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Gloria Fung

For nearly two centuries, the crown has been an integral part not only of a timepiece’s mechanics but also of its visual DNA.
Its inception eventually replaced the winding key as the tactile link between a timepiece and its owner.
A new era of “integrated interface” horology, where the case itself becomes the control, saw the act of setting time transformed, from a fiddly chore best suited to those with dainty fingers into a seamless architectural experience.

Before the crown, pocket watches required a separate key to wind – much like a grandfather clock – which was easily lost and invited dust through open apertures. The crown was a miracle of Victorian engineering: a single, sealed point of entry that could be wound, set and adjusted.
For close to two centuries, it became the gold standard in wristwatches, but it had its flaws – by its very nature, the crown is a compromise and a point of vulnerability. It is a protrusion on a circular form, a snagging hazard, and most critically, the point of entry for moisture and debris.
The ritual of turning the thumb-and-forefinger breathed life into a mainspring and served as a control panel of sorts for setting the time and other functions. Some watchmakers, such as Cartier, have made the crown an aesthetic focal point in their designs; their watch crowns are often accented with a cabochon sapphire, and in the case of the Ballon Bleu, the design centres on the lush jewel, which anchors the piece.

Richard Mille and Konstantin Chaykin, meanwhile, have removed the crown out of necessity – sacrificing it in pursuit of the record-breaking thinness achieved in the RM UP-01 and ThinKing respectively.
But as watchmakers bring fresh approaches to timekeeping, the crown’s role, both functional and aesthetic, is slowly being re-examined.
IWC Schaffhausen, for example, is no stranger to making utilitarian timepieces. At Watches and Wonders, the brand unveiled the Pilot’s Watch Venturer Vertical Drive, rethinking how movements are brought to life.
Chris Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen, says the piece, created in collaboration with space-tech firm Vast, has enabled the watchmaker to “intensify its research and development efforts for watches that are tested for space flight”. It aims to bring a piece of home for future astronauts on their long-duration space missions.
The Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive features a 24-hour outer scale to track mission time via UTC/GMT, while independent central hands display a second time zone, allowing astronauts and travellers to sync with home time.

Noticeably missing is a crown. The watch is created for Vast’s pressurised Haven-1 space station, with time-setting done via the rotating bezel, designed to be easily manipulated even with a gloved hand. There’s a side-mounted rocker switch that toggles between time-setting and winding.
But these brands are by no means the first to find new ways to power their timepieces – Ulysse Nardin, Ressence and Van Cleef & Arpels are among those who’ve previously found ways to integrate watch winding into their timepieces while eliminating the crown.
While for some brands, stripping their watches of a crown is about adopting inventive mechanical approaches to powering their movements, the reason to go crownless for others is purely practical or aesthetic. This is most evident in jewellery watches, where a piece may be too small to include a crown, or the crown becomes an abrupt interruption and an eyesore to the overall design.
An early adopter of the integrated crown was Ulysse Nardin. The poster child of the crownless watch, the Freak was a groundbreaking design when it was first unveiled; the crownless case also gave the watch a sleek, futuristic look that complements the oscillating dial components.

This year, the watchmaker unveiled the Super Freak to mark the design’s 25th anniversary. The piece is a four-year engineering undertaking that takes 60 hours of manual assembly by a single master watchmaker. Despite the unprecedented complexity of its seven-plane architecture, the 44mm white gold piece manages to undercut its predecessor, the Freak S, by 1 mm.
The visual drama is anchored by inclined, counter-rotating dual flying tourbillons that perform a minute-by-minute orbital dance atop a carousel that completes a full rotation every hour. In place of the crown is a ring on the periphery of the caseback which is rotated to bring momentum to the piece. The rotating bezel enables time-setting.
Crownless engineering has been at the very heart of independent watchmaker Ressence’s creations since its early days. The independent brand relied on modified base movements to drive its Ressence Orbital Convex System, or ROCS, which drives dial and subdial discs across the face.
This year, Ressence unveiled its very first in-house calibre, the Werk RW-01, where the movement and the case-back setting lever are a single, integrated unit. “It’s an engine – built to drive the ROCS reliably and efficiently. At Ressence, the complexity lies in the dial, in how we display time. The movement serves that purpose. But having our own movement means something profound: finally, the movement and the ROCS are blended to be one,” says Benoît Mintiens, Ressence’s founder.

The need to go crownless may also be necessary for some jewellery watches, which are so dainty, they require a key to wind. In these cases, stripping the crown is mostly an aesthetic choice for most high jewellery timepieces.
Where symmetry is often desired, the addition of a crown to a bejewelled timepiece can seem cumbersome and unrefined. For secret watch designs or transformable timepieces that often double as pendants or brooches, the presence of a crown can undermine the design’s mystery.
Van Cleef & Arpels brings the passion of a jeweller to watchmaking and has long included jewellery timepieces and secret watches in its collection. This year, the Ludo Secret watch draws on the jeweller’s archives, combining elements of a 1930s bracelet and a 1940s mechanism to mask a mother-of-pearl dial behind gold links. The time can be adjusted via a push button on the caseback.
While winding a manual timepiece and setting the time will always be an integral part of the watch-wearing experience, watchmakers are shifting their approach to re-examine how it’s done. By losing the crown, they are gaining new freedom over how we interact with a timepiece.


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Timepieces

Why modern watchmakers are ditching the crown, from IWC to Ulysse Nardin

No crown required: the IWC Schaffhausen Pilot’s Venturer Vertical Drive. Photo: Handout

The Ressence Type 11 is powered by the brand’s first in-house calibre. Photo: Handout

Ulysse Nardin Super Freak. Photo: Handout

Assembling the Richard Mille RM UP-01 Ferrari. Photo: Handout

Konstantin Chaykin ThinKing Final Prototype. Photo: Handout

Van Cleef & Arpels’ Ludo Secret watch conceals a mother-of-pearl dial behind gold links. Photo: Handout

8 stand-out women’s timepieces that took over Watches and Wonders, from Rolex and Cartier to Piaget

Piaget’s Sixtie watch is a prime example of this year’s smaller models, which make an impact with their elegance or else their ornate finishes. Photo: Handout

Piaget Sixtie. Photo: Handout

Cartier Baignoire. Photo: Handout

Chanel Premiere Coco Game. Photo: Handout

Jaeger-LeCoultre La Vallée des Merveilles Reverso One Hibiscus Rosa. Photo: Handout

Chopard L’Heure du Diamant. Photo: Handout

Rolex Oyster Perpetual 28. Photo: Handout

Bulgari Serpenti Aeterna. Photo: Handout

Audemars Piguet Établisseurs Galets. Photo: Handout

How diamonds are reshaping luxury watch movements, from Chanel to Cartier

Chanel’s J12 Bleu Diamond Tourbillon is a limited edition watch. Photo: Handout

Van Cleef & Arpels unveiled the Ruban Mystérieux at Watches and Wonders 2025. Photo: Handout

The Jacob & Co. Billionaire III has diamonds on its case, crown and integrated bracelet. Photo: Handout

The Jaeger-LeCoultre 101 Secrets’ bracelet is set with more than 1,000 white diamonds. Photo: Handout

The Chanel J12 Bleu Diamond Tourbillon has solitaire-cut diamond set at the centre of the flying tourbillon cage. Photo: Handout

Space watches, redefined for a new era of exploration, from Omega and more

The Omega Speedmaster was worn by astronauts on Nasa’s Gemini 4 space mission in June 1965. Photo: Handout

Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional. Photo: Handout

It’s been 60 years since the Omega Speedmaster qualified as Nasa’s official watch for manned space missions. Photo: Handout

IWC Schaffhausen is watch partner to Vast, the developers of the world’s first commercial space station, the Haven-1. Photo: Handout

The Barrelhand Monolith has been designed specifically for use in space. Photo: Handout

A pre-production prototype of the Barrelhand Monolith. Photo: Handout

Bangle watches are back, with versions from Cartier, Gucci, Chanel, Bulgari and more

Chanel Première Galon. Photo: Handout

Gucci Play. Photo: Handout

Graff High Jewellery diamond and ruby watch. Photo: Handout

Bulgari Serpenti. Photo: Handout

Van Cleef & Arpels Perlée Toi & Moi secret watch. Photo: Handout

Tiffany HardWear. Photo: Handout

The return of jewelled hairpieces, boasting fans like Lisa from Blackpink and Megan Thee Stallion

Blackpink’s Lisa was pretty in pink and a Y2K-inflected updo, accessorised with jewellery including tiny lotus flower hair embellishments, at the premiere of The White Lotus season three in Bangkok last year. Photo: EPA-EFE

Dior Haute Joalliere’s Diorissima Collection. Photo: Anack Lejart

Megan Thee Stallion was regal in hair jewels at last year’s Met Gala in New York. Photo: GC Images

Zoë Kravitz at the Golden Globes. Photo: Penske Media/Getty Images

Simone Rocha fall/winter 2026. Photo: Handout

Fascinating Egypt hair clip by Van Cleef & Arpels. Photo: Handout

The Floris Pin by Kinraden. Photo: Handout

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After almost 2 centuries of being a necessary evil in watch design, is the crown gradually being ushered into history?


Why modern watchmakers are ditching the crown, from IWC to Ulysse Nardin

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}After almost 2 centuries of being a necessary evil in watch design, is the crown gradually being ushered into history?

After almost 2 centuries of being a necessary evil in watch design, is the crown gradually being ushered into history?