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Omega, Rolex, others: what’s your screw-down crown technique?

M'Bob
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Some press in, and then spin the crown forward to engage the threads. But some press in, turn the crown back a bit, and then turn forward.

What do you typically do, and which technique do you feel minimizes the amount of tries before success?
 
YY77
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The latter to avoid cross threading as much as possible.
 
vintage hab
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I simply press & screw in. I never actually thought that there could be another way.
 
Evitzee
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Press in and turn it. Never had any issues. I think the size and thread design make it difficult to cross thread a screw down crown.
 
M'Bob
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I can tell you I don’t always get it right the first time, and others I’ve spoken to also note having to occasionally give it a couple of tries before fully screwing down.

So I was wondering, why? Not pressing the crown in firmly enough…or maybe, not catching the “notch.”

Now, I don’t know anything about how these are engineered, nor the correct terms, but it seems like all thread interfaces have a notch, as noted below, in one of the mating surfaces:

98E36AE5-8B89-4A4E-B080-88C03EF79FAD.jpeg


I’m guessing if that spot is 180 degrees from where you start your turn, it might be tough to catch it on the first try. Although, maybe on crowns, there are a few of these spots to catch?
 
RevZMan123
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I have done both techniques and it does seem to differ from watch to watch. A few are very simple, just a push and turn. But my Farer with an SW200 seems very tight when engaging the crown and almost feels like I'm winding it at the same time.
 
Donn Chambers
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It depends on the watch. On most of my Omega watches, simply pushing in and turning CW works. But on my one Rolex, I find I have to turn CCW and push in to engage the threads, then screw in CW.
 
STANDY
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Just screw down…..it’s easy.

Never had a issue on the 5-6 I own or the 20 odd dive watches previously owned
 
Larry S
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I carefully press in, make sure the threads are engaging and screw it down. I agree, some due care is needed.
 
Archer
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Evitzee Evitzee
Press in and turn it. Never had any issues. I think the size and thread design make it difficult to cross thread a screw down crown.

Not really all that difficult - I see stripped threads pretty often...

 
Archer
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M'Bob M'Bob
I’m guessing if that spot is 180 degrees from where you start your turn, it might be tough to catch it on the first try. Although, maybe on crowns, there are a few of these spots to catch?

No, there's just one "notch" or start to the thread.



If it had 2, it would be a double start thread, and it would screw down quite differently. If you want to see an example of a multi-start thread, look at a bottle cap from a plastic bottle:





This one is a triple start thread.
 
M'Bob
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Archer Archer
No, there's just one "notch" or start to the thread.



If it had 2, it would be a double start thread, and it would screw down quite differently. If you want to see an example of a multi-start thread, look at a bottle cap from a plastic bottle:





This one is a triple start thread.

Thanks for clearing that up.
 
Turpinr
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Archer Archer
No, there's just one "notch" or start to the thread.



If it had 2, it would be a double start thread, and it would screw down quite differently. If you want to see an example of a multi-start thread, look at a bottle cap from a plastic bottle:





This one is a triple start thread.
I can remember doing double or twin start threads as an apprentice as well as Acme, Buttress and other rare threads with a single point tool followed by a chaser.
With a thread as fine as the ones in crowns and case tubes you'd wonder how they can be cross threaded, but it does happen.
 
noless
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I push while turning CCW till i feel that it goes in a tiny bit meaning I found the start of the threads and then screw CW to seal.

Its funny its just how I thread in gas bottle line fittings, so I never really realised I was doing the same technique on my watch. never thought about how I do it consciously until this thread.
 
efauser
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M'Bob M'Bob
Some press in, and then spin the crown forward to engage the threads. But some press in, turn the crown back a bit, and then turn forward.

What do you typically do, and which technique do you feel minimizes the amount of tries before success?
After reading the OP, I thought I had accidentally signed into WUS.
 
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