Some Watches Don’t Have Crowns

The crown is a vital part of a watch. It allows you to set the time, the date, and any other functions of the watch. Manual watches need a crown so you can wind it and give the watch power. If your watch is automatic, then winding it allows you to “charge” the watch. If your watch is waterproof, then there is a good chance that you need to screw-down the crown to make sure that no moisture can enter the case.

But what about watches that don’t have crowns? They do exist! If you follow us on Instagram, then you might have seen one already…

So, Why Make A Watch Without A Crown?

Mostly for design purposes. Watch cases are almost always symmetrical without the crown. There are some exceptions, where the case is a very unusual shape. By removing the crown from the side of the watch, a watch case can look symmetrical.

Because most watch movements are designed to have a crown on the side, either removing the crown, or putting it somewhere else on the watch typically means that the watch will be expensive.

What Do Watches Without A Crown Look Like?

Jaeger LeCoultre Futurematic

The Futurematic was manufactured by JLC between 1951 and 1959 and it was the first watch that didn’t use a crown to wind the mainspring (and “charge” the watch). You’ll notice that both the case and the dial are symmetrical. There are two sub-dials on the face of the dial. One shows the seconds, the other shows the power reverse (how long the watch will work without being wound up). Because the watch cannot be wound up, then the power reserve is really important – it lets the wearer know that the watch is running out of power and will need to be moved more!

How Does It Work?

The watch can’t be wound up via a crown, but there is a flat disk on the caseback (the bit that rests flat against your wrist). This is used to set the time on the watch. To make sure that the time isn’t randomly changed by the wearer, the disk needs to lock. When the crown is on the side of the watch, locking it is achieved by screwing it down. However, this wouldn’t work on a flat caseback. So instead, the disk that’s used to set them time is slide in and out of a locking position. You’ll notice that it even says “ Slide – Do Not Lift” on the disk.

Ressence Type 3

The Ressence Type 3 is, as the picture below shows, an unusual watch. You’ve really got to see one in real lifeto appreciate the dial, which is quite odd. The Ressence watch brand was founded in 2010, and their first watch was released in 2013. 

Looking at watch, there are a few things you’ll notice. The first, is that the hands look like they are painted onto the crystal. The second is that the face looks completely different to any other watch. The third is that there is no crown.

Watches like this can seem intimidating at first, but the dial actually shows a lot of information, in a way that becomes surprisingly intuitive once the watch has been on your wrist for a few minutes. The minutes are displayed on the outer ring, using the largest hand. The hours are displayed on the largest subdial. The day of the week is indicated by the subdial with the seven markers (the two hollow ones depict the weekend). The smallest dial counts the seconds in each minute.

So what’s up with that dial? It looks like the markers are painted onto the crystal, however this is a working watch, and the dial creates a very clever illusion. The watch dial is suspended between the movement and the crystal in a layer of oil. The oil refracts light more like the crystal does, than the air, which makes it seem like there is no space between the dial and the crystal.

As you can imagine with a watch with a dial like this, the way you set the time and wind the watch is equally innovative. There is no crown. However, the entire caseback can be rotated to both set the time and functions, and wind the watch. A very clever gear system is engaged by gravity to alternate between the two. With the dial facing up, you can rotate the caseback to adjust all of the displays. With the dial facing down, you can wind the watch.

Ulysse Nardin Freak

The Ulysse Nardin Freak was released in 2001, and it received a mixed reception upon launch. Looking at the watch, it is easy to see that it would be divisive. It doesn’t look like anything else that you can buy. The movement is almost entirely visible on the dial, and is shaped like watch hands to show the time. The movement is also a tourbillon. We will cover the tourbillon movement in a later blog, but for now, it is only important to know that the movement spins a bit like a centrifuge to offset the effect of gravity on a watch movement. This type of movement is very expensive to make, so is usually only used in the most expensive watches that a brand makes. In fact, Tag Heuer is the only luxury Swiss brand that mass-produces a tourbillon-powered watch.

The Freak was also the first watch to use silicone in parts of the movement. This is quite common now, as silicon reduces friction and degrades less than metal in a movement (meaning watches can last longer between services).

You’ll notice the watch also doesn’t have a crown. To wind the watch and set the time, you flip up a small metal tag that’s at the 6 o’clock position. The bezel then becomes the crown, allowing you to set the time and wind the watch.

Conclusion

Most watches have crowns, but some do not. It doesn’t really matter to us at The Watch Collectors Club. What we like is learning about new watches, whether they are new to the market, or just to us. We like quirky features, like the lack of a crown, and think that they can add variety and interest to a collection. A watch without a crown is no better or worse than a watch with a crown, and we’ll leave you to decide whether it is more interesting.