DRSD - Restored back to Fat Font Bezal Insert

[Robbyvm]

Great look, worth every penny !

[linesiders]

Originally Posted by morafa4

Interesting. News to me; my understanding was that the vast majority of crystal replacements occurred by removing the bezel/ring, spring, crystal retention ring, working the crystal out and pressing a new one into it's place. Anything more (removing movement, etc), I assumed was capitalizing on installing the crystal during a full service.

I ask because I'm curious about this possible fragility, as I have a 1665 I'm contemplating swapping the crystal out of. Last thing I'd want is chips around the circumference of the dial.

Yes, crystal can be changed by removing the bezel and retaining ring but my understanding is that if you want to Pressure Test the watch with water (not vacuum) you need to go through extra steps. For a proper test - my understanding - they you want to remove the movement and dial from the watch, service the seals and bits on the case, and then fully pressure test. If passing, then reassemble and test again.

In the event of swapping out the crystal from on top there are times things go wrong and accidentally crushing a crystal in that replacement can damage a dial and hands. So removing the dial and movement as part of a full service and pressure test is really the best overall method.

I am not a watchmaker. So this is just my understanding of a proper pressure test using water and replacing crystals.

[wallasey runner]

The watchmaker who sorted out the bezal insert and fitted the tritium pearl thought removing the movement was the way to go if you change the glass.

My big issue is that most T39 superdomes for sale are not genuine Rolex pieces.

I have looked on sites like chrono-shop.net who always seem to have a stock, but worryingly on their front page they say that amongst other places they source some of their parts from e-bay. A check through previous threads on this site does not put this supplier in a strong light.

It would be easy to buy after market parts for a few pounds and list them as genuine Rolex and ask €400.00 euros a time.

This is not a sneaky WTB by me, but is there anyone out there who sells these type of spares that can be totally trusted, because unless i can find a 100% genuine T39 superdome, it just isn't worth considering removing the movement with the risk of damage to the dial.

Thanks all for the kind comments - much appreciated.