No, the bezel has not come off, quite the opposite, it holds it very well. Just the downside is that the bezel is stiffer to turn.
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How to Repair VSF 126610 Submariner Bezel / Hytrel Ring - Long Term!
- Thread starter butler182
- Start date
Ah gotcha. Have you turned the bezel on a gen? It is (much) stiffer than VSF. In my VSF, I sometimes turn the bezel by mistake while screwing the crown back in! Haha.
If you have turned the bezel on a gen, how does the VSF compare now? The gen has nice and solid clicks with a stiff turn that feels amazing.
Not in every case.
I just did a practically all Gen build. Retaining ring, xtal, bezel, hytrel, click, and insert. It is only slightly stiffer than VSF.
Ah okay. I've only checked the bezel action of two subs at an AD. Both were stiffer than my VSF. One was the LN, the other a Bluesy. I assumed all Subs were like that. My bad. My VSF feels very loose in comparison. Click isn't too bad though.
No, I have not had a gen watch I compare the bezel action to. Maybe it is more gen like feeling now? Once you have fitted one then you can let us know how it compares.
The bezel is a little tight on the watch, it shows a bit more than usual resistance while turning it. Consequently its click is a bit more deep than other bezels I could compare with.
I did not have to force the line into the groove. Its installation into the groove was easy and the line did set and stay into its place without problems while pressing the bezel.
- 12/3/18
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Sounds like the line could be thinned a bit to make the bezel not as tight. It can simply be pulled through a folded piece of 400 grit sandpaper a few times to thin it. It's a hit or miss operation, might take a few tries but worth the effort. Add a thin coat of silicone grease to the line before reseating the bezel.
I just got my hyrtel ring today (ordered from the link you (or was it someone else?) posted above). Been reading up on how to remove the bezel (I've done it on other watches but those didn't have a ceramic insert). Let me see if I can find a watchsmith locally to do it. If not, I'll send it to one of the watchsmiths I've used and see how it goes. Also got a click spring set (again from AE that someone posted in another thread). Hoping that will also improve the feel and reduce backplay.
I finally mustered up the courage to install the replacement hyrtel ring from AE.
Removing the bezel was (significantly) easier than on a Tissot I tried a while ago. The original hyrtel ring was in perfect condition. My only issue with the watch was the loose bezel (I sometimes turn the bezel by mistake while screwing the crown back in! That's how loose it was).
Surprisingly, the original VSF HR felt and looked thicker than the replacement I got from AE (link posted by a @nofitstate a few posts above). I decided to install the HR anyway (I thought bezel action would be looser than it was now because the new HR felt thinner). I'm so glad I did. The bezel action is tighter than the original. No more turning the bezel unless you actually want it to. I've saved the original bezel in case this one ever fails and I need to go back to that. I totally forgot to install the new click springs I bought. I guess I'll save that for another day when I have nothing else to do.
PS - My hands were shaking because I had no tools to reinstall the bezel and was almost 100% sure I'd break the ceramic insert. I had made up my mind to spend a couple hundred for a replacement bezel in case that happens. Surprisingly, it went back on very easily and I tried turning it many times and using my fingernails to pry and try and remove the bezel and it won't budge. I'm guessing it won't pop off unexpectedly.
Removing the bezel was (significantly) easier than on a Tissot I tried a while ago. The original hyrtel ring was in perfect condition. My only issue with the watch was the loose bezel (I sometimes turn the bezel by mistake while screwing the crown back in! That's how loose it was).
Surprisingly, the original VSF HR felt and looked thicker than the replacement I got from AE (link posted by a @nofitstate a few posts above). I decided to install the HR anyway (I thought bezel action would be looser than it was now because the new HR felt thinner). I'm so glad I did. The bezel action is tighter than the original. No more turning the bezel unless you actually want it to. I've saved the original bezel in case this one ever fails and I need to go back to that. I totally forgot to install the new click springs I bought. I guess I'll save that for another day when I have nothing else to do.
PS - My hands were shaking because I had no tools to reinstall the bezel and was almost 100% sure I'd break the ceramic insert. I had made up my mind to spend a couple hundred for a replacement bezel in case that happens. Surprisingly, it went back on very easily and I tried turning it many times and using my fingernails to pry and try and remove the bezel and it won't budge. I'm guessing it won't pop off unexpectedly.
Lovely seeing everyone's success stories on here... sadly not for me and my VSF 126610LN. ordered .5 an .6mm fishing line and tried to make it work. the .6mm line fits perfectly into the groove in the bezel, but when I go to press the bezel back on, it's like there's not Hyrtel ring at all, literally zero resistance. I've ordered a replacement ring from some random online store, although that probably won't be here for another month. In the meantime i've ordered .7 and .8mm line, hopefully those will fit or at least I can sand them down a bit if they're too big. Not sure if I have a manufacturing defect watch that would require a much larger size ring or what. For what it's worth my bezel never felt like it had a "strong" click, it was always underwhelming. I recently got a 126610LV from VSF and the bezel on that one is absolutely incredible. not sure if there's a way to make the old watch's bezel sound and feel like that without replacing the ball&springs and the click&spring as well as the Hyrtel ring.
- 14/12/20
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I had a similar issue come up when I was replacing the ceramic bezel on one of my VS126610. I accidentally put the bezel insert ring in upside down. This is the little metal tray that the ceramic bezel sits on (see diagram below for reference). There is a little groove on the inner perimeter of the bezel insert ring, and if placed with the groove facing down, it will create too large a gap for the hytrel ring to be effective. If you flip it so the groove is facing up, I suspect it may help your situation...it did for me anyway. Good luck!
Thanks for the suggestion! unfortunately, I popped the bezel off for cleaning, tried to get it back on, and it never went back on properly, and I crushed the VSF Hytrel ring in the process of trying again, hence looking for replacements. Since I never took the whole bezel assembly (bezel insert/vezel insert ring/bezel) apart, I don't think this is my issue. I'll wait until the larger diameter fishing line arrives, hopefully tomorrow, and if that fails then i'll have to look into what's really happening here.I had a similar issue come up when I was replacing the ceramic bezel on one of my VS126610. I accidentally put the bezel insert ring in upside down. This is the little metal tray that the ceramic bezel sits on (see diagram below for reference). There is a little groove on the inner perimeter of the bezel insert ring, and if placed with the groove facing down, it will create too large a gap for the hytrel ring to be effective. If you flip it so the groove is facing up, I suspect it may help your situation...it did for me anyway. Good luck!
UPDATE! I finally received a replacement Hytrel ring from an online store, and went to install it, and promptly crushed it, messing it up. So I went back and ordered .8 and .9 mm "fishing" line from Amazon. the .8 all the way around was way too large, but I used .7 about 3/4 of the way around the inside of the bezel and .8 in the remaining 1/4. I was able to firmly snap the bezel into place and it spins as well as it used to, and seems to be stuck on there fairly well, although I think if I really pry on it with my fingers I can probably lift the bezel off. This will do for now, I may attempt to add in a bit more of the .8mm line to tighten things up a little bit, but who knows. Not sure why my particular bezel needed such a large diameter wire compared to the other ones on here, but then again the bezel on this particular watch has always felt off to me so maybe that's just a manufacturing tolerance.
Hi Guys, so on mine, the click and springs have become rusted… I’m guessing I will need to replace them before trying anything with fishing wire?I had a similar issue come up when I was replacing the ceramic bezel on one of my VS126610. I accidentally put the bezel insert ring in upside down. This is the little metal tray that the ceramic bezel sits on (see diagram below for reference). There is a little groove on the inner perimeter of the bezel insert ring, and if placed with the groove facing down, it will create too large a gap for the hytrel ring to be effective. If you flip it so the groove is facing up, I suspect it may help your situation...it did for me anyway. Good luck!
yea if I were you i'd go ahead and do your best to clean the holes for the springs and such, I used an old toothbrush and a tiny bit of WD-40 to clean mine. I also put a tiny, tiny amount of silicone grease at the bottom of the holes to hopefully stop things from rusting in the future, since I noticed a little bit of rust on mine (not unexpected, i've exposed my watch to a lot of water). if the springs are really rusted I would just order a new set of the click springs, I think they're pretty easy to find and cheap. I might even do this myself since my bezel has always had a very soft and quiet click instead of the sharp one it's supposed to have, and I think my click springs might be to blame.Hi Guys, so on mine, the click and springs have become rusted… I’m guessing I will need to replace them before trying anything with fishing wire?
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You could probably get away with a simple cleaning as @Kecho0 suggests. If you decide to replace the click and springs, there are a bunch of sellers on Aliexpress. I would avoid any that have a free loose ball that sits on top of the spring as the ball will be easily lost if you're not careful when removing/working on the bezel. This set looked decent and is only $12: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256....0.0.602b38daqUOcPp&mp=1&gatewayAdapt=glo2usaHi Guys, so on mine, the click and springs have become rusted… I’m guessing I will need to replace them before trying anything with fishing wire?
thanks for the advice - will definitely give it a clean and then try the fishing wire trick. Separate question - what is the role of the springs?!
- 9/11/23
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You guys have the patience of Job. I fiddled with my Starbucks 126610 for hours ruining 3 hytrel rings and losing 2 of the nice vsf ball bearing springs in the process. I promptly went back to aliexpress and dropped another stack of cheese for a couple HR and 6 of the nice ball bearing springs that are attached to each other. Thinking that I’ve had better luck with slot machines I packed up everything in defeat to wait on the slow boat from China to bring some more soon to be junk when something occurred to me. I’m not very good at this watch repair. 
After packing everything up I reached out to my trusted watchsmith and figured I might as well get a Deep Crystal installed too. He told me he had time so off it went. It should be back soon in better than new condition thanks to Mike @watchservicesny as he can get gen parts and does excellent work. No more of the cheap aftermarket stuff from aliexpress or problems with my bezel.
My hat’s off to you guys and I’ve got much respect for what you guys have accomplished. Here’s to you, bezel fishing line repair guys
After packing everything up I reached out to my trusted watchsmith and figured I might as well get a Deep Crystal installed too. He told me he had time so off it went. It should be back soon in better than new condition thanks to Mike @watchservicesny as he can get gen parts and does excellent work. No more of the cheap aftermarket stuff from aliexpress or problems with my bezel. My hat’s off to you guys and I’ve got much respect for what you guys have accomplished. Here’s to you, bezel fishing line repair guys
There's three springs with little metal balls welded to them, and one spring with a little cap on it, and the tip of the cap has a beveled piece of metal sticking out. the beveled piece of metal interfaces with the underside of the bezel, and provides the actual "click", this is essentially the same mechanism as a ratchet. the other three springs are so that the bezel has something to rest on and sits at a uniform height around the watch, and provides even tension for the ratchet mechanism. It probably would sorta work without the other three springs and ball bearings is my guess but the feel would be horrible/sloppy. That is my understanding anyways, but i'm not a watchsmith, so i'm open to corrections
not a bad solution, honestly. i'm actually not sure why but using a replacement Hytrel ring was seemingly more difficult to get right than the fishing wire. I'm annoyed that i spent like 20 dollars and waited 3 weeks for the damn thing to show up from china and then immediately wrecked it. if I could find a source of replacement rings that was cheaper and could get to me in under two weeks, i'd be tempted to buy a bunch just to try and get this thing replaced with the real deal, but that doesn't seem to be the case, so fishing line will have to do for nowYou guys have the patience of Job. I fiddled with my Starbucks 126610 for hours ruining 3 hytrel rings and losing 2 of the nice vsf ball bearing springs in the process. I promptly went back to aliexpress and dropped another stack of cheese for a couple HR and 6 of the nice ball bearing springs that are attached to each other. Thinking that I’ve had better luck with slot machines I packed up everything in defeat to wait on the slow boat from China to bring some more soon to be junk when something occurred to me. I’m not very good at this watch repair.
My hat’s off to you guys and I’ve got much respect for what you guys have accomplished. Here’s to you, bezel fishing line repair guys