Hi OF.

I just got my watch back from a service and I noticed that the crown rotates really easily in the direction opposite to winding the movement. The watch winds fine when the crown is turned in the proper direction, and when pulled out setting the time works flawlessly to. My question is, how easily should to crown rotate in the direction opposite to winding the watch? The movement is a caliber 551.

Since nothing is worth reading without pictures, here we go!

I tried the google to find this info but didn't find anything relevant!

 

When winding there are two distinct sounds.
Winding produces a very fine/faint clicking sound as the barrel ratchet wheel travels past the click.
When you "unwind" the sound is a bit louder and coarser as the clutch wheel rides back over the winding pinion. If it seems to spin freely I'd suggest going back to the watchmaker as the setting lever/yoke etc may not be functioning correctly.

More on the caliber 551 from Desmond is here.

 

Thank you for your reply, I had to put my ear up to the watch to hear the unwinding sound, it's very quite on this watch compared to my cal 353 bumper movement!

 

Very nice Connie!

 

It depends on the condition of the case tube and crown seal. As some Watchco SM300 owners know, the seals can sometimes be incredibly tight, so there is no "standard" for this. As long as the crown can turn backwards, even if slowly, it's good from a movement perspective.

Often new crowns will be tighter then old worn out crowns....

Cheers, Al