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

[wisedennis]

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:

Great post, thanks mate!
Bookmarked for future learning

 

[a5539925]

11.75US $ |1pcs Watch Bezel Waterproof Rubber Gasket Seals Washers O-ring For Rlx Submariner Gmt Yacht Bezels Turntable - Gaskets - AliExpress

Smarter Shopping, Better Living! Aliexpress.com

www.aliexpress.com

GENTLEMAN, I HAVE FOUND SOME 41MM HYTRELS THAT WORK!!! JUST SELECT 41 AND I RECOMEND GETTING AT LEAST 3 JUST INCASE THEY KINK UP GOING ON, GOT THESE FOR MY 126610 AND THEY WORKED GREAT, KINKED ONE GOING ON , SECOND ONE WENT ON PERFECT, BEZEL HAS BEEN GREAT AND HAS SMOOTH ROTATION, GOOD LUCK!

Can you resend the link. Doesn’t work anymore

 

[butler182]

Can you resend the link. Doesn’t work anymore

Link still works for me. May be a caching issue on your phone/computer. Try this: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804143422429.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US

 

[a5539925]

Link still works for me. May be a caching issue on your phone/computer. Try this: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804143422429.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa&_randl_shipto=US

Thanks. Aliexpress doesn‘t ship anymore to EU region this product

1 BEZEL GASKET FIT BETWEEN CASE 41MM ROLEX DATEJUST II 116139 218209 218239 | eBay

SAPPHIRE WATCH CRYSTAL FOR LADY ROLEX 76208 76094 76183 76188 176200 OYSTER N/D. Watches may share a visual resemblance, yet variations in case size or year model can distinguish them. Q: How do I check what case number and/or serial number I have on my Rolex or Tudor?.

www.ebay.com

would this wso 41mm datejust ring work as well?

 

[KJ2020]

Thanks. Aliexpress doesn‘t ship anymore to EU region this product

1 BEZEL GASKET FIT BETWEEN CASE 41MM ROLEX DATEJUST II 116139 218209 218239 | eBay

SAPPHIRE WATCH CRYSTAL FOR LADY ROLEX 76208 76094 76183 76188 176200 OYSTER N/D. Watches may share a visual resemblance, yet variations in case size or year model can distinguish them. Q: How do I check what case number and/or serial number I have on my Rolex or Tudor?.

www.ebay.com

would this wso 41mm datejust ring work as well?

That might be able to work - it can be cut if too short or a piece cut out if too long. A hytrel ring does not need to be continuous.

However in addition to a likely size issue it's not meant for a rotating bezel. It just sits beneath a fixed fluted or smooth bezel.

For less than half that price you can buy 500 yards of fishline that will work better than that gasket because of its uniform shape.

Robot or human?

 

[butler182]

Thanks. Aliexpress doesn‘t ship anymore to EU region this product

1 BEZEL GASKET FIT BETWEEN CASE 41MM ROLEX DATEJUST II 116139 218209 218239 | eBay

SAPPHIRE WATCH CRYSTAL FOR LADY ROLEX 76208 76094 76183 76188 176200 OYSTER N/D. Watches may share a visual resemblance, yet variations in case size or year model can distinguish them. Q: How do I check what case number and/or serial number I have on my Rolex or Tudor?.

www.ebay.com

would this wso 41mm datejust ring work as well?

I would keep searching for a 41mm gasket that is specifically designed for the 126610...or do what @KJ2020 suggested and buy some fishing line for 1/100 the cost.

 

[a5539925]

I have the correct gasket now. Bezel fits without clicksprings relatively well to the case (but not tight). With clicksprings I cannot get it on / it will fall off directly…

Anything I can do?
Or any EU rep watchmakers who are familiar to fix that issue?

 

[butler182]

I have the correct gasket now. Bezel fits without clicksprings relatively well to the case (but not tight). With clicksprings I cannot get it on / it will fall off directly…

Anything I can do?
Or any EU rep watchmakers who are familiar to fix that issue?

When you say clickspings, do you mean the "click and spring" and 3 "ball bearing & spring" shown in the diagram below?

 

[a5539925]

Yes, the 3 ball bearing springs and the 1 click spring

 

[butler182]

Yes, the 3 ball bearing springs and the 1 click spring

Not sure what is going on then. What happens if you try to press the bezel on without the click and spring (ie only with the 3 ball bearings and springs)?

 

[Kack 13L0CK3R]

Not sure what is going on then. What happens if you try to press the bezel on without the click and spring (ie only with the 3 ball bearings and springs)?

Then it'll be bi directional it goes both ways

 

[butler182]

Then it'll be bi directional it goes both ways

yes, exactly. I was just curious if the fit of the click (or lack thereof) is somehow causing the bezel to not seat properly. I doubt this is the issue, but you never know with these reps.

 

[Endo]

Thanks for this post, came across it late last year and did infact try the fishing line @KJ2020 suggested and it works great, very smooth too

 

[bangwang67]

Well here we go!
Originally was an VSF LN but changed bezel to Clean LV, thinking it was going to be simple pop and click now the bezel requires an great amount of effort to turn. Unable to fix this, I put the watch to the side and ordered a brand new VSF LV .
Stumbled across this thread and finally ordered some fishing line, only size I could find in the EU closest to .51mm was .50mm.
Hopefully this works or else watch goes back into the box or maybe just sell would definitely want to have 2 LV tho, one for daily and one for occasions. Will update!!

 

[Specter1000]

I just did the fishing line fix to a Noob V5 116610 I bought M2M that was a trainwreck. Bought for a friend, the 0.055" worked like a charm...so good I almost want to do it to my own Noob V5.

 

[bangwang67]

The .50mm was just a bit too thin but attempting this weekend with some electrical tape to line up the hytrel ring channel then fishing line.
Unfortunately in the EU (depending where you live) fishing isn't a huge thing and finding certain fishing line sizes are definitely hard, whereas in the US can just waltz into an Walmart and got options.

 

[Wookie]

I just saw this today on my watch and wanted to confirm my bezel is sitting high on both ends of the wathch.

IMG 0903

Image IMG 0903 hosted in ClickPix.org

clickpix.org

IMG 0904

Image IMG 0904 hosted in ClickPix.org

clickpix.org

IMG 0905

Image IMG 0905 hosted in ClickPix.org

clickpix.org

IMG 0906

Image IMG 0906 hosted in ClickPix.org

clickpix.org

 

[Hugg727]

The .50mm was just a bit too thin but attempting this weekend with some electrical tape to line up the hytrel ring channel then fishing line.
Unfortunately in the EU (depending where you live) fishing isn't a huge thing and finding certain fishing line sizes are definitely hard, whereas in the US can just waltz into an Walmart and got options.

I have seen a few threads where folks have made the fishing lline thicker by wrapping it with Dental Floss. This is what worked in my 116610 bezel, solid clicking action. Its 40lb test and its .573 mm

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QZNNM5J?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1&psc=1

 

[derjenigewelcher]

Or just buy a hytrel ring for the submariner you need:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804143422429.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

40mm, 41mm, all there

 

[PsychoTee16]

Or just buy a hytrel ring for the submariner you need:

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256804143422429.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2usa

40mm, 41mm, all there

Do these work well?
I’ve heard varying opinions as sometimes they are far too loose. They leave a lot of wobble on the bezel.

I know Oascom sells the 116610. Not sure of anyone that sells the 126610. I developed some for myself but don’t sell them.