after you decide to replace your watch crown,you may need a new stem to match the diameter or width. or, over time your watch stem maywear out or break. don�t let your old or broken stem keep you from wearing your watch;you can replace your watch stem yourself with this guide from esslinger-dot-com. be aware, replacing a watch crown involvesa lot of precision since the new crown and stem must fit the watch case perfectly. ifat any point you are concerned that this repair is more than you are comfortable dealing withplease take your watch to a professional. to replace your watch stem you�ll need:a pin vise an end cuttera fine jeweler�s metal file
a digital gaugea parts tray a watch stema watch crown an optional flathead watchmaker�s screwdriverand a fine tipped marking pen the first thing you will need to do to replaceyour watch stem, is remove it, if it hasn�t broken or fallen off already. for help learninghow to remove your watch stem from the movement, check out either of these links. once you have removed the old stem from thewatch movement, in order detach the crown, position the stem in the pin vise with thecrown end facing up and out of the vise. carefully slide the closing ring up the pin vise toclose the jaws around the stem and grip it
securely. make sure that the stem is positionedwith roughly half of the threaded portion inside the vise and half outside, like this. check to make sure that the pin vise is completelyclosed and locked around the stem to prevent it from slipping or getting scratched whileyou unscrew the crown. after you have broken the seal, hold the pinvise steady and simply unscrew the watch crown from the stem. set the watch crown aside inyour parts tray. in order to get the correct replacement stem,you�ll need to identify your quartz movement number and use that to order the right sizestem. use this guide to help you find your movement number.
with your new stem in hand, you are readyto begin. start by placing your stem in a pin vise. open the pin vise�s jaws wideand then insert the stem with the threaded side facing out. tighten the jaws of the pin vise around thewatch stem, closing so that about half of the threaded end of the stem is sticking outof the vise. then, you will need check that your stem fitsyour watch crown. take your watch crown and thread it onto the end of the stem. you shouldbe able to easily turn it into place if it is the right size. if the crown doesn�t fit the stem, use thisguide to learn how to measure a watch crown
to order the right size replacement crown. after you have a stem that fits your watchcrown, you may need to adjust the length of the stem. to do this, remove the stem and crown fromthe pin vise by loosening the jaws until they open. take your watch case and make sure that thewatch movement and movement ring are lined up in the case so that the holes for the watchstem are aligned together. then, insert your stem and crown into thewatch movement, pushing them as far into place as possible and check the fit:
if the watch stem is the right size, the stemwill push all the way into the movement and latch while the crown lays flush against thewatch case. you can check that the stem fits by turning the watch case over and testingthe hands to see if they will move as you turn the watch crown. check out this guideon replacing a watch crown to learn how to permanently attach the crown and finish thisrepair. if the watch stem is too short it will lookexactly like it does when the crown and stem fit, except that when you try turning thecrown the watch hands will not respond to it. if your stem is too short you can checkout this guide to learn how to insert a stem extender.
finally, if the watch stem is too long, youwill see that the watch crown does not sit flush against the watch case. you will needto follow these next steps to learn how to trim your watch stem down to size. first, you will need to note how far awaythe crown is from being flush against the watch case. this distance will be needed totrim your watch stem down to size. take your digital micrometer and measure the distancefrom the watch crown to the the watch case, like this. record this measurement, and remove the watchand crown from the stem. now, you will take that length you just measuredand use it to mark off how much you need to
cut from the stem. position one end of thedigital gauge�s jaws at the top of the threaded end of the watch stem. then mark where thesecond jaw stops on the watch stem to tell you approximately how much stem you need toremove. take your end cutters and position them abovethe mark you just made. remember: you can�t make a stem longer again, so do not cut directlyon the new mark. instead, leave a little space above that mark, like this. when you are confident that you still havesome room for error on your stem, squeeze the jaws of the end cutter closed and cutoff the end of the watch stem. set the end cutters aside and holding yourpin vise and stem, use your metal jeweler�s
file to file around the edge of the cut endof the stem to maintain an even edge that will thread onto the watch crown. hold the file against the edge of the stemand then angle it about forty-five degrees so you can bevel the edge and remove any excessmetal from cutting the tip off. the goal here is to allow the threads to gain traction inthe watch crown, not to take off more length. once you have filed all the way around theedge of the stem, take your watch crown and thread it back onto the stem. if you cannotscrew the crown back into place, file the end of the stem a little more and then tryagain. when you can�t turn the watch crown anymore and it is securely on the watch stem,
you should still be able to see the mark youoriginally made to mark where the stem met the watch case. remove the watch crown and stem from the pinvise and fit them to the watch case again. check the fit of the watch crown and the stem.if your cut was precise, the crown and stem will fit flush against the watch case andwhen you test to see if the hands and crown will turn together, they will. most likely however, the stem will still bea little bit long for your watch. remove your watch stem from the watch caseand replace it in your pin vise. then, remove the watch crown and set it aside in the partstray.
use your jeweler�s file to incrementallyshorten the stem and make it easier for you to thread the crown into place. once you have filed all the edges of the stem,rethread the crown back onto the stem. if the crown won�t thread on, file the endof the stem a little more and then try again. when the crown is completely screwed intoplace, remove the stem from the pin vise and try it out again in the watch case to checkthe fit. repeat this process, cutting a little fromthe stem, filing the end and the replacing the crown to check the fit until the stemand crown fit the watch case perfectly. when you are sure that the watch stem andcrown are the right fit for your watch case
and movement, you will remove them one lasttime to permanently attach and seal the crown to the stem. check out this guide on replacinga watch crown to learn how to permanently attach the crown and finish this repair. now that the crown and stem are sealed together,you will take your stem and insert it gently but firmly back into the movement and watchcase for the last time. with the watch crown and stem now securelyattached to the watch case, you are done! all you need to do is close the watch caseand go back to wearing your watch again. for help with that or other handy watch repairs,check out esslinger-dot-com�s youtube channel today!
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