crown alignment Q

3717-01 owner here. Looking to see if other Pilot owners, or any other IWC model for that matter, with the new Probus IWC text on the end of the crown have this issue:

Watch was recently returned from IWC warranty work. My logo is no longer horizontal when the crown is screwed in (now vertical pointing towards 7pm). Small point I know, but somehow just doesn't feel right. After years of re-assuringly screwing in the crown to see the IWC text perfectly horizontal, I find this mildly irritating. I know it will not impact on the seal performance, but interested to see if this is a common issue or if the crown logo should indeed always sit horizontal when screwed in.

I suspect they replaced the crown during the warranty work.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

I think it's a coincidence

Hi smpilot,

I checked my IWC's with a screw down crown (4 out of 5) and not one has the logo exactly aligned. I think you were lucky on your 3717-01 in the first place.

I hope this won't take away too much pleasure of the great Pilots Chrono, it's a lovely watch!

Kind regards,

Clemens

None of my crowns are in the same position...

when screwed down. I agree with Clemens, the fact that yours happened to be aligned that way was merely coincidence and I don't think IWC attempts to do that intentionally.

None of my crowns are in the same position...

Noted with thanks........glad this appears to be a random setting of the crown.

technical comments

Hi,

Your post reminds me of an article I read about a shop specializing in repairs of Rolls Royce where the owner/mechanic makes sure to align all screws on various panels. Maybe that explains the high cost of service on RR automobiles :-)

The issue you raised also reminds me of those who own the older Ingenieur models and were irritated when the top bezel dimples were not symetrically lined up.

Technically speaking, the foremost concern here is that the watch is sealed properly and passes the water resistance tests. Since the case tube & crown are not custom manufactured simultaneously to fit any given timepiece it may only be a random chance that the text on the crown lines up straight with the case when it's screwed down properly.

Likewise with the older Ingenieur timepieces the primary concern need be to guarantee that the case is sealed properly for water resistance. Most often, the watchmakers cannot take a chance to second guess the bond of the inner and hidden elastic rubber gasket to make the precise symetrical alignment.

Technology too has its limits and boundaries and sometimes one must recognize that the technical benefits are more important than the aesthetic looks.

Regards,
Jack Freedman

Time-consuming option for optical alignment?

If the crown would be made without the inscription, it could be engraved after it is fitted on the watch.

This would mean that a replacement of the crown would probably become a very expensive exercise...

Kind regards,

Clemens

Re: Time-consuming option for optical alignment?

The logo is NOT engraved and recessed on the crown. Instead, the protrusion of the logo most likely involves an inverse process of stamping which can only be done before the crown is fitted to the watch.

On one of my visits to a Swiss manufacturer of crowns catering to prestigious watch brands I was shown a twenty four step process of making a crown from start to finish. High grade components for watch cases undergo so many phases of manufacturing that most people cannot begin to fathom.

I don't know of any way to realize a request that all case parts are perfectly aligned just as one should not expect a screwed case back to have the engraving aligned with the top and bottom of the case. It's an unrealistic expectation stemming from a lack of technical information of the consumer.

Regards,
Jack Freedman

Thanks Jack

I understand that it's not realistic to have everything aligned and the logo on the crown is indeed higher than the rest of it so that's definitely not engraved.

Thanks for the detailed explication.

Kind regards,

Clemens