Tudor Black Bay bezel question

[sstakoff]

(also posted on AWCI forum)…

Hi all. A friend recently bought a Tudor Black Bay ref 79220. He came to me last night with a problem. The rotating bezel had fallen off. Looking at the watch, I believe the issue is the nylon bezel retainer – it appears worn. I’m pretty confident I can find a generic replacement for that. What I’m not sure about is the springs that were also present. There are 4 holes in the watch case under the bezel at approx 1, 5, 7 and 11 o’clock. The one at 1 o’clock contains a compression spring with the ratchet click unit on top. The 5 and 7 o’clock holes simply contain a compression spring (one of which is damaged) and the 11 o’clock was empty – assuming the spring fell out.

What I’m not certain about was whether or not these other springs (5,7,11) are supposed to have any other part on top of the spring. It seems strange to just have the compression spring as I can see them getting mangled when rotating the bezel. I’m wondering if there were additional “covers” or something else that may have gotten lost when the bezel fell out.

I can post pics later, but was hoping this would resonate with someone from my description.

Appreciate your advice!!!

Stu

[sstakoff]

Here are some pics. You can see that the holes are actually at 2,5,8 and 11 o’clock. The hole at 2 o’clock is larger – and this is the hole that contained a spring with the ratchet/click device fitted over the spring. The second pic shows the 3 springs and the click device.

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by Tamas Richard.

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Stu,
Check out this link to see if it applies to your watch.
http://forums.watchuseek.com/f23/black-bay-bezel-change-1160274-3.html
Hope this helps but not sure. Let us know what you come up with.

Bob

[Bob Tascione]

Stu, sorry,
After looking again I see that this is the wrong one. The link I sent you to has the ball bearing 120 degrees apart. I think on yours there is a thin metal ring that fits over the springs and no ball bearings but not at all sure about that. It’s been a long time since I’ve messed with one of these. I’ll try to find a pic of your setup and will post it up here.

Bob

[sstakoff]

Thanks Bob – appreciate anything you come up with.

Stu

[sstakoff]

Solved! – There are some excellent pics and a rolex case tech spec here that explain the whole works:
http://www.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/85735-RWI-DeepSea-116660-Mega-Thread-Gen-info-and-teardown-plus-rep-comparisons

[Bob Tascione]

Hi Stu,
That’s a great and clear demo. showing the use of the tiny ball bearings. I still had that image of a Tudor using the aluminum rather than ceramic bezel using just the springs with a metal ring in my head after checking your link out so did some a search on the same replica forum to see if I could find anything mentioning that ring. Here’s one post that I found (check the second post where he refers to the metal ring as a metal covering). I’ll check around for more in a little while after I throw a few cups of coffee in my face this morning. Here’s the link:
http://www.replica-watch.info/vb/showthread.php/191078-Anyone-know-how-to-remove-and-reinstall-the-black-bay-tudor-v2-bezel

Ok I need my COFFEE!
Bob

[sstakoff]

Bob-

Guess what – my friend just found that metal ring you were thinking about! So this model does not use the ball bearings!! Wow…
The ring is pretty beat up. Do you know whether it is supposed to be flat or if it should be somewhat “wavy”???

• This reply was modified 3 years ago by Tamas Richard.

[Bob Tascione]

That’s good news for two reasons Stu,
First: you have the ring.
Second: I guess I’m not losing my mind after all!

I think that ring may be the correct shape as it stands. Again I’m not sure though.
Might give it a try with the old nylon ring in place just to see how it feels. Then when you get the new ring you can just remove the bezel and replace it.

Let us know how it goes Stu,
Bob

Edit: That ring in your pic shows 2 locating tabs. Are there a couple of slots in the bezel for those tabs? I’m just curious if the ring moves with the bezel or if it is fixed to the case.

[sstakoff]

Yes – there are 2 slots to receive the locating tabs – which keeps the ring in place – no rotation. There is
also a slot in the ring for the click plunger to slide through so it can mesh with the teeth on the bezel

[Bob Tascione]

Great. I think (guessing) then that the ring is the correct shape and you should find that the tabs will locate the ring indentations directly over the springs?
Bob

[sstakoff]

Correct – the tabs fit the indentations perfectly. I ordered what I believe to be a replacement generic nylon ring from Esslinger’s. It should arrive
Monday. Wondering if anyone knows of other sources if that one turns out to be a mismatch…

[Author]

Posts