Aftermarket dials.

[automatico]

This post is about things to look for with aftermaket dials in general and aft/mkt dials made for rolex in particular.

A friend brought a rolex 5500 air king to me to change the dial and hands over to an 'explorer' style aft/mkt dial and hand set...a late 1970s/early 1980s model with a 26 jewel 1520 hack movement.

This should be a one hour +/- job if everything goes well counting new case tube/caseback gaskets and case washing with soap and water, not counting a pressure test.

It turned out to be a three hour job with all the fitting work.

The good:

1...The dial feet were mounted correctly and the dial lined up fine on the plate.

2...The dial was .4mm thick, same as genuine.

3...The genuine dial was 27.0mm in diameter, the 'explorer' dial was 27.1mm in diameter but it fit with no problems.

4...The dial was indexed properly (12 and 3 marker locations were correct after being installed).

5...The dial paint and letters were fine, not much glow but I did not expect much.

6...The hands were a close fit and a little broaching was needed...this is not uncommon.

The defects:

1...The dial feet were 1.0mm in diameter where genuine dial feet are .9mm in diameter.

Because the dial feet would not fit in the holes in the movement plate, the dial would not lay down flat on the movement.

2...The 'explorer' dial feet were 2.7mm long where the genuine dial feet were 2.2mm long.

Because the dial feet were too long, the dial will not seat (lay down flat) on the plate, even after each dial foot diameter has been reduced enough for the feet to go into the holes in the plate.

The problems:

1...The dial will not push down on the movement because the dial feet are too big in diameter.

2...After the dial foot diameter is reduced to .9mm, the dial feet are too long and bottom out on the wheel train bridges.

What will this do?

1...The dial will be bent while forcing it down because the dial feet are too big in diameter.

2...If you do manage to push the dial down flat on the movement, the dial will be very hard to remove and can be bent when trying to remove it.

3...After the dial foot diameter is reduced to .9mm, the dial will be bent when the movement is forced down into the case. This will cause dimples to appear on the front of the dial above the dial feet.

The fix:

1...I glued strips of 600 grit sandpaper to a wood Popsicle stick and used it to sand the diameter of the dial feet down to .9mm, being careful to sand the dial feet evenly and flush with the dial surface.

2...I shortened the dial feet to 2.2mm by grinding them down on a diamond wheel mounted on a battery powered Dremel tool.

Conclusions:

1...The dial was fine but it needed a little modification, not unusual for aft/mkt parts.

2...The overall quality was very good, better than any refinished dial on a genuine dial plate that I have seen.

Where did the dial come from?

Yuki.

In my opinion, it is no fault of Yuki as they only buy them for resale, I doubt they make them. The next one may fit just fine.

My guess is they used dial foot blanks for a date model 1575. Genuine 1575 date dial feet are 3.0mm long +/-.

All in all, I believe the dials are well worth the price and a little 'TLC' is not a problem. The problem is if someone forces the dial down on the movement, then forces it down in the case.

Btw, I have never purchased anything from Yuki but I do have a few steel buckles that came from Yuki and they are just fine.

[alligoat]

Thanks for the heads up, R.

I'd like to build an Explorer like this, but I was thinking of using a 1500 Date case and an eta movement, so I'd be cutting off the dial feet! Hopefully I've saved a couple of hours right off the bat!

[freddy333]

Glad to hear you were able to work things out.

Generally, dial feet that are too thick or too long can easily be dealt with with a bit of sanding/filing. In the couple of cases where I have had this problem, I doubt I spent more than a few extra minutes trimming feet for a perfect fit.

The more common problem I find with many aftermarket dials is that of having feet that are too short. In these cases, there is nothing (or very little) for the dial screws to lock onto, which leaves you with no other option than to rely on dial dots or some other type of (semi-permanent) adhesive material. Locating dial dots can sometimes require quite a bit of trial-&-error positioning to be sure the dial fits the pillar without causing any collateral issues. In addition, dial dots & similar adhesives are not designed to be permanent fixes. At some point, you will need to clean & reapply the adhesives or source a better dial. To make matters worse, dial feet length tends to vary among aftermarket dials, even those of the same type & from the same seller & I have yet to receive a useful answer from a seller when I inquire.

[Member X]

Thanks for the heads up on this

Sounds like it was another one of these 'challenges' that we so love! lol

[marc jacobs]

Totally agree with freddy.

Dial feet that are too thick or too long is a common problem.

It is not only happen on yuki dial. NDT, JW and others dial also have those problem.

[aeromatic]

Geat write up! i had problems with my yuki dial the feet where too long but with a bit of a trim it was fixed!