I guess the risk would be forgetting to screw it down when you put it on to wear. Otherwise, shouldn't cause harm. Contrary to popular belief, unscrewing the crown on any modern watch (modern meaning newer than 1980, at least) does not expose the interior of the watch to external air and moisture.

 

How come ? I'm not sure to understand. I imagine leaving an unscrewed watch in the bathroom would be very bad.

 

+1 for MX793's reply. I leave my crowns out on my infrequently used quartz watches to extend battery life.

 

I mean, you do you.

I don't bother to wind every one of my Autos daily when not in use. I just wind and set the one that feels right for the day and go

 

I wind mine when I put it one the wrist. Don't overthink this hobby.....

Otherwise it is placed in my watch box with the crown screwed down.

 

Same approach here. Some of my watches go without any attention for so many months I expect one or more of them to file abandonment charges any day now.

 

I typically leave the crowns out and give them several winds every few days.

 

Crown in, wind when I wear it. It's a watch.

 

Just to clarify, when you park your car, you leave it running with the doors open ?

 

I do. Also leave the stove on and with door open so it's ready to go when I want to bake something.

 

your causing unnecessary damage to your watches with the watches and by keeping them manually set or wound.

just let them die, and set them when you wear them.

if you leave a crown unscrewed or in the first click, you can allow moisture and dust to collect inside the movement, causing even more damage.

 

if you leave a crown unscrewed or in the first click, you can allow moisture and dust to collect inside the movement, causing even more damage.

Unless these are very old watches from the times before o-rings, no, it doesn't.

 

I believe all of the automatic watches that I bought brand new had their crowns screwed in when I received them, so I assume it's ok to leave them with their crowns screwed in. Not sure though.

 

Your thoughts?

Leaving the watches running all the time is not a good idea. Regularly winding automatic watches manually is not a good idea.

Regularly winding automatic watches just to have them running all the time is really not a good idea.

Whether you ruin the gaskets in the process on top of all that doesn't really make a difference.

 

I would never leave a watch with the crown unscrewed.

 

Exactly. Too many things can go wrong when you are away from the unscrewed watch.

 

Can you elaborate on your first/second point?

If you wear one watch everyday for a month it is essentially always running for that duration.
vs.
If you wind the watch once a day for a month it is always running for that duration.

Why is the latter not a good idea?

 

i don't think you're getting the point... and perhaps you haven't experienced it, but there are plenty of people that can attest to NEVER leaving your watch with the crown pulled or unscrewed.

in the same breath, you continue to quote Divers, like the amphibia... go talk to watchmakers, responsible watchmakers and ask them if they would carelessly leave their crowns pulled or unscrewed on any watch, not just divers.

you can argue until your blue in the face, but the FACT is that you SHOULD NOT leave your crown unscrewed or pulled like the OP is asking.

go ahead and risk it yourself if you want...

It's not a fact. The screw down function has nothing to do with the crown seal when the watch is at rest. The screw down function is there to prevent the crown from being damaged or engaged during physical activities where that really matters, like diving 60 years ago. That's really all there is to it. It makes no difference when the watch is just sitting there. You're complicating things with a common misunderstanding that the screw down function must surely seal like a bottle cap when it does not.

Nope,
It has to do with sealing the watch, or at least I'd rather trust Rolex and not you :

The comment wasn't disputing that there IS a seal there, we know that. It's extremely uncommon and Rolex does it as a point of differentiation. It is still likely that Rolex insists the crown be screwed in on customer facing marketing material for much more relevant reasons like preventing damage to the crown and stem. I doubt they're expecting most customers to require 300m of water resistance each time they reset the date.

 

It's not a fact. The screw down function has nothing to do with the crown seal when the watch is at rest. The screw down function is there to prevent the crown from being damaged or engaged during physical activities where that really matters, like diving 60 years ago. That's really all there is to it. It makes no difference when the watch is just sitting there. You're complicating things with a common misunderstanding that the screw down function must surely seal like a bottle cap when it does not.

The comment wasn't disputing that there IS a seal there, we know that. It's extremely uncommon and Rolex does it as a point of differentiation. It is still likely that Rolex insists the crown be screwed in on customer facing marketing material for much more relevant reasons like preventing damage to the crown and stem. I doubt they're expecting most customers to require 300m of water resistance each time they reset the date.

than stop arguing and leave your crown unscrewed and take it with you in the shower or put it in a kiddie pool and get back to me...

you WILL NEVER and you know exactly why....

 

My thoughts are that this sounds like a lot of work and unnecessary stress, not to mention the unnecessary wear and tear to your watch movements. Maybe quartz would be a good solution for you?

 

With all due respect, this is a classic overthink.

Regarding winders, if you have watches that you wear more frequently than others, keep them on a winder if you want. Doesn't take long to set a watch anyway, unless it a perpetual calendar, moonphase (if you actually set it) or something. Regarding the crown issue, screw them in, leave them unscrewed. It's all okay.

 

Anyway doesn't matter who's right. Leaving the crown unscrewed is just asking for trouble. There is litteraly no reason to leave the crown open, you do not benefit from anything at all.

 

Anyway doesn't matter who's right. Leaving the crown unscrewed is just asking for trouble. There is litteraly no reason to leave the crown open, you do not benefit from anything at all.

Except extending battery on a quartz.

 

I can see this on quartz watches, but don't see any benefit for automatics.

A Crown unscrewed alway has its drawbacks… I think no for me, keep it screwed down.

 

Please explain, how the crown or the stem can be damaged while being unscrewed with the watch on your wrist ?
Maybe you don't know this but apart from the main plate, the stem is perhaps the sturdiest part of the movement....

Ok, so I'm going to imagine this is intentionally obtuse for the sake of argument because what you're asking is for me to explain how you could possibly damage a part of your watch that sticks out from the main body of the watch. I mean, does that require a massive logical leap? Ever scratch a watch or knock it against anything?

Two, I don't care how "sturdy" (not sure what the criteria is here) the stem is, it is much more vulnerable than most parts of the movement because, again, it is attached to something located outside the watch. It's a lot more likely to damaged from an outside source than something inside the case, "sturdy" or not.

Maybe you don't know this but the feature was added for this reason because there are situations, such as diving before computers, where an unlocked crown could become engaged through phsyical contact which could be very dangerous if you're using the minute hand to time decompression stops. It's why there are numerous crown locking technologies from various brands in the mid 20th century. It's not just something we're making up here in this thread.

in the omega forum, right after Archer's argument, someone with a planet ocean shows how much damage his watch incurred because he forgot to screw down the crown and literally just went into waist deep water.

you literally can prove your self incorrect, by just leaving the crown unscrewed and walking into a shower.

Who's to say his watch wasn't due for a service and had dried seals? Doesn't mean the system doesn't work, just that particular system in that particular watch wasn't working on that day.

that's literally AIR, tell him to do the same thing in water and get back to us... geez

stupidity is rampant...

Holy crap.

 

Ok, so I'm going to imagine this is intentionally obtuse for the sake of argument because what you're asking is for me to explain how you could possibly damage a part of your watch that sticks out from the main body of the watch. I mean, does that require a massive logical leap? Ever scratch a watch or knock it against anything?

Two, I don't care how "sturdy" (not sure what the criteria is here) the stem is, it is much more vulnerable than most parts of the movement because, again, it is attached to something located outside the watch. It's a lot more likely to damaged from an outside source than something inside the case, "sturdy" or not.

OK, lets do that logical leap together, the average user has set the time and put the watch on his wrist but the crown is unscrewed and now sticking out 2mm extra, what and how will damage it, what and how will damage the stem ?

What is that invisible and dangerous force that arises from the 2mm extra space created between the case and the soft wrist that can now damage the hardened steel stem ??

And since we must be all logical, we should also define "damage" , in this case as something that renders the crown and stem non-functional or inoperable .

 

i'm done dude... your borderline brain damaged... stop arguing with me and unscrew your crowns and take a shower with the watch on... then get back to me.

What's with the hostility and personal insults?
When did I say it was fine to wear a watch in the shower or in water with crown open?

What I said was that unscrewing does not leave the watch wide open to the elements like dirt and normal humidity. From my very first post

I guess the risk would be forgetting to screw it down when you put it on to wear. Otherwise, shouldn't cause harm.

In other words, if the watch is just sitting in your watchbox in your climate controlled house, it's fine. You're not going to be letting dust and normal airborne humidity into your watch by leaving the crown unscrewed while it sits in the box between uses. I would absolutely not recommend wearing a watch with crown open (for reasons I've already explained in this thread) even if, like the SMP, the seal design would prevent water ingress even if unscrewed.

 

There is no strain on the stem from screwing in the crown. You're seeking a solution to a problem that doesn't exist. On watches with screw-in crowns, there's a mechanism like a clutch that disconnects the crown from the stem when you press in on the crown to screw it in. IOW, the stem doesn't move at all when you screw in the crown.
If you want to hear this from an authority, here's Marc's video on the subject.

 

When I switch to another watch I put the current watch in its slot as I wore it-with th crown screwed down. When I wear it again I unscrew the crown and wind it, screw it back down, and wear it.
Not sure I get the question.

 

Alas, I have not yet attained the Colin Robinson level of boring yet.

 

There's no real advantage to doing this (unless you are very ham fisted when screwing down a crown), but it's not going to hurt anything either.

 

if im not wearing it but want to keep it running for whtever reason I keep it unscrewed until its time to wear it again.

 

Haven't read all the replies but.. I'm in the UK and dampness is part of our weather. No way would I consider leaving the crown pulled out. But then I turn the heating off to help pay for another watch! 🤔