Tudor Heritage BlackBay and the Triplock crown

[Blackdog]

Originally Posted by Swearengen

Just wondering if temptation has got the better of you yet?
I am curious to see how it would look with a Rolex Triplock Crown in place.

No. Opening the back and removing the stem to have a look was rather non-invasive and I felt comfortable I could do it without breaking anything.

Now unmounting the tube is a bit more involved than I'm prepared to go with an expensive piece like this. I'm not a watchmaker/technician, just an amateur. I don't have access to genuine parts. Common sense tells me I better leave it well alone.

I do not have a Rolex tube to test anyway, so I'll stop the investigations here.

Now, if I ever have problems with corrosion on the cosmetic tube ring again I will consider getting the crown/tube replaced with a standard Triplock by a properly qualified (independent) watchmaker.

[sheldonsmith]

Originally Posted by Blackdog

People have asked before if the new Blackbay and Pelagos do have a Triplock crown.



The external o-ring gasket on the tube of the Pelagos is visible when thr crown is unscrewed, and I believe it has been confirmed that the design of the Pelagos crown and tube is the same as the modern 703/7030 Rolex Triplock. Like this (these drawings have been posted in this forum before, I borrowed them from an old post):





It was sort of assumed so far that the Blackbay would have a twin-lock type of crown/tube.



I have a Blackbay and was curious too, so I decided to pop the hood open and take a look.





I unlocked the stem and found that, apart from the obvious cosmetic differences of the crown and the aluminum cosmetic ring, the design of the crown and tube is that of the early Triplock that was orginally fitted to the early 5513/1680s. The design is just like the 702/7020 So to the question: Does the Blackbay sport a Triplock crown ? IMO the answer is yes, one like the early 702/7020 Triplock crowns in fact.

So, if the BB tube design crown is similar to the older Triplock crowns, how are the newer Triplock/Twinlock crowns different. I thought Twinlock/Triplock were essentially the same design over the years.

Just curious what the difference is between older Triplock and newer Triplock.

Thanks,

-Sheldon

[multimedia]

Yes, thank you very much for sharing this with the forum. Much appreciated! Very interesting read.

Cheers,
Joe

[Blackdog]

Originally Posted by sheldonsmith

So, if the BB tube design crown is similar to the older Triplock crowns, how are the newer Triplock/Twinlock crowns different. I thought Twinlock/Triplock were essentially the same design over the years.

Just curious what the difference is between older Triplock and newer Triplock.

Thanks,

-Sheldon

Both Triplock designs work in the same way regarding the water ingress protection through the stem/tube: 2 stacked o-rings inside the tube and one additional o-ring inside the crown. There's a lip on the top edge of the tube that bottoms against the inside of the crown when completely screwed down. The o-ring inside the crown sits in a recess and it's only compressed up to a pre-designed point.

On the 7020/702 Triplock the threads are on the bottom part of the tube (outer-most part of the crown). There's no visible o-ring when the crown is unscrewed.


On the 7030/703 Triplock, the thread is on the top part of the tube (inner-most part of the crown). And there's an additional (fourth) o-ring that is visible when the crown is unscrewed. This o-ring actually protects the threads of the crown/tube against water, dust, sand, etc.


The Twinlock is a simpler design. It has just one o-ring inside the tube and a flat gasket inside the crown, which is compressed against the top of the tube until the crown bottoms against the case.


The very early Subs: big-crowns, and 5512/5513s used an oversized version of the Twinlock. I believe that with the introduction of the Sea Dweller the 7020 Triplock was introduced, and later on the current version that is the 7030. Hope this clarifies the issue further...

[1William]

Thank you for a very informative post. I learned a lot.

[sheldonsmith]

Yes, very cool. Thank you. This is the kind of post that makes TRF a must visit for anyone interested and appreciates Rolex.

[RHJ]

Thanks for this interesting post!