The Analog Origins of the Apple Watch's Digital Crown

Welcome to more details, a recurring column in which we examine what purpose an often overlooked product element actually serves. This week: the digital crown of the Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch is not just a miniaturized phone or tablet on a bracelet. It's an advancement of "smart" technology, yes, and the company's design DNA is obvious - but it also builds on centuries of traditional watchmaking, more than most people believe.

The rectangle with rounded corners is a well-known Apple product profile. However, the silhouette of the Apple Watch differs from that of other devices in one essential feature: a protruding button on the right side. If you've used an Apple Watch, you know how intuitive this digital crown is: its dual role as a button and a dial makes it perform a number of functions in conjunction with the touchscreen - and another smaller side button - to help you control clock.

Pressing the button wakes the watch, returns you to your last app, or calls up Siri (and more). Rotate it to scroll, zoom, and even dim the display (and more). It's very clever, but Apple owes it to the watchmakers who developed the feature not only for the relatively rudimentary functions of traditional watches, but also for its basic concept and ergonomics.

The crown is essentially used in traditional watches to wind the movement and set the time: pull it into one position and you can set the hands on the dial. In another position you can scroll through the date and day of the week. More complicated mechanical watches use it for more functions too - and some (e.g., monopusher chronographs) even incorporate a button into the crown, just like the Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch SE offers all the essential functions of the Apple Watch in a modern design.

Apple

It's an elegant solution, but not necessarily an obvious one if you're designing a product from scratch. However, Apple didn't create the watch in a void.

It may not be widely known that Apple consulted with watch industry veterans in developing its watch. The company had all the technology it needed and they had managed to downsize it, but they looked at the lessons generations of watchmakers had learned on how to make a small, intricate device portable and easy to use. Perhaps in particular, elements such as the crown, rooted in traditional timepieces, helped create the familiarity necessary to introduce a device that not everyone believed was needed.

Of course, traditional watches don't have all of the functionality of today's wearable technology, but in some ways they paved the way and managed to do a lot with the gears and springs that were the integrated circuits of their time. You could even call her "smart".

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