Submariner Glidelock Mechanism

[TonyMonatana44]

Hi everyone. I'm in a bit of a bind right now and not sure what to do. I ordered a VSF Sub from Steve at the OneWatches about a week ago. I got home from traveling two days ago and have been enjoying my Sub a lot. Today while reaching for the remote, i felt my watch fall on the table. It looked almost as if a link got unscrewed or something. Upon further investigation, it looks like there is a piece missing in the glidelock mechanism. Apparently (even with gen submariners) there are little plastic rubber pieces that are used for the bracelet to "glide" in the clasp.



Without touching anything, i checked my shirt and on the chair I was sitting on if there was any small pieces. I then used a flash light and checked every single inch of the room. Had my brother and sister check as well and no one could find it. I even mopped the room (no carpets, just hardwood floors) and couldn't find it. Looks like it might have came from VSF this way? Unsure how they could miss the other side of the mechanism.

I've since messaged Steve on Whatsapp to see if he can help out. Unsure what can be done other than buying a new plastic/rubber piece, or buying an entire Oyster bracelet which I believe is in the ball part of $200, which is a little steep considering the watch is about another $300.

Any ideas on where I can buy the little part? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[mclarendude]

I'll look in my parts bin. I might have a spare clasp/part. No guarantees. If I do, I'll ship it to you.

 

[Reaps]

Bracelet is only $120 not $200.

If you can spare out $300 you can get a VSF 2824 variant and take the clasp from that instead. Then sell the head for $220 or something and recoup loss.

 

[TonyMonatana44]

I'll look in my parts bin. I might have a spare clasp/part. No guarantees. If I do, I'll ship it to you.

You are my hero, whether you find a spare part or not, thank you for looking!

 

[TonyMonatana44]

Bracelet is only $120 not $200.

If you can spare out $300 you can get a VSF 2824 variant and take the clasp from that instead. Then sell the head for $220 or something and recoup loss.

Great point. Might do that if I can’t find a replacement part.

 

[Procurator]

These are a bitch! Nearly lost one myself when cleaning, couple of weeks ago.
But I’d be willing to bet, if I lost it, I would have been able to replicate it by hand from some piece of plastic. Hopefully my elephant hands would manage.

 

[TonyMonatana44]

These are a bitch! Nearly lost one myself when cleaning, couple of weeks ago.
But I’d be willing to bet, if I lost it, I would have been able to replicate it by hand from some piece of plastic. Hopefully my elephant hands would manage.

the part is super small. I would probably not even attempt to clean the clasp/glidelock because of it

 

[Procurator]

the part is super small. I would probably not even attempt to clean the clasp/glidelock because of it

Yeah, trust me mate, Im not doing that mistake again either.
The funny thing was, we were about to leave the house and I said to my wife "give me like 2 minutes to clean this" and then pheeew and behold, I was almost vacuuming the floor with my face, looking for a tiny piece of black freakin plastic.

 

[aHero]

buy a replacement clasp from David at buystrap.com if @mclarendude doesn’t come up with one.

I’ve bought from David many times and so have others, but proceed at your own risk and do your due diligence since he isn’t a TD here.

 

[aHero]

The best replacement clasp and butterfly buckle for rolex watch, daytona clasp, Submariner clasp, datejust buckle, deepsea buckle

The best replacement clasp and butterfly buckle for rolex watch, daytona clasp, Submariner clasp, datejust buckle, deepsea buckle

www.buystrap.com

 

[TonyMonatana44]

buy a replacement clasp from David at buystrap.com if @mclarendude doesn’t come up with one.

I’ve bought from David many times and so have others, but proceed at your own risk and do your due diligence since he isn’t a TD here.

I appreciate the info. I'll keep him in mind, but might just go with an entire Oyster bracelet from a TD if I can't find a replacement part. Paying $120 for an entire bracelet vs paying $80-$90 just for a clasp is a no brainer for me. None the less, it's a great option to have.

 

[TonyMonatana44]

Steve just got back to me. He said we’d have to order a new buckle which can take a few weeks months. I am leaving to Europe in 2 weeks so that won’t work. I’ll have continue looking for a replacement plastic/rubber piece

 

[mclarendude]

Sad to report I do not have it.

if anything, you can probably get a fake Everest style rubber band for it to wear while you get a new clasp or part.

If not, time to make some big magnet and start sweeping the floors again or anywhere near it fell.

 

[TonyMonatana44]

Sad to report I do not have it.

if anything, you can probably get a fake Everest style rubber band for it to wear while you get a new clasp or part.

If not, time to make some big magnet and start sweeping the floors again or anywhere near it fell.

Thank you for checking. I really appreciate it. Unfortunately, this piece looks to be plastic or rubber. So don’t think a magnet would work. I have already swept the entire room and had two other people look as well. the way the bracelet fell apart I believe it was never there, but I don’t think how it held up two full days if that was the case, so I’m not going to make any judgements based on that. I’ll probably just buy a new watch (maybe a Starbucks this time) and can swap the bracelet from my no date sub to the Starbucks and vise versa.

 

[mclarendude]

That's very weird. That part used to be made of steel. Maybe a new thing.

 

[TonyMonatana44]

From what I understand they should be made from metal. I believe the Gen parts are metal, but I could be wrong. I've never opened one of my gen subs before (and after this, i'm not willing to do so risking the part flying out).

I can however see that this is what the steel version looks like:

Watch Buckle Glide Lock for Rolex 116610/116660/126610/126660 Submariner Deepsea

Material: Stainless Steel Fit for Rolex Submariner / Deepsea Model number: m116610LV-0002; m116610LN-0001; m116613LB-0005; m126610lv-0002; m126610ln-0001; m126613lb-0002; m116660-98210; m126600-0001; m126603-0001; m126660-0002... Quantity: 1 piece

www.topwatchparts.com

But it's not a gen part. Unsure how that metal part would work rubbing against metal on metal too.

 

[TonyMonatana44]

After a little bit more digging, I found that the VSF glidelock system is different than the Clean Factory ones. Seeing this sales post on RWI (https://forum.replica-watch.info/th...ean-97200-bracelet-w-gridlock-clasp.11007372/), you can tell from this picture that they're either metal on the Cleans or a different type of plastic. But the ones on VSF are super small and flimsy/cheap feeling from what I can see on my VSF.

 

[tbandy]

Easy fix !

Watch Buckle Glide Lock for Rolex 116610/116660/126610/126660 Submariner Deepsea | eBay

Fit for Rolex. Watch Buckle. Watch Band. Watch Band Pin Link Kit. Watch Screw. Watch Bezel. Watch Strap Insert. Q: Do you carry any other parts for my watch?.

www.ebay.com

 

[tbandy]

I've seen the plastic ones at ebay but can not find them now, usually oem are plastics

 

[TonyMonatana44]

A huge update: Found an ancient Sub (like 5 years old probably) that also has the glidelock mechanism. Took it apart and replaced the ones in my VSF. The ones in this (terrible quality rep BTW) has metal sliders whereas the VSF (2025) has plastic ones. The metal ones are 10x better and more durable. Not sure why VSF is cutting corners and not using gen spec parts, but it's something everyone should be aware of. I was down a $600 watch due to the carelessness of VSF and their watchmakers.

The sliders on the left are metal and from an off brand rep. They are a little dirty but I cleaned them up with warm water and soap. The right slider (I only have one, not sure if the other one broke due to it being plastic or if it didn't come at all with my watch) is from VSF.




I am not making a big deal out of it, but if we're paying top tier super clone money (ie: $600+), we should be getting metal sliders like the gens. Ridiculous.

I appreciate everyone with their kind wisdom and help on this matter!