How to Repair VSF 126610 Submariner Bezel / Hytrel Ring - Long Term!

[bertieng]

Not sure if the below click spring set works, but it looks pretty good from the pics:

https://watch2parts.com/products/wa...per-set-for-rolex-sub-submariner-116610-watch

You have a lot of options for the damaged hytrel ring (eg ebay, watch part stores, fishing line, etc.)

Wow, USD99 for a rep set?

 

[butler182]

Wow, USD99 for a rep set?

Yup, it's pricey. I just saw another store is selling the same set for $96 here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.2.84ce2682ng6S8y

This same store sells 6pcs (2 full sets) of the spring and balls for $28 (see here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...c_groupList.8148356.4.84ce2682r2mY0h)...which means they are pricing the little bezel click at $82!

 

[Mr.pitt]

so what was the best size option .56 or .61 or .64 for the fishing line?

 

[butler182]

so what was the best size option .56 or .61 or .64 for the fishing line?

Don't know as I've never used fishing line. But I do know you should definitely start with smaller diameter and work your way up. If you go too big to start the bezel can get permanently stuck on the case...and then you need melt the fishing line (like in an oven) to remove it...so I've read.

 

[ombre]

Carefully lining the channel with the 0.5mm strip

I used this guide for a CF GMT that had a bezel that could be popped off by hand. I sanded down the tension ring so it sat flush, installed a gen bezel spring and put a section of electrical tape in 1/4 of the bezel where the hytrel ring sits because anything more than 1/4 of the bezel lined with electrical tape made mine too tight. I am glad I found this page. Thank you

Another thing I do, and this is just personal preference, is I like to use axle grease instead of silicon for lubricating bezel parts. I think it provides a smoother bezel action as opposed to silicone.

 

[butler182]

Another thing I do, and this is just personal preference, is I like to use axle grease instead of silicon for lubricating bezel parts. I think it provides a smoother bezel action as opposed to silicone.

Axle grease sounds interesting. What kind?

 

[Abudhabi]

The Crystal on my 126610 was changed and the bezel is now very tight and can now just pop off using my fingers. Is this a bezel gasket problem? I can still see the gasket and it look’s intact. Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[All_Heart]

Final thoughts:

I think what’s going on here is the inner diameter of the ebay hytrel ring is actually very close to the correct size needed. However, the outer diameter of this ring is too small for the bezel channel that it sits in. As a result, the hytrel ring can not maintain the perfectly circular shape needed to properly and fully slide over the crystal retaining ring (ie it too easily becomes oval in shape as you press down)…thus resulting in it getting caught (and deformed) on the crystal retaining ring (and therefore not allowing the bezel to turn correctly). The tape lining effectively applies pressure uniformly to the entire circumference of the hytrel ring, allowing it to maintain the perfectly circular shape needed for it to be properly pressed onto the crystal retaining ring. That’s my theory anyway….and I’m sticking with it!

Hope the above helps others experiencing the same (and I think very common) issue.

Pictures to follow:

In my case, the VSF Crystal retaining ring is the culprit that was taking me for a spin and bleeding me money like a porn star ex-wife with alimony.

It is almost guaranteed to ruin a hytrel ring if you pop a bezel off or on without popping off the crystal ring. For a time I fitted them without the ceramic insert and then fitting the insert last. Those were the darkest days of my life filled with frustration with a marginal success rate of 10:1.

Some relief came when I finally decided to dust off my lathe and turned all the VSF crystal rings down to a size that won’t kink the hytrel that came with it.

I have ruined a few dozen hytrels l before I got to where I am now. I came to a point where I spliced 0.6mm crystal gaskets to fit rep sub bezels to have a few spares ready, I’ve resigned to accepting that this is a consumable item.

I thought I had hit the jackpot when I found an RWI champion by the callsign [mention]oascom [/mention]selling gaskets here in bulk but too bad he won’t sell me any.

Oh well, the quest goes on and I think I’ll only get peace of mind (bezel-ringwise) when I’ve stockpiled hytrel rings in a range of shapes and sizes.

 

[a5539925]

A little background:

I recently picked up a VSF 126610LV Starbucks (M2M) whose bezel had roughly 0.5mm of vertical play (absolutely stunning and near perfect watch otherwise!). ~0.5mm of vertical play is not that terrible, but still fairly noticeable. The bezel rotation actually felt pretty good, but the vertical play was a little too much for me to leave it be….so the tinkering began!

When I pulled off the bezel to investigate, the bezel gasket (aka the hytrel ring) was actually black in color (not sure it was the stock gasket as I’ve only seen the white hytrel version with my other reps) and a bit deformed and split apart. I had read a few posts here recommending wrapping dental floss around the bezel gasket a few times to tighten things up, so that’s what I did. And with a little trial and error (ie wrapped ~10mm section, then 15mm section, then 20mm section, etc), I got the bezel back on and feeling pretty good and with virtually no vertical play. However, the bezel rotation was a little inconsistent…going from a little tight to a little loose as I turned the bezel. Also, in the process of removing and reseating the bezel several times, I managed to mangle the bezel gasket even more. So eventually I had to cut out the really damaged areas which left it in 2 shortened pieces. And even with all that damage and in 2 pieces, this little bugger still worked surprisingly well! Moral of the story here is these little bezel gaskets can take a lot of abuse and still work pretty well!

Short term solution:

Given the poor state of the original bezel gasket, I thought it best to pick up some new ones…which I did from 2 sellers on ebay (here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/161620824457 and here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/293590263482). Unfortunately both were a little undersized for the job. As a result, when trying to reseat (ie press down) the bezel, the slightly undersized gaskets would invariably get caught on the crystal retaining ring…thus not allowing the bezel to rotate properly (the bezel rotation becomes super tight once the bezel gasket is deformed and only partially seated around the crystal retaining ring). So I stretched one ring out by hand (just a tiny bit and very gently) and then went back to the dental floss technique. I didn’t have much luck this time until I literally wrapped the entire ring with dental floss....which actually got it feeling pretty good. However, as I pulled the bezel on and off to make adjustments, the dental floss was beginning to slightly fray. So I think using dental floss may be a good short-term solution, but it will eventually fray and loosen/fail if you’re like me and enjoy endlessly fiddling with the bezel!

Long-term solution:

In light of the above, I thought lining the “bezel channel” that the hytrel ring sits in may accomplish the same thing as the dental floss and be a better long-term option (more on why below). To do so, the first thing that came to mind was using a thin strip of tape…so I grabbed some standard electrical tape because it’s fairly thick at ~0.15mm (compared scotch tape at only ~0.03mm). The channel is roughly 0.6mm wide and ~4.5 inches in circumference, so I cut a roughly 0.5mm wide strip of electrical tape about 4.5 inches in length (using an x-acto knife and a ruler). I then carefully lined the bezel channel with this thin strip of tape. And I’ll be damned…it worked beautifully! After a little trial and error, I ended up overlapping the tape strip about 1.5 inches (ie I used a ~6 inch strip to cover roughly 4.5 inches of circumference...thus 1.5 inches of overlap). The end result was fantastic. The bezel action feels extremely close to my gen 126610LN and there is ZERO vertical play! And the best part is the only thing touching the bezel retaining ring is the bezel gasket. So this fix should last a long time (ie no fragile dental floss rubbing against the crystal retaining ring that will eventually fray and ultimately fail).

Final thoughts:

I think what’s going on here is the inner diameter of the ebay hytrel ring is actually very close to the correct size needed. However, the outer diameter of this ring is too small for the bezel channel that it sits in. As a result, the hytrel ring can not maintain the perfectly circular shape needed to properly and fully slide over the crystal retaining ring (ie it too easily becomes oval in shape as you press down)…thus resulting in it getting caught (and deformed) on the crystal retaining ring (and therefore not allowing the bezel to turn correctly). The tape lining effectively applies pressure uniformly to the entire circumference of the hytrel ring, allowing it to maintain the perfectly circular shape needed for it to be properly pressed onto the crystal retaining ring. That’s my theory anyway….and I’m sticking with it!

Hope the above helps others experiencing the same (and I think very common) issue.

Pictures to follow:

My bezel also fell off. Put it on again, fell off again and lost some of the springs.

Ordered now the 3 springs and 1 blocker.
The hyrtel silicon ring looks fine but I cannot put the bezel on. The springs push it away. Even when using force.

Once the replacement springs arrive should I just apply some electric tape on the hyrtel ring? (Without removing it)

And is there actually supposed to be a metal ring/large spring above the hyrtel ring like on the old ceramic sub?

 

[butler182]

Those were the darkest days of my life...

LOL! Have you tried my technique of lining the bezel channel with tape? Perhaps I've been lucky, but I've had good success using this technique with the ebay hytrel rings listed above. It takes a little bit of tinkering though (ie pre stretching the hytrel ring and determining the exact amount of tape to use), but once you get it, it feels sooo nice! It'll snap you right out of that bezel-induced depression! :thumbsup:

 

[Oascom]

In my case, the VSF Crystal retaining ring is the culprit that was taking me for a spin and bleeding me money like a porn star ex-wife with alimony.

It is almost guaranteed to ruin a hytrel ring if you pop a bezel off or on without popping off the crystal ring. For a time I fitted them without the ceramic insert and then fitting the insert last. Those were the darkest days of my life filled with frustration with a marginal success rate of 10:1.

Some relief came when I finally decided to dust off my lathe and turned all the VSF crystal rings down to a size that won’t kink the hytrel that came with it.

I have ruined a few dozen hytrels l before I got to where I am now. I came to a point where I spliced 0.6mm crystal gaskets to fit rep sub bezels to have a few spares ready, I’ve resigned to accepting that this is a consumable item.

I thought I had hit the jackpot when I found an RWI champion by the callsign [mention]oascom [/mention]selling gaskets here in bulk but too bad he won’t sell me any.

Oh well, the quest goes on and I think I’ll only get peace of mind (bezel-ringwise) when I’ve stockpiled hytrel rings in a range of shapes and sizes.

you must be out of the USA ! I hate sending stuff outside , filling all paperwork, customs forms etc for a simple tiny gaskets. It's just not worth the time unfortunately.

Have you tried to order wso hyrtels ? Maybe they offer shipping?

 

[Oascom]

Yup, it's pricey. I just saw another store is selling the same set for $96 here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...o.store_pc_groupList.8148356.2.84ce2682ng6S8y

This same store sells 6pcs (2 full sets) of the spring and balls for $28 (see here: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...c_groupList.8148356.4.84ce2682r2mY0h)...which means they are pricing the little bezel click at $82!

Soon I'll be selling some spring/balls/click sets for 35$ if anyone need some. Just waiting for the package to come in.

 

[butler182]

My bezel also fell off. Put it on again, fell off again and lost some of the springs.
Ordered now the 3 springs and 1 blocker.
The hyrtel silicon ring looks fine but I cannot put the bezel on. The springs push it away. Even when using force.
Once the replacement springs arrive should I just apply some electric tape on the hyrtel ring? (Without removing it)
And is there actually supposed to be a metal ring/large spring above the hyrtel ring like on the old ceramic sub?

I don't know what you mean by metal spring above the hytrel ring. Can you post a pic of what you are referring to? As far as I know the bezel construction of the 116610 (early ceramic sub) and 126610 (newer ceramic sub) are the same. In any event, from what you are describing, it sounds like your hytrel ring (white ring shown in my pics 2, 5, 6 and 7) is not seated properly (or at all) in the bezel channel/groove. If the hytrel ring is seated properly in the groove (and is the proper size), the bezel should not just pop off easily. I'd take another look at my pictures above and try to follow the procedure as described (ie no tape on the hytrel ring, only the bezel channel gets tape).

 

[butler182]

Bezel construction drawing of 6 digit sub with parts labeled for reference...just FYI.

 

[butler182]

Soon I'll be selling some spring/balls/click sets for 35$ if anyone need some. Just waiting for the package to come in.

That's awesome...and a very good price! Count me in for a set.

 

[WatchSmith.US]

Bezel construction drawing of 6 digit sub with parts labeled for reference...just FYI.

I believe the crystal gasket and crystal retaining ring should be switched in the illustration.

 

[butler182]

I believe the crystal gasket and crystal retaining ring should be switched in the illustration.

Yes, I think you're right...although the renderings of both parts are pretty weak. See update below:

 

[Testone72]

Yes, I think you're right...although the renderings of both parts are pretty weak. See update below:

i think Hytrel ring should be between the bezel and bezel insert ring

 

[keisuke_z]

i think Hytrel ring should be between the bezel and bezel insert ring

The hytrel ring sits inside a groove on the inside of the bezel ring, and holds the bezel because the hytrel ring “clips” under a slight lip on the outside of the crystal retaining ring.

The diagram is correct the way it’s drawn since the crystal ring is the innermost, followed by hytrel ring, followed by bezel ring.

 

[Testone72]

The diagram is correct the way

no it doesn't

if you could keep the bezel strong by winning the strength of springballs (it is possible with the right tools)you could install everything even one piece at a time ... first the springballs, then the bezel, then the hytrel gasket, then the bezel insert ring, and finally at last the insert......so the diagram should be updated