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There is a rubber O-ring gasket under the retaining ring. It looks to me that on one side, the gasket is not seated in the groove. As a result the retaining ring cannot seat down evenly. The o-ring is getting pinched. The crystal retaining ring needs to be removed and re installed. You should of course replace the plastic 2.7mm(?) crystal gaskets everytime you remove the retaining ring.

Tutorial: How to completely disassemble your watch. First off, this is not a patronisation excercise this is to try and help educate the plethora of begginers that we have. Lots of people ask how to do [censored] bits and that's great that is why we are here to help. But I think that the really basic stuff is covered here, so if you want to open the case and check out the movement or anything like that just check this thread out and it'll be all good. This is a step by step tutorial on how to completely take your watch apart. The test subject watch was the POS SD that you saw in one of my earlier threads, which was bought for this exact purpose, testing and practicing. Howeve I will not be held responsible for anyone screwing up their watch lol, but if you do follow this it's REALLY EASY. I have done this with almost no tools, a very small amount are required. HERE WE GO: First off a quick shot of the case of the watch, with the bracelet already removed, please note that some vintagising was attempted on the dial prior to this hence some smal scratches and also the tea colour: Then in order to remove the caseback, take your caseback remover, or rubber gloves/duck tape, whatever you use and twist, COUNTER clockwise: Hey Presto one removed caseback: Next it's time to remove the crown/stem, this is done by pressing gently on the release, and then again GENTLY pulling out the crown. The release for this asian POS is very small and the release is a different shape from ETA models but general idea is the same. Please take time to notice that this is a POS movement and an ETA would have movement clamp screws instead of this plastic thing. The ETA is easily removed by unscrewing the clamps with a 1.2mm screwdriver, whereas this POS just pops out lol. Next we have to remove the hands. Take a hand remover or a set of tweezers, set the time to 12 so as to keep the date chage in the correct position, and gently pull, they come off reasonably easily. The Dial can be removed from the movement by gently prying the razor blade between the parts, as there is a little glue on it. On ETA models there are no feet so the dial is glued on, a little prying with a blade and it comes off easily. On the Asian efforts there are dial feet that need to be loosened out of place, but that is OVER SIMPLE, it's just a screwdriver and unscrewing the small screws that clamp them in place. Next it is the turn of the bezel assembley. This can be done at any point but I chose now lol. Slip a razor blade between the case and assembley and simply push down. Off it pops. I have taken out the bezel spring and also the O ring but that's immaterial. Next a VERY techincal point, please note this is not for the handless........remove the crystal, on all non MBW vintage models the trick is to........... push it with your thumb lol, told you it was technical. And there you have it a completely dissassembled watch. I have added a couple of pics of all of the parts and also all of the parts and ALL of the tools used. I hope you found this helpfull if not then F*** Y**. It's dead easy just try it honest, if I can do it anyone can. It's a stepping stone in growing the confidence you need to mod your own watch, which believe me is SOOO satisfying, it's a great feeling to know that you have successfully fixe your own watch and not had to send it off to be done. At the end of the day, it's nice to experiment but please be carefull these things are delicate, and PATIENCE is KEY. Don't rush things or you will ruin what was a nice piece lol. Enjoy! Chris

Just bought this one a few days ago in a M2M sale on RG. The seller had the watch for about 8-9 months after purchase from another member over here. This certainly isn't a review, as I'm such an AP noob, I would probably not know good from bad, unless it was a glaring error. First impressions, the watch is heavy!! After wearing my FC V3 Diver for a couple of months, I really noticed the weight. It's also tall, however I believe that because of the totally flat caseback, it seems to ride better on my wrist than some of my previously owned large watches, in particular the Rolex DSSD. I don't like tight watch straps, and I can wear this one at a comfortable length and it's not always trying to "turn turtle" on me. For reference, my wrist is a shade over 7".Because of the height and size, I find it a little uncomfortable under a sweater with tight cuffs. I'm looking forward to spring and short sleeves. Will be much better I'm sure. This is a very imposing watch, it just looks good! The Grey dial, black subdials and Rose Gold case really go well together. It's residing on the rubber strap that it came on, but I have a better Black Hornback strap incoming, so I will change to that when it arrives. AFA the movement, this is my first encounter with a sec@12 watch, so hopefully it will work out. I don't play around with the chrono so, that should help the longevity. The precious owner sold it as "Serviced", but by the first owner, and he couldn't offer any details as to what was done. He also mentioned that he thought it had been AR'ed, but I don't believe that it has anything other than the AR from the factory. If anyone who looks at the photos and recognizes the serial number as a watch that you sold and could cast any light on the service history, I would appreciate the info. One glaring fault, and it's only noticeable at magnification, the date window is crooked. It looks like there are two parts to the date window, the dial and the bottom of the Cyclops. It appears that either the dial date window was cut crooked, or the Cyclops was installed crooked. At my normal focal distance, I can't tell anything, only when the photo is magnified. All in all, I think it's a pretty nice watch. I'm happy enough with it that I'm going to order a Safari after all the CNY celebrations and order backlogs are cleared. Please feel free to comment as that is the only way we learn, listening to what the more experienced members have to say. One last comment on the lume. What you see here is a good example of how you can make a watch with mediocre lume look good. It was exposed to bright lights during the photo session, after I took all the regular photos I turned out all the light except for the room light in the next room. It was pretty dark, but enough light to focus. This was a 20 sec exposure at F.2.4 ASA 800. my camera was mounted on a big rock solid tripod and I use the self timer to trip the shutter. Looks like it was superlumed by one of our moddersd, but in fact it's just average at best. Photos

Carrera Day Date today, a replacement is on it's way.

I.just did it for fun and learnt something Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

"If this was started over on RG, you'd all be in the sin bin by now" yes it might we sort of like our freedom here. Let me tell you a true story: Where I live there is no town police if there is a problem you call state police and they come. Town one or two over does have one I was driving through and saw a man on side of road getting out of car, I was slowing down for a red light anyway so stopped before I had to to let him cross the road, motioned him to cross . Well it turns out it was a unmarked police car and it seems he was getting in can not be sure because he looked at me got in hmm. Light turned green I went on my way and he then caught up pulled me over and gave me a ticket because I didn't have my seat belt on.

$9,200 or so US. My cost is substantially less- 99% gen and interesting to put together.

Back to the original purpose of this thread: If this was started over on RG, you'd all be in the sin bin by now

being that we're already into Wednesday, here's a coupla modem killers

This is what I told Jack too, this watchmaker may of not ensured the gasket was securely seated, and its come off as he was pressing the bezel assembly onto the watch, this this gasket is not causing the gap one side.

Looks stunning now Happy to of helped.!

I'm an old guy but still can appreciate the young lady with the rifle and watch. Don't know what the watch is but the rifle is an Anschutz Fortner Biathlon trainer in .22LR cal.( I guess a reference to the winter Olympics)

Hi Jack, hope You can sort that out. Took a look at mine and it sits flush and tight, no gap or play at all like on those pics. Suggest to e-mail pictures to TC and ask him how to do/fix. It looks as if it is not pushed in enough, have read some people do it by hand but others need some kind of press to have it click in. Think dbane is right. Good luck.

Thanks for sharing, looks good!

Did you buy ANOTHER sheep on eBay?! Your mother says to knock it off! Let me know if I can help, Al.

I take it you want the bracelet links and not the clasp. TBH, I believe I have a spare V3 link set but I'm frankly too lazy to look in the parts bin, box, drawer, table. Gimme a couple weeks while I muster up the strength.

Finding one in the parts section or if TC has one

Even the gen has a little play though probably not that much. For my eyes it looks pretty normal and nothing to worry about unless the bezel turns freely and unintentionally

Indeed a very nice piece and legend got a black ap which is not a lemon

Wrong choice of words on my side The GW is in my mind the ultimate "want" Rolex...

I am not in the EU (USA) but I would guess there is not a very big demand for 'oem spec' replica rolex cases, bezels etc now mainly because they are available from Yuki and others at more or less 'reasonable' prices. Otoh suppliers of 'high grade' vintage 'oem spec' replica cases (their names and complaints are not hard to find on RWG) sell basically the same cases as Yuki etc with better letters/numbers at two or three times the price with about the same quality...and many times far worse quality. So...in order to be successful selling vintage rolex 'oem spec' replica cases you would have to be able to sell them at a lower price than Yuki ($500US plus/minus) and have consistent quality. As for making headway into the 'higher grade oem spec' replica case market (J&W etc) all you would have to do is offer the same cases with dead-on letters/numbers. In other words, your cases would already be good enough and your major goal would be to supply consistent accuracy and quality. This is relatively easy to do because it's not rocket science...it's CNC science and CNC is a mature technology. After HiHo tried to get high grade 5514 cases made we learned two things: 1...The cases can be made economically and in very high quality. 2...You can not trust the manufacturers. So again...in order to make the cases from scratch, you will need: 1...High quality 304 stainless steel sheet metal. 2...A punch press to punch out the case/case back/bezel blanks. 3...A high quality CNC machine and accessories. 4...A first class engraving machine (Gavograph IS200/IS200TX etc). 5...Someone qualified to program and operate the equipment. 6...A Gomer to polish parts, run errands etc. You could run the whole show out of your garage and guys 5 and 6 would be part time. Guy 5 might need to be someone in manufacturing who knows the ins and outs of CNC. In our small town I know three guys who are CNC wizards and they learned it making parts for drag race car engines. Like I said...it's not rocket science. Shortcuts: 1...Have a stamping company make the case/case back/bezel blanks...a flat washer/hardware stamping company etc. 2...Buy 304 seamless stainless pipe with the correct wall thickness and saw the case/bezel blanks out. Case back blanks should not be much of a challenge. 3...Buy cases in GZ etc that are close to 'oem spec' and finish them with your CNC machinery. This is probably where many of the 'high grade' cases start out anyway. Your first case may cost $40,000 but case number 200 may cost $100 or less (200 X $400 = $80,000). You would stay sold out for quite a while at $400 each if you maintain top quality. You would soon corner the market because the 'hit or miss' case guys are not going to get much better. Oh yeah...you also have to stay out of jail.

Nicely done Akira! Spectacular piece.

Good job mate I have done something similar recently after knocking the pearl from my DSSD. Thats the result: I have used the Tamiya Flat White as the base and few coats of Tamiya Titanium X32 diluted with thinner.