Milgauss windng crown screws down in a different position

[ISSATS]

I noticed on my Milgauss that for some reason the winding crown started to tighten in a different position when srewed down. The watch was stored in the safe for a couple of months and I was about to wear it, but when I wound it and screwed the crown back in I noticed that the crown position is slightly different than before.
Hope this makes any sense but for couple of years of ownership, when watch is held horizontally and crown facing at me, the Rolex logo pointed at abt. 2-o-clock but now it points at 3-o-clock.

What might be the reason for such? Broken o-ring?

[Tikandtokalot]

Originally Posted by ISSATS

I noticed on my Milgauss that for some reason the winding crown started to tighten in a different position when srewed down. The watch was stored in the safe for a couple of months and I was about to wear it, but when I wound it and screwed the crown back in I noticed that the crown position is slightly different than before.
Hope this makes any sense but for couple of years of ownership, when watch is held horizontally and crown facing at me, the Rolex logo pointed at abt. 2-o-clock but now it points at 3-o-clock.

What might be the reason for such? Broken o-ring?

I imagine it's down to temperature or different finger strength tightening.
They do compress that's how they seal the crown not the stem so this might be it.

[SaintMickey]

Don't look so hard! It will ruin everything for you sooner or later.

But seriously...I wouldn't have noticed and if I did wouldn't have cared for that little of a change.

[kieselguhr]

The Rolex crown doesn’t tighten down to a mechanically set position via a detent or anything similar to make it rest at a consistent position.

As the crown is tightened, the threaded stem compresses against a rubber o ring which creates a water tight seal.

The final position of the crown tightened can vary based on how much torque you use, condition of the o ring, etc.

As your watch is quite new, I would doubt the o ring is in poor condition unless you super torque the crown down every single time which would have caused unnecessary wear

[Kap007]

With my AK which is the same movement I know that my crown goes to the same place when I tighten. As in Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance there is a perfect tightness. One can feel it when done properly.

[dannyp]

The two concerns this might present:

1. The gasket in the crown has been compressed too much over the years and lost its effectiveness.

2. Is it possible the crown tube has loosened some, and is now in a slightly different position? Not sure whether that would be instantly noticeable or not...

[Kevin of Larchmont]

Don’t tighten the crown so hard.

[ISSATS]

Thanks for the responses.

On my 5 years old Sub which I have been wearing significantly more than the Milgauss the crown stops and always have stopped at the same position and that is why I got concerned when noticed that on my 2 years old Milgauss it switched position out of blue.

I don't tighten the crown too hard as the rule of thumb is to tighten it just enough. Especially when I don't swim or even shower with my watch on. Also in my youth I had a watch which I used to tighten to a point that I had to use pliers to unscrew the crown. Learned my lesson there.

I guess I'll just have to keep monitoring if this will get worse or something and take the watch to the RSC to find out if everything is ok.

[padi56]

Originally Posted by ISSATS

Thanks for the responses.

On my 5 years old Sub which I have been wearing significantly more than the Milgauss the crown stops and always have stopped at the same position and that is why I got concerned when noticed that on my 2 years old Milgauss it switched position out of blue.

I don't tighten the crown too hard as the rule of thumb is to tighten it just enough. Especially when I don't swim or even shower with my watch on. Also in my youth I had a watch which I used to tighten to a point that I had to use pliers to unscrew the crown. Learned my lesson there.

I guess I'll just have to keep monitoring if this will get worse or something and take the watch to the RSC to find out if everything is ok.

There is nothing wrong with your Milgauss watch just wear it more often and forget about the crown position.All the main seals are in the case the seal in the crown head are purely secondary and should be screwed down just finger tight no force is needed.