# Any issues with screw down crown on Alpina watch?



## gbpack1997

I purchased an Alpina Startimer Automatic 44mm from an authorized (brick & mortar) dealer in late 2015. After about 5 months, the crown on the watch would no longer screw down. I returned the watch to the dealer, and they were able to send it out for repair under warranty, which took 4 agonizing months.

After receiving the watch back, the issue is fixed, however I feel like it still difficult to get the threads to engage when screwing down the crown, so I'm afraid I'm going to damage the watch again given more time.

I have other watches (Alpina Seastrong Diver 300, Christopher Ward, Shinola) with screw down crowns, and the process seems much easier and smoother.

Has anyone else experienced this same difficulty? Am I missing a trick to get the threads to engage easier?

I love this watch and the last thing I want to do is wreck it again and have to wait another 4 months for it to be fixed, or worse yet have it break once it's out of warranty.

Thanks in advance for any help that can be provided.


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## KazeKei

What i do is I will press the crown in while turning the other way (unscrew) until i feel a 'click', then I start to screw the crown in. You can also apply a little bit of silicone grease on the tube thread for smoother action.


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## Nokie

I have notice no issues with mine, but I also press down gently while I am turning until I feel the threads seat into the crown shaft.


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## gbpack1997

KazeKei said:


> What i do is I will press the crown in while turning the other way (unscrew) until i feel a 'click', then I start to screw the crown in. You can also apply a little bit of silicone grease on the tube thread for smoother action.


Hmm, that's interesting, I'll give that a try. I'm now afraid to push the crown in too far before I start to screw it in, so perhaps this will help find the right spot.


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## gbpack1997

Nokie said:


> I have notice no issues with mine, but I also press down gently while I am turning until I feel the threads seat into the crown shaft.


Thanks, I feel like I have been pressing down gently since I received the watch, but can't help but feel like I was at least part of the problem the first time. It always feels to me like I have to push harder than I should have to in order for the threads to catch, hence my worry.


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## j111dja

KazeKei said:


> What i do is I will press the crown in while turning the other way (unscrew) until i feel a 'click', then I start to screw the crown in. You can also apply a little bit of silicone grease on the tube thread for smoother action.


That is solid advice based on the "click".

Alpina do have a well designed, crown and tube system. It's one of the best I've experienced, and that is based on over 30 years of collecting experience. I've never needed silicone grease on any Alpina crown tube though. They have all been butter smooth and I've owned a few.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk


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## Phil9lives

I had the exact same thing happen to me. I tried to tighten down my 44mm Startimer Sunburst Crown and I treat my watches very well. Suddenly the crown pops out again. The threads are made of butter or what do I know. Alpina is the worst watchbrand I have ever dealt with. Their watches are horrible quality and their customer service is the worst I`ve ever experienced. They respond a month late, that`s if they respond at all. Also my watch ran 15 seconds fast a day when new.
I bought the watch through Jomashop so they won`t give me any warranty and Jomashop doesn`t cover case damage. So i gave my watch to my local watch repair shop. Now he has to order the parts and because only the case plus crown tube can be replaced it`s a 180 euros. I paid 650 USD for the watch. Never buying anything from them Alpina and Frederiqe Constant ever again.


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## j111dja

Phil9lives said:


> I had the exact same thing happen to me. I tried to tighten down my 44mm Startimer Sunburst Crown and I treat my watches very well. Suddenly the crown pops out again. The threads are made of butter or what do I know. Alpina is the worst watchbrand I have ever dealt with. Their watches are horrible quality and their customer service is the worst I`ve ever experienced. They respond a month late, that`s if they respond at all. Also my watch ran 15 seconds fast a day when new.
> I bought the watch through Jomashop so they won`t give me any warranty and Jomashop doesn`t cover case damage. So i gave my watch to my local watch repair shop. Now he has to order the parts and because only the case plus crown tube can be replaced it`s a 180 euros. I paid 650 USD for the watch. Never buying anything from them Alpina and Frederiqe Constant ever again.


I beg to differ but we are all open to our own opinions.

Regarding the timekeeping, +15 seconds a day is pretty accurate for a non chronometer rated movement. (My Rolex ran around the same after a recent Rolex service. It did go back as it is a chronometer). You may find that the movement will settle down after several weeks to a more accurate rate.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk


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## Phil9lives

Yeah but my Longines Hydroconquest which basically has the same movement (one is ETA 2824-2 and the other SW200) runs dead on and doesn`t loose or gain anything measurably for me. I wouldn`t even care about the timekeeping if the crown didn`t break. I relly enjoyed the watch but that just makes me sad.


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## gbpack1997

KazeKei said:


> What i do is I will press the crown in while turning the other way (unscrew) until i feel a 'click', then I start to screw the crown in. You can also apply a little bit of silicone grease on the tube thread for smoother action.


Gave this a try this morning and it worked like a charm! Made things very easy, and no concerns about pushing in too hard.

Thanks KazeKei!!


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## KazeKei

gbpack1997 said:


> Gave this a try this morning and it worked like a charm! Made things very easy, and no concerns about pushing in too hard.
> 
> Thanks KazeKai!!


Glad it helped, enjoy!


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## BrentYYC

KazeKei said:


> What i do is I will press the crown in while turning the other way (unscrew) until i feel a 'click', then I start to screw the crown in. You can also apply a little bit of silicone grease on the tube thread for smoother action.


This is the correct (safe) way to screw down a crown. However, I don't recommend greasing the threads as they will become a dirt magnet causing the operation of the crown to become potentially worse down the road.

The best way to ensure the threads are engaging and functioning smoothly is to floss them with waxed dental floss. Simply wrap the floss around a couple of threads and work your way from bottom to top in a sawing motion. This does two things. First it removes jagged micro filings of metal that are left over from the cutting process, thus smoothing the threads and making them engage better and turn very smoothly and easily. The second thing it does is deposit a small amount of wax from the floss, which acts as a lubricant that doesn't attract dust or dirt, again making the crown threads function very smoothly. Try it and you'll be absolutely amazed at how well your crown will screw down after.


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## BrentYYC

Phil9lives said:


> I had the exact same thing happen to me. I tried to tighten down my 44mm Startimer Sunburst Crown and I treat my watches very well. Suddenly the crown pops out again. The threads are made of butter or what do I know. Alpina is the worst watchbrand I have ever dealt with. Their watches are horrible quality and their customer service is the worst I`ve ever experienced. They respond a month late, that`s if they respond at all. Also my watch ran 15 seconds fast a day when new.


Quite the contrary. Alpina watches are excellent quality and fantastic value for their affordable price point. I've always found them to be responsive to inquiries (usually within 48 hours), and 15 seconds is within spec for that movement.



Phil9lives said:


> I bought the watch through Jomashop so they won`t give me any warranty and Jomashop doesn`t cover case damage. So i gave my watch to my local watch repair shop. Now he has to order the parts and because only the case plus crown tube can be replaced it`s a 180 euros. I paid 650 USD for the watch.


Not surprising. Alpina is under no obligation to provide you with warranty service, as you side-stepped their dealer network by purchasing through a grey market re-seller. In any case, warranties only cover manufacturing defects (usually of the movement, only), and in your case it would appear to have been damaged from you cross-threading the crown which wouldn't be covered by warranty even if you had purchased through the dealer network (unless they were feeling particularly charitable and wanted to make a goodwill gesture, but that's an optional call on their part). Did the local repair shop explain why they couldn't just replace the crown tube? That's very odd that they said they need to replace both the case and tube together.



Phil9lives said:


> Never buying anything from them Alpina and Frederiqe Constant ever again.


Well... you never purchased from Alpina or Frederique Constant in the first place. You purchased from an old-stock liquidator (i.e. grey market) re-seller, and your customer service experience relates to Jomashop not Alpina/FC. It might have been a completely different experience and resolution had you purchased from the manufacturer. When you buy from a grey market re-seller, you have no idea where the watch came from, what its age or return history is, and you sacrifice after-sales service. If you understand and accept this risk, fine, but if you're expecting manufacturer level after-market service and then complain when you don't get it, then that's 'out of line'.


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## j111dja

BrentYYC said:


> Quite the contrary. Alpina watches are excellent quality and fantastic value for their affordable price point. I've always found them to be responsive to inquiries (usually within 48 hours), and 15 seconds is within spec for that movement.
> 
> Not surprising. Alpina is under no obligation to provide you with warranty service, as you side-stepped their dealer network by purchasing through a grey market re-seller. In any case, warranties only cover manufacturing defects (usually of the movement, only), and in your case it would appear to have been damaged from you cross-threading the crown which wouldn't be covered by warranty even if you had purchased through the dealer network (unless they were feeling particularly charitable and wanted to make a goodwill gesture, but that's an optional call on their part). Did the local repair shop explain why they couldn't just replace the crown tube? That's very odd that they said they need to replace both the case and tube together.
> 
> Well... you never purchased from Alpina or Frederique Constant in the first place. You purchased from an old-stock liquidator (i.e. grey market) re-seller, and your customer service experience relates to Jomashop not Alpina/FC. It might have been a completely different experience and resolution had you purchased from the manufacturer. When you buy from a grey market re-seller, you have no idea where the watch came from, what its age or return history is, and you sacrifice after-sales service. If you understand and accept this risk, fine, but if you're expecting manufacturer level after-market service and then complain when you don't get it, then that's 'out of line'.


Well said.

Sent from my Moto G (4) using Tapatalk


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## Phil9lives

BrentYYC said:


> Quite the contrary. Alpina watches are excellent quality and fantastic value for their affordable price point. I've always found them to be responsive to inquiries (usually within 48 hours), and 15 seconds is within spec for that movement.
> 
> Well not for me to some of my emails I never got an answer. To others after a month. In fact they didn't respond at all till I messaged them on facebook directly and complained. How shady is that of a company. This never happened to me neither with Omega, Longines or Rolex.
> 
> Not surprising. Alpina is under no obligation to provide you with warranty service, as you side-stepped their dealer network by purchasing through a grey market re-seller. In any case, warranties only cover manufacturing defects (usually of the movement, only), and in your case it would appear to have been damaged from you cross-threading the crown which wouldn't be covered by warranty even if you had purchased through the dealer network (unless they were feeling particularly charitable and wanted to make a goodwill gesture, but that's an optional call on their part). Did the local repair shop explain why they couldn't just replace the crown tube? That's very odd that they said they need to replace both the case and tube together.
> 
> I never cross threaded a watch before. I have about 10 pieces and even my seiko skx has a better and smoother crown system. The watchmaker said Alpina won't sell the crown and tube to him. He would have to buy the case plus the crown and tube. The tube is soldered into the case, but it can be changed, they just wont sell it to him to make more profit.
> 
> Well... you never purchased from Alpina or Frederique Constant in the first place. You purchased from an old-stock liquidator (i.e. grey market) re-seller, and your customer service experience relates to Jomashop not Alpina/FC. It might have been a completely different experience and resolution had you purchased from the manufacturer. When you buy from a grey market re-seller, you have no idea where the watch came from, what its age or return history is, and you sacrifice after-sales service. If you understand and accept this risk, fine, but if you're expecting manufacturer level after-market service and then complain when you don't get it, then that's 'out of line'.


I am from Austria. There is no AD near me except a few hours of driving. Alpina does not have any AD in my area. So what should I have done? And even if i bought it at an AD do you think that would make them respond to my emails?


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## Phil9lives

To some of my emails I never got an answer. To others after a month. In fact they didn't respond at all till I messaged them on facebook directly and complained.


I never cross threaded a watch before. I have about 10 pieces and even my seiko skx has a better and smoother crown system. The watchmaker said Alpina won't sell the crown and tube to him. He would have to buy the case plus the crown and tube. The tube is soldered into the case, but it can be changed, they just wont sell it to him to make more profit. 

I am from Austria. There is no AD near me except a few hours of driving. Alpina does not have any AD in my area. So what should I have done? And even if i bought it at an AD do you think that would make them respond to my emails?


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## Stryder16

Phil9lives said:


> To some of my emails I never got an answer. To others after a month. In fact they didn't respond at all till I messaged them on facebook directly and complained.
> 
> I never cross threaded a watch before. I have about 10 pieces and even my seiko skx has a better and smoother crown system. The watchmaker said Alpina won't sell the crown and tube to him. He would have to buy the case plus the crown and tube. The tube is soldered into the case, but it can be changed, they just wont sell it to him to make more profit.
> 
> I am from Austria. There is no AD near me except a few hours of driving. Alpina does not have any AD in my area. So what should I have done? And even if i bought it at an AD do you think that would make them respond to my emails?


I've never received a response from them through their 'official' showcase site form, which I found odd.

I do, however, receive fairly prompt responses when I use their webstore email


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## cobyutterback

gbpack1997 said:


> I purchased an Alpina Startimer Automatic 44mm from an authorized (brick & mortar) dealer in late 2015. After about 5 months, the crown on the watch would no longer screw down. I returned the watch to the dealer, and they were able to send it out for repair under warranty, which took 4 agonizing months. After receiving the watch back, the issue is fixed, however I feel like it still difficult to get the threads to engage when screwing down the crown, so I'm afraid I'm going to damage the watch again given more time. I have other watches (Alpina Seastrong Diver 300, Christopher Ward, Shinola) with screw down crowns, and the process seems much easier and smoother. Has anyone else experienced this same difficulty? Am I missing a trick to get the threads to engage easier? I love this watch and the last thing I want to do is wreck it again and have to wait another 4 months for it to be fixed, or worse yet have it break once it's out of warranty. Thanks in advance for any help that can be provided.


 This exact thing happened to me. Unfortunately, it was out of warranty when it happened- Alpina wanted over $700 to repair. Which is what I paid for the watch. Can it be repaired ?


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## SCRAPPYDO

My start timer has always screwed in, but it has never felt smooth per say like a Longines or Omega. It is very gritty. But it has never ceased to function.


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