BP Re-Releases 5-Digit Submariners with VR3135

[Nur-Uhr]

Finally got my QC. I think he forgot about me because I talked to him and suddenly that afternoon the watch showed up. oh well at least it’s getting done. Black 16618 that will be getting a better crystal and gen insert for now.

A good choice
Post some pics when you have it. The crystal "height postion" to the bezel looks good on the timegrapher.
Overall I was really excited when I did a comparison (see here in thie thread page 27)
- the 16618 has a nice look and feel
- dial color of the blue one I had from BP was really good (compared it with a GEN dial from a TwoTone)
- gold plating was also amazing - when you compare it to a 18k gold as I did, there is nearly no difference

You plans are nice - better crystal (Clean oder good aftermarket) and GEN bezel will upgrade this watch so much !!
You will have than a cool 16618 Sub
I am already curious to your first impression when you have it in your hands and also for the final result

 

[flashu]

I have my original BP crystal in hand. It's 1.88 overall and gasket is 2.7.
There's the top part of the crystal (the lip) that sits on top of the gasket which is hard to measure alone but the crystal mounted on the gasket combo is 3.83

Thank you for the measurements, do you know what is the gen gasket height?

 

[Nur-Uhr]

@flashu

Here are GEN gasket and GEN crystal from a Sub 16610

Did a measurement, cause I have the parts in my drawer

 

[flashu]

@flashu

Here are GEN gasket and GEN crystal from a Sub 16610

Did a measurement, cause I have the parts in my drawer

Great info! Thank you @Nur-Uhr

This means that the height of the BP Crystal measured by @hollywoodrollie at 1.88 vs gen Crystal at 2.3, we have a 0.5mm in height
Gasket is the same thickness
This means that if change the crystal with gen or gen specs will solve the issue with flat crystal

 

[Nur-Uhr]

Now it is getring mysterious
Have another Gen 295 crystal here with a thickness of 1,8mm (perhaps from a Datejust, GMT, …?)

Here with thickness crystal 1.8mm
And gasket 2.7mm
- total = 3.5mm



Here again for comparison
Crystal 2.3mm
Gasket 2.7mm
- total = 3.6mm

 

[flashu]

Now it is getring mysterious
Have another Gen 295 crystal here with a thickness of 1,8mm (perhaps from a Datejust, GMT, …?)

Here with thickness crystal 1.8mm
And gasket 2.7mm
- total = 3.5mm



Here again for comparison
Crystal 2.3mm
Gasket 2.7mm
- total = 3.6mm

hmmmm....I will buy gen 16610 take out the crystal, measure and then we solve it ))))))))))))

jokes aside probably one of the reasons it sits flat on BP is the thickness of crystal I guess

 

[Yellowsubmarine]

probably one of the reasons it sits flat on BP is the thickness of crystal I guess

So an observation I made upon receiving my BP yesterday was that there was a considerable amount of vertical play (or squidgyness) in the bezel. More so than what I’ve seen with 6-digit subs in the past. Almost 2mm of play..

If you press the bezel down and take a side view, the crystal no longer sits flat in line with the insert.

Upon removing the bezel it appears that the crystal retaining ring is not pressed down enough. So once the bezel’s gasket clicks into place in the channel on the retaining ring it is effectively sitting too high and away from the case causing the ‘flat top’.

I managed to press down the retaining ring a little further which improved the vertical play and reduced the flat top appearance but as @hollywoodrollie mentioned a 30.5mm ID bezel will be needed to press and seat this correctly.

They’re probably rushing to get these out of the door…

 

[flashu]

Quick shot

 

[flashu]

So an observation I made upon receiving my BP yesterday was that there was a considerable amount of vertical play (or squidgyness) in the bezel. More so than what I’ve seen with 6-digit subs in the past. Almost 2mm of play..

If you press the bezel down and take a side view, the crystal no longer sits flat in line with the insert.

I don't have such play, 2mm is something.....

Upon removing the bezel it appears that the crystal retaining ring is not pressed down enough. So once the bezel’s gasket clicks into place in the channel on the retaining ring it is effectively sitting too high and away from the case causing the ‘flat top’.

I managed to press down the retaining ring a little further which improved the vertical play and reduced the flat top appearance but as @hollywoodrollie mentioned a 30.5mm ID bezel will be needed to press and seat this correctly.

Good to know, I will take out when have the time and check myself
Thank you for sharing

 

[trash3939]

Trusty Time contacted us.

(Will get the factory to send the correct parts)

I will keep you posted.

 

[hollywoodrollie]

So an observation I made upon receiving my BP yesterday was that there was a considerable amount of vertical play (or squidgyness) in the bezel. More so than what I’ve seen with 6-digit subs in the past. Almost 2mm of play..

If you press the bezel down and take a side view, the crystal no longer sits flat in line with the insert.

Upon removing the bezel it appears that the crystal retaining ring is not pressed down enough. So once the bezel’s gasket clicks into place in the channel on the retaining ring it is effectively sitting too high and away from the case causing the ‘flat top’.

I managed to press down the retaining ring a little further which improved the vertical play and reduced the flat top appearance but as @hollywoodrollie mentioned a 30.5mm ID bezel will be needed to press and seat this correctly.

They’re probably rushing to get these out of the door…

It's probably true. I don't know how far down the ring was pressed down originally because for me the bezel assembly including the crystal all came off in one piece.
It's possible that the ring wasn't pressed down all the way. I also remember the bezel has some play initially.
When I reinstalled it, I made sure it's pushed all the way down which explains why, now I have no play but also a tighter spot in the bezel rotation.
Maybe the factory does this intentionally as a compromise to make sure bezel rotation is very smooth. Ideally, they should make the bezel case / rehaut taller so it can position the crystal and ring at the right height with the ring secured. Not pressing the ring all the way is also compromising the water tightness as well... Not that I plan to take this diving anytime soon

 

[watcher009]

Stock crystal gasket was confirmed here to be 2.7mm, so if its replaced by a 3mm gasket shouldn’t it make the crystal sit a little higher and solve the issue?

 

[Yellowsubmarine]

Stock crystal gasket was confirmed here to be 2.7mm, so if its replaced by a 3mm gasket shouldn’t it make the crystal sit a little higher and solve the issue?

Yes if you make sure everything is seated and pressed back in correctly after the install the new crystal should sit 0.3mm higher than standard from factory

 

[trash3939]

Stock crystal gasket was confirmed here to be 2.7mm, so if its replaced by a 3mm gasket shouldn’t it make the crystal sit a little higher and solve the issue?

This is the result of pushing the retaining ring in and adding a 3.0 gasket.

BP Re-Releases 5-Digit Submariners with VR3135

Only a bad comparison pic. The bezel of the SD is thicker ... special on the "lower" side you can see this. Here a SD 16600 lug-hole model and a Sub 16610 lug-hole model If BP has the wrong bracelet and bezel for Sub, then others still waiting for QC photos should be careful!

forum.replica-watch.info

 

[johnchpark]

Trusty Time contacted us.

(Will get the factory to send the correct parts)

I will keep you posted.

Is this just for the bracelet or also the bezel?

 

[KJ2020]

@flashu

Here are GEN gasket and GEN crystal from a Sub 16610

Did a measurement, cause I have the parts in my drawer

Bro are you sure that crystal is from a 16610? I've never known a Sub crystal to be thicker than 2.0mm (+/- minor batch or vendor deviations). You can run into a lot of confusion online regarding crystal dimensions because Rolex isn't helpful. What is the outside diameter? SD outside diameter is 28.6 (always measured at the lower step where the gasket fits). Subs (and many others) have 29.5mm OD, hence the 295 in the part number.

 

[EarlOfBacon]

I have an old 16610, bought in the early 90s (don't remember the factory) with 2836 movement.
She's going a long way with me, for years daily worn and it's me beloved one.
Few weeks ago both pins popped out (with nato-strap) same time and she kissed the floor and took a ugly shining dong at the case.





Thought over to send her to my watch Smith for a complete refurbishing but over all think it will sucks me lot more than 500 bucks, it's a pain in my ass.
Than found this thread and couldn't stop reading from first page till here and what should I say ...
You guys rocks the house !
Like my watch Smith, he's a good one but took the decision to invest my coin in, let's say, in one black by ARF (because of getting close to my old one without rehaut- engravings) and one two tone with blue dial because the pics I saw here are amazing (special thanks to Nur-Uhr for pic - porn )
Have planes to bring the 2836 movement back to live in a Datejust with parts from rafflesdials.

Have a question:
Does something's speaks against to drill the lugholes in the black ARF ?

 

[Nur-Uhr]

Bro are you sure that crystal is from a 16610? I've never known a Sub crystal to be thicker than 2.0mm (+/- minor batch or vendor deviations). You can run into a lot of confusion online regarding crystal dimensions because Rolex isn't helpful. What is the outside diameter? SD outside diameter is 28.6 (always measured at the lower step where the gasket fits). Subs (and many others) have 29.5mm OD, hence the 295 in the part number.

Yes I am sure it is a GEN 295 LEC.
I bought this quite a while back (in approx 2019/2020) from user @bananasplit in blistered new condition.
I have had this crystal some time on a SuperFranken 16610 - but was than changed to a NON LEC NON AR GEN crystal (cause I could not live with LEC on a Tritrium Lug Hole build )

The other crystal from my other post is also a GEN 295 LEC - but as you can see there with a thickness of 1.8mm
Compared to the above with a thickness of 2.3mm -- the total height with same gasket (2.7mm) is only a difference of 0.1mm (3.6mm to 3.5mm)
This is really mysterious!


And yes, I know that Rolex doese not give any information regarind their parts and especially not in detail.
This was in the past and is still the same, this is why mostly there are so many variations in their watches

 

[Nur-Uhr]

I have an old 16610, bought in the early 90s (don't remember the factory) with 2836 movement.
She's going a long way with me, for years daily worn and it's me beloved one.
Few weeks ago both pins popped out (with nato-strap) same time and she kissed the floor and took a ugly shining dong at the case.





Thought over to send her to my watch Smith for a complete refurbishing but over all think it will sucks me lot more than 500 bucks, it's a pain in my ass.
Than found this thread and couldn't stop reading from first page till here and what should I say ...
You guys rocks the house !
Like my watch Smith, he's a good one but took the decision to invest my coin in, let's say, in one black by ARF (because of getting close to my old one without rehaut- engravings) and one two tone with blue dial because the pics I saw here are amazing (special thanks to Nur-Uhr for pic - porn )
Have planes to bring the 2836 movement back to live in a Datejust with parts from rafflesdials.

Have a question:
Does something's speaks against to drill the lugholes in the black ARF ?

A very cool story - nice read up

Nothing speaks against to drill lug holes into these BPs.
But when you start with this, than you need to make also some other actions
- remove the Rehaut engraving
> You can keep the bracelt with SEL = reason: there was a period when Rolex had on the Sub 16610 Lug-hole case but already SEL-bracelet =93250

Same for the 16613 as above written.
Drill lug holes - than you should remove the Rehaut engraving.
The rest as mentioned above.

You can PM, I have some contacts to skilled watch smiths for all your wished works within your home country

 

[k0hr]

I got qc last night. Looking forward to this arriving hopefully Next week.