Replacing SMP bezel, what a pita!

[Mr. Pap]

I do remember reading this little bastard was hard to get off.

After 10 minutes of trying i give up! The stupid thing wont off... It took me 10 seconds to remove the planet ocean one but at this one the gap between the case and the bezel is really small.:angry:

Oh btw, i am using a knife and i don't want to put more pressure there cause i have the feeling it will just slip and damage the case. No good...

Any tips/advises on this one? Will a bezel remover do the job? Are the blades that thin?:wyliehelp:

 

[R2D4]

Hello Mr. Pappy. :wave: They are a PAin in the Dairy Air for sure. Even the 450.00 Bergeon has met it's match with this one. Some come off easier than others. The trick I have found that helps (notice how I said helps and not solves) is to have the insert off and try and find the gap of the spring and put that in spot to lift on. I take a piece of steel in place of the end piece (use spring bar) and use that to pry on. It can bend easily. You can straighten it with 2 pieces of plywood and a vice, squeeze, turn, squeeze turn... (sounds pornographic) Repeat, lather...

 

[Mr. Pap]

Hm, ok i will remove the crystal and proceed, but tomorrow, i am kind of pissed of now :hehehe:

 

[R2D4]

Hm, ok i will remove the crystal and proceed, but tomorrow, i am kind of pissed of now :hehehe:

Yeah step away... lol

 

[jcagara08]

what I do?

I place a cotton shirt in between the case and the bezel and use the ordinary yellow caseback remover and pry that sucker away but in a calm and strong way, yes it will be very scary because you might damage the case and scratch the bezel but in the end its all worth it

 

[Mr. Pap]

Well i could wait i got back in action, removed crystal insert but no gap there...

So, i found a thinner knife, i wrapped the lugs nice, i stabbed the case, sorry i mean i pushed the blade deep down and under the bezel until i hit the case...! WTF!!!

Worked around a little bit and bezel got off but we had a casualty, rep click spring is down, lets hope the gen one will do the job cause they don't look even close...

 

[R2D4]

I've done a few, let me know if I can help.
Sent from my Galaxy S3 via Tapatalk 2

 

[idontknow]

R2 is 'da man when it comes to this.

 

[angkikee]

Hi PAP,
Unfortunately for me this thread you started was literally just a day too late. Nothing was really wrong with my SMP Chrono but the bezel was a little too easy to turn and I had the brilliant idea of deciding to try to lift the bezel spring a little to make it slightly stiffer.
OK so what I did was I took a knife, taped up the lugs and tried and exactly as you said it's a total PITA to remove the bezel on this one and after much trying I did get it off, however I completely bent the knife (luckily it was a cheap one) and the little angular spring (the retaining spring clip was also bent. Worse, despite having rather thick tape in place I managed to scratch up the bezel and a bit of the case. Bezel nicks were more obvious. I straightened it a little bit to make it flatter and after tweaking the bezel click spring I tried to put everything back together.
The key word here is TRIED. Because after pressing it with my already sore hands I then wrapped the watch in cloth and worked the bezel on with a pair of pliers (gently) and no good. It wouldn’t go on. It would appear to be 95% in place except for one small part and I ended up removing the bezel 2-3 times to study how and why it wasn’t going on.
Then the horror began. I put the bezel on the table and it was rocking slightly. WTF. It was bent like a potato chip. It’s ever-so-slight but it is bent. Damn my itchy fingers. LOL. What I first thought was going to be a cheap shopping list for a gen bezel click spring and retaining spring has now turned into a gen bezel set with retaining spring and all.
Um.. guys… is this how frankens really start off? Come on now.. you know you’ve been here in my position.. fess up! LOL
OK so when the funds permit I will be ordering a new gen bezel and maybe I’ll post pics.
Cheers
K

 

[idontknow]

So I have a rep bezel/spring floating around since my SMP had a gen installed on it-

http://forum.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/my-hundred-dolla-139137?t=139137

Let me know if you can use it (PM me). I will have to find the box I put it in, but will send it to you if you want to get your watch wearable again.

IDK

 

[Mr. Pap]

I've done a few, let me know if I can help.
Sent from my Galaxy S3 via Tapatalk 2

A few???: If things get worst i am sure you will hear from me...

Hi PAP,
Unfortunately for me this thread you started was literally just a day too late. Nothing was really wrong with my SMP Chrono but the bezel was a little too easy to turn and I had the brilliant idea of deciding to try to lift the bezel spring a little to make it slightly stiffer.
OK so what I did was I took a knife, taped up the lugs and tried and exactly as you said it's a total PITA to remove the bezel on this one and after much trying I did get it off, however I completely bent the knife (luckily it was a cheap one) and the little angular spring (the retaining spring clip was also bent. Worse, despite having rather thick tape in place I managed to scratch up the bezel and a bit of the case. Bezel nicks were more obvious. I straightened it a little bit to make it flatter and after tweaking the bezel click spring I tried to put everything back together.
The key word here is TRIED. Because after pressing it with my already sore hands I then wrapped the watch in cloth and worked the bezel on with a pair of pliers (gently) and no good. It wouldn’t go on. It would appear to be 95% in place except for one small part and I ended up removing the bezel 2-3 times to study how and why it wasn’t going on.
Then the horror began. I put the bezel on the table and it was rocking slightly. WTF. It was bent like a potato chip. It’s ever-so-slight but it is bent. Damn my itchy fingers. LOL. What I first thought was going to be a cheap shopping list for a gen bezel click spring and retaining spring has now turned into a gen bezel set with retaining spring and all.
Um.. guys… is this how frankens really start off? Come on now.. you know you’ve been here in my position.. fess up! LOL
OK so when the funds permit I will be ordering a new gen bezel and maybe I’ll post pics.
Cheers
K

Yes, same story here, at least i was lucky enough not to bent the bezel or to scratch the case.. That would have killed me!:facepalm:

So I have a rep bezel/spring floating around since my SMP had a gen installed on it-

http://forum.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/my-hundred-dolla-139137?t=139137

Let me know if you can use it (PM me). I will have to find the box I put it in, but will send it to you if you want to get your watch wearable again.

IDK

Many thanks my friend, if the gen bezel installation fail i will contact you at once.

BTW, here is a pic of the outcome. Look at that dirt there!

This is the first time i am attempting building a franken on my own and i am more than excited!!!!

 

[drbollocko]

Nice work Pap, R2 gives good advice. I wrecked the bezel on one no too long ago, yes they are a bstard, and I was trying to be gentle. It was exactly the same as yours I think so good job in getting it off without too much damage.

 

[R2D4]

Ang, that is exactly how this starts. Yours is a chronograph correct? That already uses the gen style three prong ring I believe right? So IDK's offer won't work. When I get into the office I will look up your spring and I might have an extra bezel too.

Sent from my Galaxy S3 via Tapatalk 2

 

[Mr. Pap]

Ang, that is exactly how this starts. Yours is a chronograph correct? That already uses the gen style three prong ring I believe right? So IDK's offer won't work. When I get into the office I will look up your spring and I might have an extra bezel too.

Sent from my Galaxy S3 via Tapatalk 2

Yes, the back of the gen bezel back is totally diffident. The click spring is as you say the one with three prong, like this one on the right.

I have one but its slightly worn and that prong on the top wont fit the whole on the case. Its seems a little bigger but its kind of misaligned so that may explains it.

The last thing i noticed is that the gen crystal gasket, i had laying around, wont fit the case. Its bigger in diameter than the rep one. I hope i wont have problems fitting the gen crystal :thinking:

 

[angkikee]

Thank you for the very kind offer IDK. Pap has very kindly made a very sweet offer that would require a bit of patience on my side till his project is done, and I am happy to wait a while.

This forum totally rocks!

 

[angkikee]

R2, mine has the two prong spring like the one above on the left in Pap's post
. Gen has three so I'm not sure if I will need a full set of the gen bezel parts. Will they even fit? I'll try to get some pics to show the sorry state of my beloved smp chrono, and yep, it is a chrono. I do wish they still made the smp with the nice case that had the more accurate CG.

 

[angkikee]

Gen Bezel for my SMP Chrono Diver!

OK everyone.. I couldn't bear to see my SMP Chrono diver sitting in the drawer any longer so I bit the bullet and got myself the gen bezel from CousinsUK. Thing is I bought the bezel click spring and the retaining spring too.. and then realised when they arrived that the bezel is already a complete set. Now I have a spare click spring and retaining spring.. and I have the older rep bezel but it’s a little bent as I mentioned earlier.

Enough talking.. the bezel went on real nice without any effort at all.. but it was a little loose. So a tip for anyone putting the gen bezel on the SMP chrono diver.. bend the click spring tabs up a little to tighten it BEFORE putting the bezel on the case.

Other than that…. I’m really happy it’s in one piece again and now it looks that much more gen-like!

 

[Mr. Pap]

Nice shots angkikee!!! Well the watch helps a lot :lol:

 

[angkikee]

Thanks Pap! Yes the watch helps.. I'm really loving it all over again..

 

[R2D4]

Looks great! My advice on the loose bezel is to use a slightly larger retaining ring wire. That should take some of the play out and push it lower on the spring.

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