Gents, first off thank you all for your replies. I sincerely appreciate everyone's input and attempts to further educate me. Clearly I have a lot to learn.
I over-reacted, and appreciate your input. I can't believe that's the design, but apparently it is. What's the best way to pick up a TC crown and tube for this particular model? Please forgive my ignorance.
Matt, thank you for your reply. I didn't lose any of the springs when I opened it. I basically put them back in and pressed the piece I removed back on top. The bezel remains very difficult to rotate. Based on what you mention here, that can be adjusted. I've done some minor work before (removed and locktite'd pushers on an IWC 3777), so I'm not entirely useless (I hope). I'm going to try to attempt this myself. Any how-to's out there that you're familiar with?