Why is the watch crown on the right? The video guide

Chapters

1. 0:00Because you're right-handed
2. 0:09One in ten left-handed
3. 0:24The watch on the left wrist
4. 0:41The crown under your fingers
5. 0:58Winding every morning
6. 1:10What about left-handers?
7. 1:21Crown on the left, or offset
8. 1:36No rule on the wrist

Transcript

Why is the crown on almost every watch on the right? Because you are probably right-handed. Only about one person in ten is left-handed. That is the finding of the largest study on the subject, published in twenty twenty, covering more than two million people. Tradition has it that you wear your watch on the wrist of the hand that does less work. For most of us, that is the left: the right hand stays free to write or carry, and the watch, so the saying goes, is less exposed. You grip the crown between thumb and forefinger, to wind the watch or set it. Placed at three o'clock, on a watch worn on the left wrist, it sits right under the fingers of the right hand, without taking the watch off. That gesture mattered. A hand-wound mechanical watch usually runs for about two days: you wound it every morning, with your right hand. And left-handers? Many wear their watch on the right. The crown then ends up on the elbow side, away from the fingers of the other hand. That is why some watches put the crown on the left, at nine o'clock. Others move it towards four o'clock, so that it does not press into the back of the hand when the wrist bends. No rule ties you to one wrist. The watch works in exactly the same way on either side, and an automatic winds with the movements of whichever arm wears it. Wear it wherever it bothers you least. Discover a whole selection of watches at Montres Outlet.