KJ2020 one stupid question for you.
How do you remove the crystal without removing the bezel or opening the caseback?
I thought I had to take the movement out and use a press to pop the crystal. Maybe there is an easier way for this model?
well ive removed crystals using a puffer , but you got to remove the caseback to remove the crown first
KJ2020 one stupid question for you.
How do you remove the crystal without removing the bezel or opening the caseback?
I thought I had to take the movement out and use a press to pop the crystal. Maybe there is an easier way for this model?
Yes there is. On the 16570 (gen and rep), the bezel acts as the crystal retaining ring. Just prying up the bezel will ususlly bring the crystal and the gasket with it. Then just pop them apart with both thumbs. If the gasket and crystal don't come up with bezel, just insert a razor blade below the gasket and work your way around lifting it up. Or use a piece of gorilla tape on the crystal. It's just sitting on the case.
To get the bezel off, tape up the case lugs and pn the case around the bezel. Carefully set the edge of a new razor blade exactly in the joint between the case and bezel. Gently tap the blade into the joint with a jeweler's hammer. Take care not to let the blade pop out of the joint between taps. A gap will begin to open up. Work your way around the bezel, opening up the gap until it's wide enough to insert a good quality smooth edged case knife. I always put a piece of thin plastic like a dial protector against the case while prying the bezel up with the case knife, even though the case is taped. No need to dent up your case!
This is awesome. I have popped bezel off from watches before (you actually saw one in the watch repair section where I messed up badly on a Navitimer awhile back lol).
I guess another dumb question is, do I need tools to put the crystal, gasket, and bezel back in? If not, I wonder how this watch provides water resistancy.
This is awesome. I have popped bezel off from watches before (you actually saw one in the watch repair section where I messed up badly on a Navitimer awhile back lol).
I guess another dumb question is, do I need tools to put the crystal, gasket, and bezel back in? If not, I wonder how this watch provides water resistancy.
I did that conversion when 16710 reps were scarce. The WSO retaining ring (gen-spec) does not mate perfectly to the BP 16570 case. There was a slight gap there. I epoxied the retaining ring to the case, also filing the gap to the case's crystal mount as well. I used JB Weld epoxy which is a dark grey and none of it shows. I consider this to be an acceptable solution as it still allows for insertion and removal of a gen-spec crystal, and the WSO gen-spec bezel and inserts.
I've never tested the case for WP but I don't get my watches wet, not even splash from hand washing so no worries for me there. The WSO parts were not perfect. I had to shave some off the bottom inside perimeter of the WSO bezel to make it fit on it's own WSO retaining ring.
Going on 3 years old, no issues with it
And........ I got this baby back today
Couldn't be happier.
No more ugly incorrect bold DW and I love the crystal height. I think I did over compensate for it but it looks more gen to me than before. I will look into replacing the crystal to Clark's 1.8mm. I think that will do it.
The hour hand now perfectly lines up with the hour marker. Hope I can keep it like this for awhile.
Really nice how it came out! Also so good that you still can be happy with this rep give its rather higher age (atleast i was told regarding reps and longevity).
That's true probably a gen dial route for me if I love it, if not up on to the M2M it goes. The rehaut was off centre on mine as well but the dates were nice, crisp and centred so I accepted
Gen dial will not fit the BP case. Gen dials are 27.3mm. I used a flawed rep dial to practice DIY dial shaving on, and it's currently 27.4mm. I couldn't take any more off it without eating into the minute tics. But I use it frequently now to test whether a gen dial would fit in a rep case. So far, it's fallen through the rehaut on every rep 5 digit case I've tried it in.