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Bezel replacement or refurbishment.

Cbretonlaw
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Cbretonlaw New Member

Cbretonlaw

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Where do you guys find generic replacement fluted bezels other than the occasional Chinese eBay seller? I'm restoring the case on an old Rado Voyager (the don't make official Rado parts for it anymore) and the chrome has flaked off the bezel in spots. I supposed I could strip it and have my chrome guy throw it in with the small parts during his next run but I would rather just buy one and save the effort. Strangely no one seems to sell them. What am I missing?

 

 

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Cbretonlaw New Member

Cbretonlaw

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Bezels are really hard to find for me. Tried sourcing some for a couple of modern and vintage watches and I couldn't even find anything in China/Russia.

Huh. Wow. Sounds like a market opportunity for someone. I managed to find one in stainless with the correct inside diameter on the bay though the OD and H are off a bit. But I really want a gold bezel if I can get it so I can swap the look around a bit. And I have a ton of other watches that could really use refreshed bezels. So any other ideas would help.

 

Btw here is the watch I am talking about. I haven't put the gold dial and crown on yet but I put the two tone band on to check the fit. You can see the base metal showing through the bezel if you look closely.

 

 

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Chopin Super WRT Addict

Chopin

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Really lovely Rolex style watch. Hope you get it sorted out. And yes, I agree with you, this is indeed a business opportunity but I'm not sure whether anyone is ready to invest as I don't know how expensive the machinery to produce such parts is nor how complex it is...

I've seen other swiss watches (from obscure brands) sport the oyster style bezel but I'm not sure whether some of them might fit...

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Cbretonlaw New Member

Cbretonlaw

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Really lovely Rolex style watch. Hope you get it sorted out. And yes, I agree with you, this is indeed a business opportunity but I'm not sure whether anyone is ready to invest as I don't know how expensive the machinery to produce such parts is nor how complex it is...
I've seen other swiss watches (from obscure brands) sport the oyster style bezel but I'm not sure whether some of them might fit...

That's the problem now isn't it? I can find plenty of Rolex knock off bezels but "This bezel still fit Rolex #12345" doesn't help me since the dimensions of the Rolex aren't readily available... I could buy old citizens with nice bezels all day long for $20 but I can't find the bezel and internal case dimensions elsewhere either. Definitely a hole in the parts market. Thanks for trying. [emoji106]


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Chopin Super WRT Addict

Chopin

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I know what you mean as I had such plans as well. It would be pretty much a trial and error type of thing. You could try and buy cheap watches with a similar bezel but who knows whether you'll even find one that matches...

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Cbretonlaw New Member

Cbretonlaw

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I know what you mean as I had such plans as well. It would be pretty much a trial and error type of thing. You could try and buy cheap watches with a similar bezel but who knows whether you'll even find one that matches...


Apparently the EBay bezels don't even match. I ordered one from China with in ID of 30.7mm and when it arrived it had an ID of 30.5mm. Guess I am going to have to strip and chrome it. [emoji35] So much work! Let's hope I don't bend it.


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clockboy Distinguished Member

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Unfortunately fitting a bezel that is not a genuine Rolex will dramatically devalue the watch. Any keen Rolex collector or jeweller will spot the difference as the copies do not fit correctly.  Much the same as fitting generic crystals, the genuine Rolex crystals have a laser engraved Rolex crown at 6 o,clock that can only be seen with a Led light & loupe. Rolex will not service any Rolex if it finds a part that is not genuine without re-fitting the watch with the correct part. Annoying I know but this is how Rolex protects its product.

See link for the genuine Rolex authenticities

http://www.fourtane.com/fourtane-blog/rolex-authenticity-features

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Cbretonlaw New Member

Cbretonlaw

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Unfortunately fitting a bezel that is not a genuine Rolex will dramatically devalue the watch. Any keen Rolex collector or jeweller will spot the difference as the copies do not fit correctly.  Much the same as fitting generic crystals, the genuine Rolex crystals have a laser engraved Rolex crown at 6 o,clock that can only be seen with a Led light & loupe. Rolex will not service any Rolex if it finds a part that is not genuine without re-fitting the watch with the correct part. Annoying I know but this is how Rolex protects its product.
See link for the genuine Rolex authenticities
http://www.fourtane.com/fourtane-blog/rolex-authenticity-features

Thanks for the info Clockboy but I don't think you read the thread thoroughly. I'm fixing a number of older Swiss watches that are NOT Rolex starting with the Rado Voyager pictured above. The parts are no longer available from the official manufacturer. I have to use generic parts but can't find the correct size. But thanks for the info anyways.


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