Is a screw down crown a necessity?

This thread came up a few days ago. https://www.watchcrunch.com/XplusYplusZ/posts/watertightness-screw-down-crowns-32650

Some do swim without screw down crowns and 100M WR, depends on your personal risk tolerance tbh.

I was going to say no you dont!! but then I read the swimming part...LOL it will be in teresting to see the suggestions you get here...enjoy the hobby

You SHOULD be okay, but I would get a screw down crown. 100 m water resist is plenty for swimming.

Buy a good watch, don't worry about. A screw-down crown is not required for WR, it's just a security measure to prevent the crown from accidently being pulled out. Most watches that don't have a screw-down crown have crown designs that don't tend to get caught on things and pulled out.

I’d be confident with a Formex and swimming. From what I can recall when checking them out the crown somewhat pops in and out with a little force required.

I will probably get told and hear that having a screw crown does not improve water resistance by those in the know, but I have my fingers in my ears and I cant here them, personally I would not go swimming with a watch without one, balls to 100m watches without a screw-crown, it has to be 200m rated WITH a screw down crown for me to take it in the sea.

The Formex site (whose dive watches have a screw down crown) has an interesting article on this subject. https://formexwatch.com/blogs/formex-world/screwdown-crown-vs-pushpull-crown-which-one-is-better-for-me/

Their point, as many have noted, is that it is the O-rings that provide water resistance for both a screw down and a push pull crown watch. The main advantage of the screw down is not accidentally popping the crown. Here is what they say about the screw down crown:

"The principle is simple: the tube of the watch ends in a screw thread, the counterpart of which is located on the inside of the crown. Here too, O-rings are used for sealing, with only one difference. In the screwed state, one of the rings is pressed against the tube. With diving watches, this serves an essential function - which hardly anyone is aware of and which has nothing to do with water resistance: a screw-down crown cannot be operated accidentally. Underwater, correct observance of decompression and diving times is essential for survival. A wrong time indication could be fatal. For a watch that is not used for professional diving with an oxygen bottle, however, a screw-down crown could be regarded as overkill. In addition to that, some owners tend to exaggerate a little when screwing down the crown and do so with more torque than is required, which can damage the seals and the thread."

Beyond the push pull crown debate, does anyone really need more than 100m of water resistance? The limit for the recreational diving cert is 40m because any deeper and you have to account for decompression stops. Don't get me wrong, I am a complete hypocrite in this regard because the Walter Mitty in me has to be ready to dive to the deepest of depths and travel to space so give me that helium escape valve too.

I’m OCD in nature and extra fastidious when it comes to watches, airing on the side of caution by never submerging any watch (let alone non screwdowns) - regardless of what I read or been told. Why take the chance and last, how often do you gawk at a watch while swimming? This is where a trusty Casio saves the day….👍

You spend good money on a watch so you can swim with it, get the screw down crown. Your risk your money.

I actually prefer push/pull crowns over screw down simply for ease of use. I don’t worry about accidentally popping the crown out, as it’s never happened to me…ever. For that matter, I don’t even care if there are crown guards. I’d be more worried about putting on scratches…let alone thinking some impact with force enough to rip off the crown entirely 😱As long as it’s got 100m+ WR I’d be more than fine jumping in the pool with it, regardless of crown design.

Thanks all

Why would a screw down crown be necessary? To prevent pulling the crown under water?

I dare you, try pulling out the crown while the watch is on your wrist without using the other hand. I'll wait...

Formex does enough testing to prevent the crown to pop out without you knowing. Just check that the crown is pusher before going in to water ans go for it.

My advice is to read the manual and see what the manufacturer suggests. 100m is obviously enough for swimming on the surface etc, as it is water pressure that generally allows water entry, but my view is to go with the manual, as they have engineered it to a certain level.

if you only have ONE watch i would say a sd crown is necessary. if you are a collector and have multiple watches just buy what u like because if u go on vaccation or on a poolday u can always choose one of ur sd watches 🤷😄

I don't really know, I have some with and without and while swimming in our pool I've used both with no problem, however ocean and depth I would say yes it is a neccessity.