Screw down crown is difficult to....screw down

[ratchpot]

Ok, so I just received an IWC 3717 from EL the other day. It's an amazing watch.

One problem though. When I unscrew the crown, all is fine: it reassuringly unscrews, and I can wind the watch, change the day, date and the time. However, when I push the crown in, so it connects with the thread on the case, I find it very difficult to screw the crown down, even though it is pushed in and threaded. There's a lot of resistance after the first turn and, also, with each turn, I can hear and feel that it is still winding the watch. I still haven't managed to screw the crown down completely because there's too much resistance. The problem exists no matter what time the watch it set at. The threads look to be intact, but I can't be sure because they are tiny.

I have a IWC GST, which behaves differently. When I push in the crown on that watch, it latches onto the thread and very reassuringly screws down very tightly, without winding the watch further.

So what's up with my 3717? Is it fracked?

Hopefully I've described the problem fully --- but let me know if anything is unclear.

Thanks.

[jeff g]

The main reason I sent my 3717 to The Zigmeister was to deal with the problems we all seem to encounter with the asian 7750.

In my case the problem was a more internal one with the movement and the chrono functions. After two days the whole thing froze.

I felt that the threading on the crown was very stiff as well.

Additionally of course was the misaligned day/date wheel.

Rather than try and send the whole deal back to EL, I decided to spend the money and send it to The Zigmeister, figuring that there could just as easily been problems with any replacement that EL might have sent out a second time.

Normally I might be more inclined to write the whole thing off, but in the case ofthe 3717 I felt that I liked the watch enough to fix it, and have The Zigmeister do whatever was necessary to make it right.

He has done that, and the watch is glued to my wrist since its return.

I am afraid that the 7750 issues are the same in any piece, and it is certainly a crap shoot as to how many work flawlessly from the get go, and how many are crap out the gate.

Good luck with your problems. If it is worth it to you, perhaps you should have the problem serviced before the movement seizes up.

[jfreeman420]

Before screwing it in try to push it in a little harder so it disengages from the winding mode and srcew it in then. This happens on several of my watches and you just have to have a little more patience for it to disengage.

[ratchpot]

Thanks for the replies. I think the problem may be that no matter how much I push the crown in, I cannot disengage the winding mode.

[swdivad]

I have the exact same problem with my 3717... Plus it stops after some time when the chrono is running. The Zigmeister's just confirmed receiving it

When I contacted Eddie on these issues, he said to send it back to him for repair, but really, in the end, I want this one to be relumed and the edges polished to be not so sharp (ouch!), and The Zigmeister can do all that as well as fix the winding/stem/crown issues... He's a safe bet.

It's sad to see these problems, but for 8-10% of the price of the gen, and the beauty of this watch, it's almost worth the money, even after getting it fixed.

[jeff g]

I agree. Rather than dealing with the hassle of sending it back to China...send it to The Zigmeister.

The quality of the case and dial, and the beauty of this piece make this watch worth the money to have it 'fixed'. Since getting mine back from The Zigmeister with the lume and date wheel alignment this beauty is close to perfect.