Reply With QuoteI have the BB chrono' & the heritage, both of them are fine, the BB with the Brevity B01 movement is really silky.
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So for the first time in over 5 years I found myself sat in an ‘AD’ trying on a new watch (or watches!). I’d been lured in by a couple of brand new heritage chronographs at a decent discount in the window, alongside every flavour of Black Bay including the 58 and the new GMT (on leather), plus the Pelagos and just about all current models tbh. Cutting to the chase, I still don’t like the slab sided BB at all and the GMT looked very ‘meh’ alongside the Heritage chronos - which I really liked - and the BB58 is lovely, ticks lots of boxes and removing the silly coloured ring on the crown tube was something I didn’t know about. It was slim and lovely and even on my large wrists it for very nicely. However - and this was a big surprise - I found the screw down crown on all 4 of the watches I adjusted - the BB, a 58 and both the grey and black heritage chronographs - really horrible, gritty and vague, in fact the only watch I can compare the feel to was an old Seiko 007 and a Zeno explorer that always felt partially stripped from new. In fact I was so worried about stripping the threads I gave them back to the young salesman who also struggled. I couldn’t even find the threads by gentle ‘back screwing’ to engage them. I’ve never had this issue before on an ‘expensive’ watch, is this normal? - it put me off completely tbh, maybe they bed in, but I must have owned literally dozens of watches with screw down crowns over the years and know how they’re supposed to feel. Anyone else noticed the same? Can’t find anything on google, thought I’d ask the TZ hive mind!
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I have the BB chrono' & the heritage, both of them are fine, the BB with the Brevity B01 movement is really silky.
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I should add I’m not referring to the ‘winding action’ which was very smooth on all 4 - it’s the screw-down action that bothered me, I thought I was about to cross thread them and the salesman looked like he had trouble too - the spring which makes the crown ‘pop out’ felt stronger than I’ve come across before too
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Yes, I was referring to the screwdown function, not winding.
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I have a North Flag and it screws down really smoothly
Out of curiosity which of the 2 do you prefer? The Heritage was £2120 new as opposed to about 3600 for the BB chrono
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I love them both & can honestly say I can't choose between them.
The two sub-dial configuration is common to both, but could be manufactured by completely different watch companies IMHO.
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Never had an issue
Hmm very weird - must be my fat fingers or maybe there’s a knack I didn’t have today!?
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My Black Bay (ETA) can occasionally be a little hit & miss when screwing down the crown - when it catches it’s fine, and does so very smoothly, but it’s one of the harder dive watches I have to engage the thread, even with a half back-turn first.
I put it down to the thread being quite short & shallow. Or my BB having been a little carelessly handled in store (it was one of the last new ETAs still in store, but I got a great deal). Or just a quirk of the model.
Not a real problem & doesn’t bother me either way. It’s not difficult per se, just might miss it on first go. And the watch is so beautiful I can easily forgive it that small quirk.
Could it have been because they were display models and have been screwed and unscrewed to buggery, so quite probably were actually threaded?
And the fact that many hands have been across them, which would also allow all manner of human flaky bits into the threads? I feel queasy now …
I find the crown on my Tudor GMT very silky smooth, i always back wind on my watches, just habit.
Winding is also so good it doesn’t ‘feel’ like its doing anything.
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Well, they all looked pristine and it’s pretty bad if all 4 I tried have been cross- threaded. I was actually on the point of reaching for my wallet but couldn’t as they seemed knackered tbh!Originally Posted by Onelasttime
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I am surprised to be honest. One of the things I love about Rolex is the absolutely secure crown feel, rivaled by only a couple other brands with screw down crowns. And, that is what I loved about the modern Tudors. Their crowns felt almost as secure and smooth in pulling out, winding and screwing down. I don't wind much, a coupe of turns and a firm shake before wearing. I am surprised you had that issue on multiple examples. If that is the only thing preventing you from buying, may be have a feel of a forum members watch or a different store.
I’m heading back at the weekend for a second look, I’ll try a couple of different models and if I still think they feel odd I’ll ask their thoughts. The ones I tried were nothing like a Rolex crown in operation, more like the cheap Seiko’s I’ve had in the past that feel almost gritty in operation (which incidentally I could often improve with the use of waxed dental floss on the threads and sometimes the tiniest dot of silicone grease). I can’t remember the last time I gave up trying to screw down a crown through fear of cross - threading but I genuinely thought I was about to ruin a handful of new watches. And as I say the salesman (who was wearing a BB GMT) had a fair bit of trouble too. Mind you he can break them, he works there!!
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I've got 2 Black Bays - Blue ETA and Bronze in house. Have no problem with screwing in either crowns, in fact would go as far as to say they are silky smooth!
Maybe he does.....
I’ll ask to try the crown on his personal BB GMT next time!
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