Amplitude is how far a mechanical watch’s balance wheel swings from its resting center to one turning point.
Think of the balance as the movement’s oscillator. Energy from the mainspring keeps it swinging; the escapement counts those swings to divide time into controlled steps.
A timing machine estimates the swing in degrees. Healthy amplitude suggests that energy is reaching the balance effectively. Low amplitude can accompany weak power delivery, friction, old lubrication, damage, or another service issue—but the number alone does not diagnose the cause.
The reading also changes with winding state, watch position, movement design, and the lift-angle setting entered into the machine. That is why one isolated screenshot is not a complete health report.
Watcher Insight: compare amplitude only under known conditions: start with a fully wound watch, use the correct lift angle, and check more than one position.
