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[AP Question] Why don't the Royal Oak screws in the back line up? (www.reddit.com)

submitted 1 year ago by FivePoppedCollarCool@alien.top to c/watches@style.land

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https://imgur.com/a/fvf9Srd

Picture shows the back and the front. The front screws line up perfectly. The back screws are all over the place.

Why can't they do something to make the back screws line up as well? I'm pretty sure the screws in the front and back aren't connected. So whatever they do to make the front line up they should be able to do for the back, no?

It's a very small issue but considering how much this watch is, as well as the commitment to precision/detail-orientation, this is something that really bothers me every time I see it...

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[–] Fit_Equivalent3610@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (11 children)

The front ones on the APRO aren't actually screws, they're bolts made to look like screws. Correcting the alignment would require the threads to be perfectly aligned and oriented in every direction with extremely close tolerances.

Further reading:

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/why-screw-slots-arent-aligned-in-watchmaking

https://www.esquire.com/uk/watches/a33816691/why-dont-screws-line-up-watch/

[–] FivePoppedCollarCool@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Interesting! I had no idea.

But isn't this something they should do for a watch like this? I get it for watches below $10k, but we're talking about $30k+. They can't perfectly align the the threads in the back?

For even more expensive watches I would expect the movement screws to be aligned in some way as well... If I'm paying $150k for a watch I would expect that kind of precision

[–] Fit_Equivalent3610@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Even ultra-luxury manufactures like ALS don't do this, and they do pretty much everything that's conceivable. It actually is possible to complete via machining but watchmakers generally do not (iirc there are a few examples but none come to mind immediately).

At this point I honestly think it's partly tradition. The movement is expected to be perfect and that's where a lot of the labor cost goes in high end watches. Adding $30k to an APRO to have a guy scrape tiny flakes of the screw off over a few days would be a bit silly. I can see why it bothers you though, which is why AP went with the hexagonal center-aligned bolts. The problem is that you can't really do that on every side of the case or you'd never get it apart again (or together in the first place) as the bolt needs a nut on the inside.

[–] FivePoppedCollarCool@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thanks. I actually bought an ALS over the AP Royal Oak because of those screws. They're just such a big part of the design and when it's not aligned in the back it's really jarring

I understand for the screws in the movement and how difficult aligning all of those would be though. However, I still think once you get to the super ultra level of these brands (I'm using $150k but it could be $250k or whatever) then even these screws should be aligned.

Thanks so much for your posts. Very informative

[–] ZhanMing057@alien.top 1 points 1 year ago

Nobody aligns real screws at any price point. It simply isn't possible to do so and still tension parts correctly.

The $600,000 hand made 1 still doesn't have aligned screw heads, even through each screw is hand made for the watch.

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