What clock mechanism did Leonardo da Vinci study to regulate the release of gear motion?

Leonardo da Vinci studied a clock escapement to regulate the release of gear motion.

An escapement is a mechanism that allows a gear train to advance in controlled steps rather than turning continuously. It also transfers regular impulses to the timekeeping element of a clock. Leonardo’s notebooks contain drawings and analyses of escapement-like mechanisms as part of his broader interest in machines and precision motion.

These studies belong to a long history of clock development in Europe. The earliest mechanical clocks used verge-and-foliot systems, while later clocks adopted pendulums and more accurate escapements. Leonardo’s work should not be mistaken for the invention of the pendulum clock, which came later with Christiaan Huygens in the seventeenth century.

The key function is regulation, not power storage. Springs and weights provide energy; the escapement meters that energy into repeated, countable movements that can drive a clock’s hands.