# Seeking advice about Crown Issue



## Statos (Jan 13, 2016)

Hey Guys as most of you know Bremont has a crown issue with some of the watches or maybe its just my big fingers ( just cant grip the crown to pull it out). I have the very expensive ALT1/ZT51 which is a beautiful watch but for the life of me I still cant pull out the crown with my fingers to adjust the time and date. I have to use a small cloth and pull it out with my teeth and this works very well. After owning the watch for a year and only wearing it a few times I am thinking of just selling it or sending it to Bremont to see if they can do anything about it. I even tried rubber thimbles on my thumb and fore finger but they still slide off the crown.

I emailed Bremont and told them about the crown and they said they could look into it and try and rectify the problem. It cost a lot to ship the watch back to the UK so I don't know if I would be wasting my time and money. My biggest fear is that I ship the watch back and they don't really fix the problem or say there is nothing wrong with it. Then I would be out over $100 in shipping charges.o|

*My question is has anyone here shipped your watch back for this issue? If you did , was it fixed?

Thank You*


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## hub6152 (Feb 17, 2014)

It shouldn’t be like that. It’s possible the keyless works (these are the components that pulling the crown operates to control the functions) are in need of grease and/or replacement. The 7750 type movts are not normally like this. I’d send it back and let them look at it. Alternatively any independent competent Watch maker will know this movement very well and would be able to perform lubrication or replace parts as necessary. However Bremont might do this FOC as it’s so recent. 


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## Betterthere (May 23, 2011)

Members here including me have discussed similar issue on MBII. Would you post a picture of the watch&crown from the rear?
If you notice on the attached picture, there is small groove under crown on mbii. I used springbar to insert and twist.


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## Statos (Jan 13, 2016)

you can see from this pic there is no room at all.


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## HTown (Jan 5, 2015)

As I have previously written, I sold my ALT1-C less than a year after I bought it because of my frustrating inability to pull the crown out. Such a simple but glaring defect spoiled an otherwise wonderful watch. I like Bremont; I own two others (Terra Nova and S301), but I strongly advise against buying one that doesn’t have a screw-down crown, which appears to fix this problem. 


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## hub6152 (Feb 17, 2014)

Statos said:


> you can see from this pic there is no room at all.


Oh that explains it. My Boeing M1 was similarly tricky to pull out too, but that was largely because the propellor crown guard largely covered the crown making it hard to grip. I no longer have it, but not for that reason especially.

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## Vig2000 (Jul 5, 2012)

This is a well-known and documented issue with Bremonts that do not have a screwdown crown, and you're certainly not the first to encounter this issue:

ALT1-C P/W Crown 
https://www.watchuseek.com/f444/alt1-c-pw-crown-problem-3361242.html 
https://www.watchuseek.com/f444/question-about-my-bremont-solo-wh-si-br-4519437.html 
https://www.watchuseek.com/f444/mbii-crown-design-issue-anyone-else-3810850.html 
I'm sick of saying this, but are you listening Bremont? Can you now finally do something about your crappy crown engineering (or lack thereof)? Can you at least address this issue and tell us why your non-screwdown crowns are such an exercise in futility?



Statos said:


> My question is has anyone here shipped your watch back for this issue? If you did , was it fixed?


And to answer your question, my ALT1C-P/W has the exact same crown issue, and I have not shipped it back to Bremont. I just use the cloth and teeth method, hoping that I don't ever chip a tooth. If I still own it in a few years time when it becomes due for service, I will ask that they address this issue.


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## Betterthere (May 23, 2011)

Statos said:


> you can see from this pic there is no room at all.


Sorry no help with that. Like Bremont but.....


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## jubbaa (Feb 21, 2008)

I currently own the SL300 and an MBIII , no problems with the SL300 , but the MBIII is a tricky bugger to get the crown out !


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## Statos (Jan 13, 2016)

I thought I would bring back this post because I finally decided to send the watch back while still under warranty to address the issue with the crown. I am happy to say that they did fix the issue with the crown. It looks to me like they put a different crown on the watch because now only a small part of the underside of the crown sits flush with the watch case. I am now able to slip my finger nail underneath and it pops right up to the first notch and then I can pull it the rest of the way out. I am very happy with the results because you can not even tell its a different crown until you look very very close.

The first pic is the new crown from the back, second is a view from the front and the last is the original crown.


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## Statos (Jan 13, 2016)

I was just looking at some of the new releases and it looks like they changed the crown design and put one of the new ones on my watch. What do you guys think?


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## awildermode (Mar 23, 2015)

Somewhere, someone mentioned the new crow design (along with other updates). Looks like you got one of those. 

If you you sent yours in and they replaced parts, you should have received a bag with your old parts.


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## Statos (Jan 13, 2016)

No I didn't get the old crown back but they put on the newer crown for sure.


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## trebor2 (Aug 13, 2017)

Does the Solo 37 have this issue?


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## Statos (Jan 13, 2016)

trebor2 said:


> Does the Solo 37 have this issue?


If i had to guess I would say yes it has the tight crown because it sits so close to the case. Look at the picture of the watch just above in an earlier post. You see how the crown has a bevel close to the case. That is what makes it easier to pull out.


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## zuckermania (Feb 27, 2009)

I've had Bremonts in the MB and ALT series. The most recent (U2/T) is in the goldilocks zone... not too easy, not too stiff, just right. The ALT1 I had was a bugger, as was a previous U2 series. That being said I'd prefer they err on the side of too tight!


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## Eric_M (Jul 25, 2018)

Statos said:


> I thought I would bring back this post because I finally decided to send the watch back while still under warranty to address the issue with the crown. I am happy to say that they did fix the issue with the crown. It looks to me like they put a different crown on the watch because now only a small part of the underside of the crown sits flush with the watch case. I am now able to slip my finger nail underneath and it pops right up to the first notch and then I can pull it the rest of the way out. I am very happy with the results because you can not even tell its a different crown until you look very very close.
> 
> The first pic is the new crown from the back, second is a view from the front and the last is the original crown.


That's good to know that they have found a fix for this. My Globemaster (basically an Alt-1WT) has the same issue, and I've always just dealt with it. The watch is about due for service, so I'll ask them to do the same when I send mine in. Thanks for the post!


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