Best way to remove a Pelagos bezel

[Whisperer]

What tool specifically should I get to remove the bezel of my Pelagos?

I have mangled the case of one cheap rep submariner and a Seiko skx getting their bezels off. I taped the cases and it still ended up scratched.

There just doesn't seem to be enough space to get the butter knife , case knife, or screwdriver tip in the gap to pry. The tools slips when prying and the case or bezel or both get very scratched or gouged even.

Please include a link where I can buy whatever it is you are recommending.

Thanks!

 

[RobSe1]

I can recommend a swiss knife like this one

https://www.victorinox.com/de/de/Pr...5yHXYzt8_9Jpigdu3gsvSSmsG_hBJlfcaAgmlEALw_wcB

The small blade is perfekt to get into those tiny gaps and stromg enough to lift it up without bending. Just a bit of thin tape on the blade and the case and it will do the magic.
Sometimes you have to lift it up on 2edges. And be sure you placed the knife under the teeth (where it clicks) of the bezel!

 

[KJ2020]

I haven't ever removed a Tudor bezel, but this is the tool for removing Rolex bezels so it should work.

One caveat, some rep bezels ard held in place by a thin 8 sided wire routed under a retaining lip which is part of the case. To remove these without damage the insert has to come off first and the wire unwound. You'll need info from someone who has removed this rep bezel to know for sure.

if your bezel is friction fit with a gasket over the retaining lip as many are, this is the tool you need. You still need to tape up the case and remove slowly. But it has served me well countless times.

https://www.esslinger.com/watch-bezel-remover-tool/

 

[Whisperer]

KJ2020 YES MATE. This looks to be what I am after. I will get one. Thanks!

 

[Hawthorne33]

I did this today. It required a ton of force and resulted in a tiny tiny chip in the insert.


The whole watch was filthy. Been living with this since I got it from Toro. It’s in parts now waiting on a prof crystal and everything is very clean. Finally.

... this irrational dismantling made possible by a terrible ZF crystal.

If it comes out the other side it’s going to be sweet.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Whisperer]

What tool / technique did you use to remove the bezel ?Hawthorne33

 

[Hawthorne33]

I used a butter knife. I would have benefited from a tool with more vertical leverage in this situation


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Smpfan]

Take a look at this. Bought it some time ago for about 18€! Very good quality.

Greets Andi

 

[breitling87]

Anyone successfully do this to the pelagos ? Need to remove mine too

 

[JDM180]

Just wanted to bump this, forgive me if there was a newer topic on it.

For years I've fought with bezels and removing them , 9/10 ended up damaging the case or bezel.

I bought a tool like above a while ago and while it worked ok on a daytona bezel , it's useless against a sub it just marks the case slightly, using it on an old broken watch just so see if it needed more force ended up cracking the actual blade ! On another old watch the tool wouldnt budge it , yet a case knife did pretty easily , though while marking the case and bezel of course...

I thought about pressing out the crystal in the hope the crystal/bezel ring would come out with it , but then that would end up stuck inside the bezel anyway.

There must be an easier way ! How are the guys who do mods on here removing them ? Its mainly 6 digit models that seem the worst.

 

[jpchub]

not sure this is the correct place to ask, but seeing you guys worked with the pelagos bezel, you might give me some advice. I made a really stupid rookie mistake yesterday and submerged my ZF pelagos watch case in jewellery cleaner for 10 minutes. I assumed it would be fine, but after I rinced it, and wiped it dry, I realised there is some coating coming off of the insert. looks really bad. any advice on how to maybe fix this? is it just a matt lacquer that is painted on the ceramic?

 

[KJ2020]

not sure this is the correct place to ask, but seeing you guys worked with the pelagos bezel, you might give me some advice. I made a really stupid rookie mistake yesterday and submerged my ZF pelagos watch case in jewellery cleaner for 10 minutes. I assumed it would be fine, but after I rinced it, and wiped it dry, I realised there is some coating coming off of the insert. looks really bad. any advice on how to maybe fix this? is it just a matt lacquer that is painted on the ceramic?

Can you post some pics?

 

[jpchub]

KJ2020 sure. Its 21:23 at the moment so the lighting wont help. I’ll take some in the morning. Hopefully I can capture it

 

[jpchub]

KJ2020

 

[KJ2020]

KJ2020

The insert looks like it has some kind of clear coat all right. You could try to fix it a couple different ways but it should come off the watch and out of the bezel first.

Once the insert is out you could just replace it. There are plenty of aftermarket one available on ebay or Ali Express.

If you want to fix this one, first you need to get rid of the rest of the clear coat. You can try the jewelry cleaner again. Something stronger would be alcohol on a Q-tip, then Acetone (Goof off). Just put a tiny amount of those on a Q-tip and rub flat over it lightly taking care not to rub into the marker cutouts.

It's possible you will mess up the paint in the markers doing this so then you would have to redo those.

There are plenty of tutorials on here about doing paint mods to inserts.

If you get the old clear coat off, see if you're OK with it in matte and maybe you're done. If you want it glossy again, you can spray a new clear coat of lacquer on it and see how it looks. Soaking the whole thing in mineral spirits and using a very soft old toothbrush will usually take all the paint off if you need to start over, although I have had to dig white paint out of marker cutouts with a sharpened jeweler's screwdriver to repaint them in silver. Rinse with alcohol before repainting.

These pens are great for re-doing markers. Just fill them in right from the pen

https://www.amazon.com/Marker-Silver.../dp/B00LE8F70K

 

[jpchub]

KJ2020 thanks for the advice. I will tru to fix first, then replace if I mess things up. I would need to stay way clear of those markers though as that is lume in those markers and a paint mod wouldn’t fix it correctly. I was thinking of just removing all the clear coat, but the shade underneather is a bit more grey and doesnt match the dial. So new coat would be best.

 

[Troklo]

Sorry to bring up an old thread but the insert in the insert of my Tudor Pelagos blue got somehow a nasty scratch on it. I asked Trusty if he can source me a new insert but in case he can't I was thinking on getting one of these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

What do you guys think? Is it worth it or are there better options out there?

 

[Xiiaodiit]

Nice find.. Im actually looking for a black pelagos insert as well. I can't seem to source it also, any advice on the below link ?

Sorry to bring up an old thread but the insert in the insert of my Tudor Pelagos blue got somehow a nasty scratch on it. I asked Trusty if he can source me a new insert but in case he can't I was thinking on getting one of these: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/400...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

What do you guys think? Is it worth it or are there better options out there?

 

[johnlogan]

I tried removing mine, same way I remove a Sub bezel, but ended up bending the titanium bezel. Making a full rotation difficult and the bend is visible on the wrist.

 

[Troklo]

SO I took the plunge and ordered from the link I posted above. Will come back with review and pictures once it arrives.