric material; at least a first electrode, configured to be connected to the circuit and being disposed on all or part of one side of the strip; at least a second electrode configured to be connected to the circuit and being disposed on all or part of another one side of the strip distinct from the one side on which the first electrode is disposed, the piezoelectric material being a piezoelectric crystal or a piezoelectric ceramic; and at least two discontinuous layers of an insulating material, each discontinuous layer being disposed on at least one side of the strip and separating the first electrode from the second electrode, the layers of insulating material being distributed on predetermined portions of the balance spring substantially forming arcs in a predetermined angular periodicity.