SQUALE OCEAN DIVER GLASS

[Andyworks]

SQAULE OCEAN DIVER WATCH

 

Hi everyone. I am in the process of looking for spares for a SQUALE watch. I was at work and a colleague heard I did watches as a hobby and pulled this watch out of his drawer and brought it in. I have never heard of the brand but after some research I have found out more about te brand. Very cool indeed.

 

I need to repair/ polish or replace the glass and relume the hands and service and replace the battery and strap on the watch. I have not yet opened the retainer that holds the glass in but after removing the bezel I was wondering if this is a domed glass with a tapered edge held in place with a tapered retention screw ring or is it indeed a specialised bit of glass that has a flat lip on the bottom that this retention ring sits on to seal it against a rubber seal. I assume it would be the latter given that the watch is rated to a 100 atmospheres.

 

Has anyone worked on these watches or replaced one of these watch glasses before? Any pictures? If it is a specialised form I can see me spending many an hour polishing out the scratches.

 

Many thanks in advance.

 

Andy

[Andyworks]

[Andyworks]

Hi

 

Forgot to say the only reason I've not removed the threaded ring is I have not currently got a small enough opener to remove it so will order one if it is replaceable.

 

Andy

[rogart63]

Never replaced a Squale crystal but i have seen a few. They have a special form so you need to find the right one. Squale is a good company so you could check with them. Maybe the crystal on the newer model is working. http://www.squale.ch/squale/

 

If i remember right the crystal is a little like the Seiko 7c43 but thicker. 

[jdm]

I suggest that you polish the crystal without removing it. Not only that makes your life easier, it avoids to potentially replace the gasket, and allows to grab it much more securely.

[rogart63]

That would take hours to sand down and take all those scratches of. I would replace. And it's domed which makes it much more difficult. 

[jdm]

 

That would take hours to sand down and take all those scratches of. I would replace. And it's domed which makes it much more difficult. 

With scratches like that it takes me 15-20 mins the most to perfectly restore a crystal. 10 mins with paper discs on a rotary tools, and 10 more mins finishing with diamond paste on a felt wheel. Including tools changes, washing, etc.

[szbalogh]

I would give a re-polish a go. But with gasket replacement. If all fails one can still search for a new crystal. 

[digginstony]

You've got nothing to loose by trying to give it a polish, if you have something like a dremel, as jdm suggested. Otherwise you might wish to take the route of replacing the crystal.

Sent from my SM-T585 using Tapatalk

[anilv]

If you're going to polish.. cool the part down frequently.

Don't depend on the touch test but dunk the thing in water for approx 30 seconds.. a minute is better, when it starts to get hot.

Heat builds up and takes time to dissipate. If you don't keep it cool it will break.

The crystal is what makes these watches special and if you don't get the thick one the watch will be so much lesser for it.

Anilv

[jdm]

 

If you're going to polish.. cool the part down frequently.
Don't depend on the touch test but dunk the thing in water for approx 30 seconds.. a minute is better, when it starts to get hot.
Heat builds up and takes time to dissipate. If you don't keep it cool it will break.

If during polishing a crystal gets so hot as described above, then something is very wrong with the abrasive, speed, pressure applied, or a combination of  these.

Starting with 380 / 600 grit wet paper on a 5 cm wheel, it's actually almost impossible to significantly heat up a crystal, considering the frequent dips in water needed for the abrasive to work the best. Then with diamond paste polishing no water is used, still the friction is small and will produce not much heat really.

For these reasons it is pretty safe to polish a crystal with the nylon gasket still in. As opposed to case buffing or polishing, where if you go hard and fast the gasket will burn.

[Andyworks]

A few pictures of the Squale restoration. Thank you to everyone that replied and gave invaluable advice. Unfortunately the coil is knackered so watch doesn't run so have started another post on this forum to try and resolve this. Glass or plastic came up a treat. Had issues as the old battery was left in the watch for eight years and it leaked acid all over so corroded a number of bits and bobs but managed to source replacement parts for this. Didn't check the electronic circuit as I was assured it was running when it was put away by the owner. Shame on me.

Andy