Escapement remontoire, a device which isolated the escapement from changes in drive force. Without a balance spring, the crossbeat would have been no more isochronous than the verge. Invented around 1657 by Robert Hooke, the anchor (see animation at top of page) quickly superseded the verge to become the standard escapement used in pendulum clocks through the 19th century. Its advantage was that it reduced the wide pendulum swing angles of the verge to 3–6°, making the pendulum nearly isochronous, and allowing the use of longer, slower-moving pendulums, which used less energy. The anchor is responsible for the long narrow shape
Escapement was recognized as a disturbing influence on the isochronism of the balance. Purchasers no longer buy mechanical watches primarily for their accuracy, so manufacturers had little interest in investing in the tooling required, although finally Omega adopted it in 1990. Although a highly ingenious escapement design, the Daniels coaxial nevertheless still needs lubrication to the lever pallet pivots. In addition, because of its geometry the impulse wheel can only have a limited number of teeth, thus it is necessary to have an extra wheel and pinion in the wheel train the pivots of which also need lubricating. Therefore, the advantages