Watch Crown Functions and Types

Okay, listen up, people. Today, we are going to learn about a small, sometimes overlooked, but extremely important part of a mechanical watch. Some of the less horologically educated among you may call it a “winder” or “that twisty thing on the side”. Like every other part of a watch, it has a proper name. It is called the crown, and, as you will see, that’s a fitting name. 

The crown is easy to spot on a watch. It’s usually a round knob and generally found at the 3 o’clock position. This makes it easy to wind for a right-handed person because they can hold the case in their left hand and wind with the right. 

By the way, never wind or set your watch while it’s on your wrist. You could easily bend the stem of the crown and cause damage that can be pretty expensive to have fixed.

There are watches with the crown at 9 o’clock. These are left-handed watches for obvious reasons. Some right-handed people like them, too, because they don’t have to deal with the crown digging into the back of their left hand while bending it. Lefties are not common, but they are out there.

Watches with crowns at 4 o’clock also exist. In fact, there are even two and three-crown timepieces. You won’t have any trouble identifying the crown. Let’s take a look at how they function.

How Watch Crowns Work

The crown is technically part of the movement and the only part of it that you can touch. Its main function is to wind the mainspring, which is what powers a mechanical watch. You turn the crown clockwise until you feel resistance. On most watches, this is about 30-40 turns, which means the mainspring is fully wound.

The crown is attached to a stem that runs through the case into the movement. A system of gears engage when the crown is turned and wind the spring. The crown performs other functions as well.

Displaying the correct time is essential to a watch. The crown will have a position that allows you to turn the crown to move the hands forward or back to set the time. On a basic three-hand watch with no complications, there will only be one position. 

Pull out to set the time, push back when you’re done. Many watches have a hacking function that stops the second hand when the crown is pulled out. This allows you to synchronize your watch to the exact time. I like to set mine using my cell phone.

Watches with complications such as date, day of the week, GMT, or moonphase have added positions to allow you to set them with the crown. 

For example, you pull out to the first position to set the date. Some watches change the date when you turn in one direction and a different complication, such as the GMT hand or the day of the week when you turn in the other. 

A handy feature some watches have is a position that just moves the hour hand. I have this on my Omega Seamaster, and it’s great when you travel to a different timezone or have to adjust to semi-annual time changes. 

Watches that have more than one crown assign a different function to each crown rather than having multiple positions. 

The crown of a watch also adds to its aesthetics. It will be designed to match the case, style, and type of watch. There are usually grooves to make it easy to grip. Some crowns have a precious stone on them to bling the timepiece up a bit. Now that we know about the many functions of a crown let’s see how they evolved. It didn’t happen overnight. 

History of Watch Crowns

There was a time before crowns existed. Pocket watches were wound with a key that was inserted into the dial or case. If you’ve ever seen an antique clock, you know what that looks like. This was inconvenient for a watch because if you left the key at home or lost it, you could not wind or reset your watch.

A watchmaker in England, John Arnold, is credited as the first to find a solution to this problem. He placed a knob on a pocket watch that could wind the mainspring. Later, in 1830, the legendary Antoine-Louis Breguet refined Arnold’s mechanism, which allowed it to be used on smaller watches, such as those worn on the wrist.

A decade or so later, in France, Jean Adrien Phillipe, co-founder of Patek Philippe, developed a sliding pinion that brought the crown closer to the modern one we know today. It allowed for different positions and multiple functions. 

We should note that the crown didn’t always have such a regal name. It was originally called a knob. Not so elegant but over time, watchmakers noted that the shape resembles the headwear of royalty. That coupled with the fact that on pocket watches, the crown sat at 12 o’clock or on the “head” of the case, and the familiar moniker of crown was applied and stuck for good. 

As newer complications were developed and added to watches, the crown was further developed to allow the wearer to set these features. Several different types of crowns were also invented. 

Types of Watch Crowns

There is more than one type of watch crown, and if you have even a small collection, you probably own watches with more than one type. These types were created to serve different purposes in various watch types.

Screw-Down Crowns

My favorite type of crown is the screw-down. As the name implies, the base of the crown is threaded, and it screws down into the case. This creates a seal that is essential to high-water resistance timepieces such as divers. If the crown doesn’t screw down, it’s not a dive watch. A screw-down crown is a highly desirable feature, even if you don’t plan to wear your watch in water. 

The screw-down also keeps dust and other debris from getting into your movement and damaging it. Screw-down crowns have multiple positions on watches with complications, and you must unscrew them to pull the crown out before winding or setting.

Push-Pull Crowns

The most basic type of crown is the push-pull. It simply pulls out and pushes back in with no unscrewing necessary. These are typically found on dress watches because of their simple and elegant design. They will have multiple positions if necessary and are easy to use.

Recessed Crowns

Recessed crowns sit down partly in the case. This gives the watch clean lines and a pretty aesthetic. You also don’t have to worry about the crown digging into the back of your wrist. The downside is that they can be tricky to turn, and that may get a little annoying.

Multiple Crowns

As mentioned earlier, there are watches with more than one crown. Two-crown watches generally have them located at 2 and 4 o’clock, while three-crowns have them at two, three, and four. The extra crowns perform the function of adjusting other complications making fewer crown positions necessary. 

There are other knobs or buttons you may see protruding from a watch case that are not actually crowns. As I look down at my wrist, I see one now. The infamous helium escape valve on the Omega Seamaster. 

Its purpose is to let helium escape from the case on extended saturation dives, which makes it not at all necessary for the vast majority of watch lovers. Many people hate it, but I think it adds to the cool factor.

Chronographs usually have buttons at 2 and 4 o’clock that start and stop the stopwatch and reset it, respectively. I have a multi-function watch with this same setup. It’s a quartz movement, so it needs no winding. The crown sets the time, and the two buttons advance dials display the day and date. 

How Important is a Watch Crown?

The importance of a watch crown cannot be overstated. If you can’t wind the mainspring on a mechanical watch, when it stops, it’s useless. Even an automatic needs to be wound from time to time.

Setting the time is always a necessity. Even the most accurate mechanical timepieces gain or lose a bit of time each day. Eventually, that means a reset, and switching to and from Daylight Savings Time means adjusting your watch with the crown. Unless you have a GMT, you need to adjust your watch when traveling to different time zones. 

A date complication needs to be adjusted at the end of every month with less than 30 days. The functions of this tiny part of a watch are essential to its usefulness. Sure, you could avoid all this with a smartwatch, but where’s the fun in that?

Conclusion

A watch is a complex piece of mechanical engineering with many moving parts. Some you can’t see, and some you can. Most will only ever be touched or repaired by your friendly neighborhood watchmaker. 

The crown, small though it is, is your opportunity to adjust, power, and interact with your precious wrist babies. The next time you wind your watch, take a moment to appreciate all that your crown does for you.