The screws in the front and the back ARE connected, the part you see can see on the front is a stationary bolt with male threads and the screw from the back is a female chicago screw that threads onto it. This makes the whole watch a “sandwich” design and there is quite a bit of engineering in the RO that was very innovative when it was designed.
The real question is why the front “screws” have slots at all, they’re purely decorative and the head of the bolt is a hex that forces alignment with the watch case. In fact the shaft of the bolt isn’t even aligned with the hex head of the bolt, it couldn’t be turned even if wasn’t captive.
The screws in the front and the back ARE connected, the part you see can see on the front is a stationary bolt with male threads and the screw from the back is a female chicago screw that threads onto it. This makes the whole watch a “sandwich” design and there is quite a bit of engineering in the RO that was very innovative when it was designed.
The real question is why the front “screws” have slots at all, they’re purely decorative and the head of the bolt is a hex that forces alignment with the watch case. In fact the shaft of the bolt isn’t even aligned with the hex head of the bolt, it couldn’t be turned even if wasn’t captive.
https://preview.redd.it/2eo1swqnccwb1.jpeg?width=1756&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=207e3d540384eaaf30afa3405daad460276e10c5