How to remove and replace a Ceramic Daytona bezel.

[Digital.]

SuperLory Nope. With the 2.3 Cousins gasket the overall thickness is now 12.5 mm.
Gmc nice post mate - quoting the entire OP just to add a one word comment. Perhaps you could consider editing that so you’re not repeating the entire tutorial?

Nice job, glad you found the tutorial helpful even if you did have to change certain parts to suit. Using a lever press it is generally much easier to get the correct alignment as you found. Pressing a steel bezel is also a good place to start as there’s less chance something going drastically wrong.
Your photos are fantastic, the forum would really benefit from a step by step tutorial how to achieve pictures like that if you have time to create one?

 

[p0pperini]

Nice job, glad you found the tutorial helpful even if you did have to change certain parts to suit. Using a lever press it is generally much easier to get the correct alignment as you found. Pressing a steel bezel is also a good place to start as there’s less chance something going drastically wrong.
Your photos are fantastic, the forum would really benefit from a step by step tutorial how to achieve pictures like that if you have time to create one?

Thanks red1 once again for the original tutorial. Back on page 1 of the thread you’ll see how this isn’t my first time - which was with a ceramic bezel, and resulted in it getting cracked, because when I did it I hadn’t seen your tutorial!

And thanks for the compliments on my photos, I appreciate it. I will be doing a little post on my current desktop photoshoot setup, as I’m occasionally asked about it. It’s been evolving since I started watch collecting and is working pretty well for me now. I like to keep things simple, as it’s done on the same table I do my watch fiddling - so it’s easy to set up/take down when I want to take some snaps.


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[SuperLory]

SuperLory Nope. With the 2.3 Cousins gasket the overall thickness is now 12.5 mm.

Gmc nice post mate - quoting the entire OP just to add a one word comment. Perhaps you could consider editing that so you’re not repeating the entire tutorial?

then I’m confused..

 

[p0pperini]

then I’m confused..

I know... what can I say. Global warming?

But your confusion was upsetting me, so just to make really, really sure, I went back to the calipers and checked again. Same reading. So then I popped the watch into the screw-down press, and with a flat nylon top die installed, put pressure directly on the crystal, just to make absolutely sure it was fully seated. And the crystal cracked.

Only joking! The crystal's fine - but the thickness is still 12.5 mm.

 

[happyharrysco1]

if it is any help my noob v2.2 with cousins gasket and cf bezel is 12.41mm thick

 

[Seadwellermike]

Has anyone had issues getting the CF steel bezel down flush against the case? I just did the swap (CF steel bezel on my ARF V2) and I pressed so hard I exploded the die on the bezel side!! Scared the shit outa myself and almost killed the watch and Crystal! But that shows the amt of force used, which felt like a lot but obv not enough, cause I can still slide a piece of paler between the bezel and case. It’s really close, but not perfect. How could I make it perfect? TIA

 

[bertieng]

Has anyone had issues getting the CF steel bezel down flush against the case? I just did the swap (CF steel bezel on my ARF V2) and I pressed so hard I exploded the die on the bezel side!! Scared the shit outa myself and almost killed the watch and Crystal! But that shows the amt of force used, which felt like a lot but obv not enough, cause I can still slide a piece of paler between the bezel and case. It’s really close, but not perfect. How could I make it perfect? TIA

Don't force the bezel any further downwards. It takes quite tremendous force to crack those dies actually, they are made of nylon. It is pretty obvious that the dimensions between the bezel, gasket and case do not fit perfectly.
If you are persistent, you can try to smear a thin layer of silicone on the bezel gasket before pressing it onto the case. See if it helps to go flush against the case.
Goodluck

 

[p0pperini]

Has anyone had issues getting the CF steel bezel down flush against the case? I just did the swap (CF steel bezel on my ARF V2) and I pressed so hard I exploded the die on the bezel side!! Scared the shit outa myself and almost killed the watch and Crystal! But that shows the amt of force used, which felt like a lot but obv not enough, cause I can still slide a piece of paler between the bezel and case. It’s really close, but not perfect. How could I make it perfect? TIA

Whoops..! That's probably too much pressure. Sounds like maybe the gasket has got nipped under the bezel. As you'll see on the previous page of this thread, I fitted the CF steel recently, and it went on without massive pressure. Mine was going onto a Noob, but I believe the dimensions of the ARF are, like the Noob, same as gen.

Did you re-use the ARF gasket? If so, it's possible it was already slightly mis-shaped/damaged. I think it's worth investing some small change into a fresh gasket when doing the swap.

 

[lo1800]

damn, such a tutorial! i was planning to change a bezel on a gmt master II and wasnt sure about how to do it.
many thanks!

 

[bertieng]

damn, such a tutorial! i was planning to change a bezel on a gmt master II and wasnt sure about how to do it.
many thanks!

Please note the GMT Master II has a completely different bezel structure to that of the Daytona

 

[werdn]

Is the chance of cracking the ceramic bezel high?

 

[Seadwellermike]

Whoops..! That's probably too much pressure. Sounds like maybe the gasket has got nipped under the bezel. As you'll see on the previous page of this thread, I fitted the CF steel recently, and it went on without massive pressure. Mine was going onto a Noob, but I believe the dimensions of the ARF are, like the Noob, same as gen.

Did you re-use the ARF gasket? If so, it's possible it was already slightly mis-shaped/damaged. I think it's worth investing some small change into a fresh gasket when doing the swap.

thanks, I may try that. And yes, I reused the factory ARF gasket, and visually inspected it closely under my digital microscope to see if it had been altered at all by the previous owner. My dies are from the harbor freight piece of shit Crystal press, and I think they are just crappy, thus shattering. The force wasn’t THAT bad as I didn’t push all the way to the Crystal with the press, so I’m super lucky cause that crack would have broken my heart!

I may try the silicone, it may be all that’s needed. Or I’ll leave it as is because it looks terrific already and it’s snug and not going anywhere.

to the post above me: YES, I have had MANY “ceramic” bezels break on different watches. They are hard, but brittle. And many actually have metal in them (oddly enough)

 

[p0pperini]

Is the chance of cracking the ceramic bezel high?

When doing a bezel swap, yes. If pressure is applied unevenly it puts tremendous strain on a single point through a very slim component, which leads to more stress than the bezel was designed to take.

Once installed, they're really tough - which is why they're used. I don't recall seeing any posts showing a chipped or cracked ceramic bezel or insert, unless the damage has happened during a botched installation. That's not to say they're indestructible (see above!) but they're extremely hard-wearing.

 

[Shany]

So the R30520 is the one to Go even without shaving?

How much Are These SS And/Or Ceramic CF bezels ?

 

[Liam F]

I managed to do mine this afternoon with the bezel remover tool and cheapo press. Fitted a CF factory ceramic whilst I was at it. I think I got everything lined up o.k ?

 

[SuperLory]

I know... what can I say. Global warming?

But your confusion was upsetting me, so just to make really, really sure, I went back to the calipers and checked again. Same reading. So then I popped the watch into the screw-down press, and with a flat nylon top die installed, put pressure directly on the crystal, just to make absolutely sure it was fully seated. And the crystal cracked.

Only joking! The crystal's fine - but the thickness is still 12.5 mm.

ok let me correct myself: i have currently 2 116520 noob with arf dials, 1 white one with noob gasket which went under aflop hands to address a way-too-tall crystal and he managed to lower it down to ~12.2

then the black dial had the cousin gasket mounted and it's between 12.4 and 12.5 (my caliper only have 1 decimal)

Confusion, in me, arose from the fact that since 116520 are 12.2/3 thick, as per what google says, i thought 116500 was equally 12.2 whereas, again as per what google says, they are 12.5.

So i presume the construction followed by noob is of the 116500 since it matches 12.5 by right with the correct gasket

PS: where the old steel bezel daytona trim those .3 I have no idea..

 

[p0pperini]

So i presume the construction followed by noob is of the 116500 since it matches 12.5 by right with the correct gasket

A Noob 116500 was the basis for my 116520.

 

[butler182]

Finally got around to swapping my noob bezel for the CF. I did a gasket swap as well and used the Ofrei gasket shown here: https://www.ofrei.com/page_153.html#5756 (part no ROL-OF295-1). The gasket and crystal went into place very easily. I thought maybe a bit too easy, but it passed a 6atm water test after install...so all good! Anyway, for those in Conus, the Ofrei gasket I think is a good alternative to the Cousins. Thickness remained at ~12.5mm before and after. Ofrei gasket on the right below.

 

[butler182]

One more thing. I had a hell of a time getting the CF bezel on squarely. After many attempts, it just would not go on evenly with my cheapo $15 crystal press. When the bezel got out of whack, I did not want to force the issue and crack the bezel, so I would pull the bezel off and try again...and again...and again! When it was clear the crystal press was not going to work, I came up with a little "post-it note hack" to make it work. Specifically, I took a ~2mm stack of post-it notes and cut off the part with the light adhesive (so all the sheets would remain stuck together). I then cut this strip into 4 parts and used them as spacers on each corner (held in place with some rodico). Once in place, the bezel could only be pressed down squarely to the level of the spacers. After the bezel was forced down squarely a tiny bit, I pulled out the spacers and peeled off a couple layers to make thinner. Then re-inserted the thinner spacers and gave the crystal press another squeeze. It took 4 iterations to push the bezel all the way down evenly. A bit of a pain, but it worked nicely.

 

[SuperLory]

I forgot to thank you all who contributed in this topic. I managed to change the steel bezel of my Tona . I agree that the 15$ bezel press hardly press evenly so I'm not sure it is something to suggest or going for a $50/60 vertical press is a better investment even for one watch.

I'd say it's a really easy task all in all.

PS: I changed a ceramic bezel also after having received the vertical torque bezel press; much much better with that tool.