Destro watches – does crown position really matter?

Tom Austin

For decades, destro watches – that is, watches with their crowns positioned on the left side of the case – occupied a curious niche in the watch world. Often dismissed as quirky anomalies or specialist tools for left-handed wearers, they have been rarely embraced by mainstream collectors. Even when brands like Panerai or Tudor have issued destro references, they were typically seen as novelties, collector oddities, or military one-offs.

While there are several impressive left-handed watches on the market, for those who wear watches on their left wrist, the crown position seems to carry some stigma, and this obscure detail has largely gone unspoken for some time. That was, until 2022, when Rolex unveiled the GMT-Master II “Sprite.” Suddenly, a left-crown watch wasn’t just a strange outlier; it was the most talked-about release of the year. Love it or hate it, the Sprite sparked fresh conversation around crown position and raised a simple but surprisingly overlooked question: does it actually matter where the crown goes?

The origins of the ‘destro’ moniker

To answer that, we need to rewind the story. Because far from being a modern trend, destro watches have a long and quietly influential history, one rooted in ergonomics and practicality. The term “destro” doesn’t actually relate to the left; in fact, it derives from the Italian word for “right”. In Italian, “destro” is used to describe the right hand or right side of the body. In watchmaking, it refers to watches designed to be worn on the right wrist, typically by left-handed individuals. The term gained traction through Panerai’s use of it for military-issued models for Italian Navy divers, where “modello destro” was shorthand for these reversed-crown configurations. With no equivalent term in English or Swiss horology, and Italian collectors and dealers specialising in the obscure through the 80s and 90s, destro became the widely accepted label in collector and brand vocabulary alike.

It’s widely understood that Paneria spearheaded the destro ‘movement’ (pun entirely intended), and while it’s true that they commercially adopted the term for their inverted designs, several brands have their own history with left-sided crowns. For instance, in the 1970s, the French Navy commissioned Tudor to produce Submariner ref. 9401 “Snowflake” watches with crowns on the left, specifically so the crowns would be out of the way when worn on the left wrist (one of the main justifications behind moving the crown to the left). This went on to become the foundation for the modern Pelagos LHD, which is still in Tudor’s catalogue. However, it remains an ongoing tradition, with reports of military-issued LHD modern Pelagos FXDs being commissioned by the Marine Nationale to this day.

Looking even further back, even the biggest brands had more flexibility with what they could produce. Way before the Sprite came along, Rolex had a few references in their lineup that were subjected to the left-hand-drive treatment. For example, a destro, underlined Submariner ref. 5513 from 1963 was recently listed by respected Spanish dealer Vintage Watch Collective.

While examples like this are often dismissed as cobbled-together “Frankenwatches”, details such as the serial and reference numbers being stamped in the correct orientation suggest that the watch left the Rolex factory with this inverted configuration. This is just one example of many from Rolex, including a LHD GMT-Master ref. 6542, which is widely believed to have inspired the modern Sprite. History suggests these were made more as personal requests than marketed as specific, problem-solving products.

The Crown was well known for making concessions for certain individuals back in the early days, and a perfect example of this is Charlie Chaplin’s Oyster ref. 4453, produced in 1945. Legend has it that Chaplin, known for requesting items to be modified to accommodate his left-handedness, ordered the watch to be made with the crown on the left, allowing him to wind and set the watch while it was on his wrist. This stunning example was only meant to fetch around USD$10,000 when it reached Aniquorum in 2013; however, the bidding reached a whopping USD$51,250 by the time the hammer dropped. These historical examples share a common lineage in that they were built for a specific purpose, often requested by a buyer who saw a clear benefit in having the crown on the left side.

Destro watches today

Today, several brands still offer destro alternatives in their ranges, some perhaps from a historical viewpoint, such as Panerai and Rolex, but others from a more technical or ergonomic perspective. TAG Heuer’s latest Monaco Chronograph novelties, for example, remain true to the Monaco’s roots with the crown on the left side – a notable design quirk of the original model’s Calibre 11, which they’ve recreated for these novelties.

The Omega Seamaster Ploprof 1200M is another watch that was destro from the get-go and has been recreated faithfully in recent years, featuring a muscle-diver case design that includes a left-handed crown, specifically designed to prevent it from digging into divers’ wrists when submerged in challenging conditions. Speaking of dive watches, a great number of Citizen Promaster Divers are also destro by design, for that same reason. Niel Ferrier, creator of American kid’s watch brand, Blok, recognised the importance of a left-sided crown on their kids’ watch, explaining that kids have the uncanny ability to break things, so keeping the crown out of the way makes perfect sense.

French microbrand Serica leans more into the bespoke angle, offering watches such as the brilliant 8315 GMT Travel Chronometer, with the option to order it with either a traditional crown at 3 o’clock or an unconventional Destro setup, with the crown at 9 o’clock. This kind of customisation is remarkably unusual and reminds me of what brands like Rolex used to do back in the day, perhaps suggesting that modern watchmaking is taking the same spirit of adaptation in new directions. And even in 2025, Rolex have doubled down on the left-hand GMT, releasing a white gold ceramic-dialled version this year at Watches & Wonders.

Closing thoughts

So, does the position of the crown actually matter? In reality, it depends on several factors. The wearer, the watch, and the context are all important. Firstly, the wearer’s hand dominance is somewhat important; however, as a right-handed, right-wrist-wearing watch guy myself, I don’t have much of a problem wearing conventional watches, aside from finding that operating chronographs can be a bit tricky at times. But for some people, this may be too awkward, and if you’re right-handed, wearing a destro watch on your left can just be bewildering.

For left-handed users or those who wear their watch on the right wrist, a left-side crown can offer genuine ergonomic advantages, from making winding and adjustments easier to preventing the crown from digging into the arm. In tool watches, it can also be a practical design choice, particularly for divers, pilots, or military professionals, by keeping the crown out of harm’s way. But even beyond function, Destro watches have evolved into design statements, nods to heritage, and symbols of individuality. Whether driven by comfort or character, there’s more to crown position than meets the eye.