Thank you as always for your detailed replies.
Is your current crystal a gen 295AR crystal or a clarks?
Also, will the WSO bezel assembly fit onto this case do you think? Not sure if you have experience with that part. I have had issues only once with one of their bezel assembles for a 5 digit sub, but it could have been the case I was working with.
The current crystal on my gen is a gen B25-295-CAR-C1. Though I personally prefer a Clark's with AR cyclops to the original no-AR gen crystal. At one point I actually considered putting one of those on my gen but stopped short because, well that really is blasphemy. I mean even someone who puts a glidelock on a gen 5 digit bracelet has some limits right? Haha. The thing that stopped me is a crystal swap is more permanent so I decided just to use a gen 6 digit crystal.
For this Ebay case build though, I would take a Clark's with AR over a gen non-AR in a heartbeat. I get it if you're a purist, no debate from me at all but for way less $ and much better looking appearance it's an easy choice for me.
Regarding the retaining ring, it would probably be best to try to find a gen B319-16800-C1. A used one should run around $150. Don't buy the one for 16750, those models have acrylic crystals with smaller outside diameter. Well, except the FG 16758, which in an interesting twist has the 29.5mm sapphire crystal.
WSO parts I'm sure are made in China so their quality varies by batch. I've sent more parts back to WSO than I've kept but in the absence of any better options I would certainly try one for this build. I did convert a BP 16570 to have a rotating bezel at a time when rep 16710s weren't readily available. The quality on that retaining ring was fine, but I also bought (and kept) 3 bezels for it. Every WSO bezel had to be tweaked a little to fit the WSO retaining ring. How's that for QC? The inside bottom perimeter had to be shaved back in various amounts for the bezels to snap home and rotate. Once that was done, there were no more issues. So it's possible I could have just shaved the retaining ring but by then it was already epoxied to the case.
Which brings up the next point. Because the 16570 doesn't use a retaining ring, the WSO one didn't fit perfectly and I had to epoxy it to the case. Then I pressed the crystal gasket into the space between the retaining ring and the outer rehaut, then pressed the crystal into the gasket. Pretty bass-ackwards but it worked.
The bezels now all work fine and I have inserts glued in them so I can quick change the bezel without hassling with or damaging the inserts. The main saving grace to WSO bezel parts is they are gen spec. I still have the 16570 and it is actually still a fave, I spent enough time working on it.
If you look closely at the two bezels below, the one with black insert is slightly different so even within the same order sometimes the WSO parts aren't consistent. But sometimes they are OK too.
This combo is still a top ten fave - this WSO bezel is nice (and gen-spec)
BTW ST doesn't carry the retaining ring. IDK why but I keep checking and no deal.
