Who doesn’t love a summer day at the beach? Luckily the Apple Watch is built to withstand temporary exposure to the ocean and sun. But sometimes after going into the ocean, small grains of sand have a tendency to get stuck in the crown wheel mechanism, making the wheel grind and harder to turn. So what is the safest way to free the crown? Don’t worry your watch is likely not broken.
The best and safest way to remove the sand grains without doing any permanent damage is to gently rinse the Apple Watch under running fresh water from a sink. Do not run the tap on full force, you want a good stream to fall under the force of gravity. While you are rinsing the watch under the stream of running water, very gently begin to rotate the crown wheel. Do not apply excessive force. You want the clean running water to lubricate the crown and safely dislodge the trapped sand grains.
As a reminder, the Apple Watch is rated watertight enough for shallow water activities like swimming, but not scuba diving or any activities with fast, high pressure jets of water such as water skiing.