How To Repair A Bracelet Clasp

I am not a pro picket repairer so obviously repairing my broken crystal makes no sense at all and I really should pay the money and become it done by professionals……..Still here? Well then I gauge you may too read on 🙂 (you tin click on any image to see a close up).

A broken crystal, the story and so far…

Disrepair crystal and missing cyclops

Getting prepare for bed one night saw me fumble with my picket and……..bang! Face down onto difficult, difficult ceramic tiles. The result was non pretty.

The watch glass or crystal to give it the proper name, was completely smashed. The appointment bubble or cyclops disintegrated; leaving only tiny fragments and a shadow where it used to be.

I cried, only a piffling bit, I loved this picket.

OK, toughen upwards man, time for Google! Later a little enquiry I plant that replacing a broken crystal on a Rolex is not exactly a straightforward chore. Because these watches are mechanical and non digital, manifestly you wouldn't want anything to get in amidst the workings, you know, something similar $.25 of broken crystal!

It's not virtually but replacing the broken crystal…

Considering of this cleaved 'glass' upshot, whatever decent lookout repairer and certainly any official Rolex dealer, volition not touch any broken crystal/ replacement chore without wanting to do a full service equally well. This is of course the official line and indeed information technology makes perfect sense……unless you can't afford the service cost when added to the replacement crystal price (around £600 or $900). Someone like me.

So my poor one-time Rolex scout laid in a drawer for a year earlier I realised that to endeavor to fix it myself would either work or not. Worst example scenario is that I end up with a busted scout and I've already got ane of those!!

Dorsum to Google then. Aftermarket crystals were easily found on ebay (cheers wholesaleoutlet990) in exchange for a tiny sum. Three days subsequently, I am in business, ready to repair my beloved Rolex. I fifty-fifty got an aftermarket clasp to repair the bracelet that had previously broken, (this sentry has had a tough life… rolexforums.com/Africa wore out my Rolex)

Removing the retaining ring or bezel that holds the crystal in identify. Apologies for the really dingy sentry, it's a working one for sure!

Removing a broken crystal…

The kickoff job to do is to remove the one-time broken crystal. I used a very thin blade and rocked it dorsum and forth over the gap betwixt the bezel and the sentry example. Kickoff over i of the strap lugs.

One time pushed into the gap a lilliputian I worked and wiggled it all the way around the bezel, lifting information technology slightly with each move.

This lifted up the bezel past plenty to swap the thin bract for a thicker knife blade, again working, wiggling and slightly levering the bezel all the mode around. After a few trips around, the bezel popped off and I had a bunch of broken crystal in my manus.

Looking at the Rolex watch face I realised that it was a very expert fit in the case and that realistically any 'glass' would only observe its mode into the workings of the spotter through the date window. So I carefully rotated the winder to turn the engagement wheel through a full month. Male child was I lucky, on the 16th, I spotted (with my trusty magnifying glass!), a sliver of cleaved crystal! I used a rolled up piece of tissue paper, dampened slightly at the tip to gently lift the tiny fragment abroad.

And so I gently tipped the remaining broken bits of crystal off the watch face, away from the date hole. To be certain, I used a small compressor to accident some (oil gratuitous), low pressure air across the spotter confront (at a distance I might add!) At no fourth dimension did I ever touch the lookout man face or hands which is probably a very 'good thing'…

Fitting the new crystal…

Right, lets take a look at the new crystal and little plastic gasket that came with it. At outset I idea that the new gasket was a fiddling deeper than the original ane, just information technology fitted perfectly so my fears were unjustified.

The gasket fits onto the bottom of the crystal, cyclops facing up. Then y'all tin line up the crystal on the watch instance with the cyclops centred over the engagement (if applicative) or the winder. A gentle push will click the gasket over the watch case raised edge.

Then the metal bezel sits on superlative of the crystal, you can push it on gently with your fingers. Make certain it's level, i.east. non at an angle to the case. In that location will be a gap.

Rolex, crystal and retaining bezel ready for fitting.

Slightly bigger than the crystal itself.

Now I just needed the crystal press that I didn't have! A quick root through my 'bits and bobs' drawer shortly found a difficult plastic band from a lamp plumbing fixtures that was a tiny flake bigger than the crystal face up. It is very important non to press the crystal in any mode, only the metallic bezel.

I didn't fancy working in the workshop vice and figured that not too much pressure would be needed. So I made a temporary crystal printing using a sash clamp, a hard safety bung and the same plastic lamp fitting.

Homemade crystal press using sash clamp, rubber bung and a lamp fitting.

Gently winding the sash clamp up until it pinched the bezel. Deep breath and a picayune more pressure saw the bezel slide downward the crystal and snap into place. Success!

Now, I'll let you into a niggling secret here (but don't tell anyone!) I figured that as the bezel was going to be so tight, a little lubrication wouldn't injure, so I wiped a petty saliva around the casing……

Big mistake. The bezel snapped on lovely, only seconds subsequently the within of the crystal fogged up completely. Duh! Off information technology came over again. I  dried everything with a hair dryer on low and 2d time around, perfectly dry, it snapped into place just fine. Oh, the mistakes the states amateurs make!

It was no good putting information technology off, the time had come to printing in the winder and see if the scout still worked. Pressed it in and bingo, the watch started up straight away, using the power that had been stored in the spring for over a twelvemonth! Amazing.

Conclusions from 'home' repairing a broken crystal on a Rolex…

Back on my wrist, where it belongs.

Now I take no doubt that this page will outrage many Rolex purists out there and I certainly cannot condone working on such fine timepieces without proper training. Indeed I may take just every bit easily damaged the watch further. Simply in my defence force, it had lain in a drawer for over a year, and was, to all intent and purposes, bit. I had nothing to lose and everything to gain, (Oh, and I am a really, really handy bloke!).

The lookout works only fine right now, just who knows what other impairment the shock of the fall did. Simply I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. One solar day I promise I'll get it serviced properly and replace the aftermarket parts.

In the meantime the watch is dorsum where information technology always was and where it belongs; on my wrist in all weathers and in all conditions, telling me the time.

Stay well

By Ian Anderson

Broken crystal repair update…

I merely idea I'd let you know my watch is nonetheless ticking along nicely, as I update this on the 21st Oct 2022, then that's been: 6 years, iii months, or 2283 days or 54,792 hours or  3,287,520 minutes  or, wait for information technology, deep breath…. 197,251,200 seconds!!!    (courtesy of timeanddate.com)

Phew, that'south a lot of ticking 🙂 Non bad for a watch which had a broken crystal…..

Supervene upon cleaved crystal update No.2! (Sept. 2022)

Well, the other twenty-four hour period I went to open the car door and I heard a 'tinkle'…

I looked down and saw a what looked similar a piddling plastic disc on the floor. It took me a moment to realise that it was my watch crystal. Ah, shoot, that's non practiced. Luckily I saw it before I started putting my manus in my pocket, jacket sleeve etc., because that would accept actually buggered up the face up and hands etc.

Turns out the crystal was fine simply rather the plastic gasket had deteriorated and was cleaved upwards. I couldn't notice gaskets for sale on their own , then I ordered a new crystal and gasket. I ordered it on ebay.co.uk from chrono.HK (ebay.co.uk/itm/283438914175) and it price 20 odd GBP.

I followed the instructions as higher up and it all went together just fine. For a refresher I did get online and come across if anyone had uploaded whatever videos since I last did this, and I found a great guy chosen Marshall. Here is his video on a Rolex restoration which makes for an entertaining 45 mins.

I also constitute another guy chosen Peter Grande who shows exactly how to supercede a Rolex crystal. He does remove the motion, although I didn't find information technology necessary when I've done mine. If you do demand to get some watch repair tools, head over to amazon and search for Bergeon.

All round handy gars, humanitarian, and mad scribbler.

Moved around a bit, from one side of the planet to the other, just now settled shut to the embankment in Norway.

Source: https://handycrowd.com/replace-broken-crystal-on-rolex-watch/

Posted by: thompsoncongs1955.blogspot.com

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