Steinhart bezel change...

[Badboy]

I finally took the time to change out the bezel on my Steinhart Ocean 1!
Yeaaa!! ;D

A while back I knocked it pretty hard and lost the 12 o'clock glow dot marker thingy. (I really expected to see a shattered crystal.)

Jon & Elsa at Steinhart sent me a new bezel insert; no cost, no hassle. If I wanted to send my watch in, they would've even put it on for me.

Here the old bezel is off & old adhesive is cleaned off (nail polish remover & Qtips):


New bezel ready to go on:


Unleash the adhesive backing (somebody needs a manicure!):


New bezel in place:


That's trickier than I realized, each click has a very slight amount of play. You have to find the spot where it likes to rest.

Sayin' goodbye to the old bezel:


It's lined up (I swear!) The magnifier lens is perfectly centered on the date window, so you can tell in the pics that I never got a straight-on pic.:


Another shot:


Can't really get a good shot "straight on" bad reflections.
Note the Seiko SNA225 whimpering in the background. Knows he ain't gonna see daylight for a while! ;D

Articulating suction hobby vice from Harbor Freight made this alot easier. Paid like $5 or $10 & it has thick rubber pads on the clamping area.

[boscoe]

What, no chainsaw?
Great pix and very informative.
I'm moving a copy to the reference forum

[Badboy]

Thanks Boscoe, I'm honored!

It was fairly easy. I already had the old bezel off when I realized that I should be takin' pictures!
I used a very, very small precision screwdriver to gently pry the old bezel off.

BTW, if your watch doesn't have solid end links: don't clamp it in a vice in the manner that I used! I didn't have to clamp it very tight and the jaws have rubber guards, so no worries with SEL.