sishac Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 So I have this 5513 MBW that I recently put together with the help of one of the watchmakers here. I sourced the case (and old school 5513 "Polex" case), a 2846 movement, some Clark hands, a "refinished" dial from ebay, and a Clark crystal and sent it off. A few weeks later my watch was ready...it had been adjusted as well as waterproofed to 3ATM. I was a very happy camper. Fast forward a few weeks and I smacked my wrist (and watch) against something in my garage. A few minutes later I noticed that my bezel was missing. I have not yet found the bezel. Upon further review, I initially thought that the crystal retaining ring came off too...now looking at things I'm not so sure. What do you think? I ended up buying a Clark replacement bezel set which included the crystal retaining ring. The ring simply falls right over the crystal and isn't tight at all. In addition, the bezel doesn't click on without the retaining ring. So my question is this....is my retaining ring on the crystal? If it is, shouldn't the Clark bezel assembly (without the crystal retaining ring) snap onto the MBW retaining ring... Assuming that I am seeing things and the retaining ring is not on the watch in the photos, why wouldn't a Clark 5513 set fit? Do I need a gen bezel or MBW bezel to fit the MBW crystal retaining ring? The measurement of the crystal is less than the measurement of the inside of the Clarks retaining ring...I thought that it had to be like 0.4mm smaller to ensure a tight fit. Any suggestions would be helpful...I'm not sure what to do here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marsupilami Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 I don´t see a retaining ring. It´s missing. Seems like you lost the whole bezel assembly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 What you see is just a flange on the case. The trouble is that there are a variety of ways rep case makers have gone about affixing bezels to cases & they are not always done the same way it is done on the gen case. Your case looks alot like the Silix case I used for my Phase 1 6542, which had a similar flange (that I had to grind off to get the gen-style bezel to fit). That is probably why Clark's bezel did not fit onto your case. Unfortunately, you may need to try a couple different aftermarket bezels before you find 1 that fits properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sishac Posted September 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 Well, this is supposed to be an MBW case, and I got it from a reputable source.....but, maybe there is a variation. I'm still hoping that I can find the original bezel (and I guess retaining ring) somewhere in my garage (it couldn't have just disappeared.) Thanks for the comments though... Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mymanmatt Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 You should have a steel bezel around you crystal. It has to be a pressed fit. Im afraid you have the wrong bezel or crystal. Most of clarks stuff works well together. You might source a crystal from clark also, that should solve your problem of a loose bezel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sishac Posted September 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 Thank you for the response....As far as I am aware, the crystal is a Clark t19 that I bought. Maybe replacing the crystal might be a way to go...the crystal seems to have a diameter of 30.00 mm around the base, while the Clark retaining ring is 30.1/30.2mm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 I believe the outside dimensions of Clark's crystals are similar to their gen counterpart, while most rep lenses tend to vary in OD, which would explain the fitment problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sishac Posted September 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 Do you by chance have the dimensions of a known clark t19? Like I said, I sent a Clark T19 to the watchmaker and he didn't tell me that he had to replace it due to cracking, so I assumed that is the crystal I have on the watch. I wonder if he replaced the crystal and just didn't say anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freddy333 Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 Sorry, I do not have any spare Clarks xtals at the moment. Maybe someone else has 1 that he can measure for you. I do believe that Clark's bezels are made to fit around gen-style (sized) xtals & the xtals that come fitting to most rep watches are slightly different dimensions. Sometimes, slightly larger & sometimes smaller. But I have experienced problems getting bezels to fit on rep cases after replacing a rep Rolex xtal with a gen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 A couple of thoughts: The retaining ring is definitely missing. See the deep groove around the crystal? A fat o-ring is supposed to sit in the groove and the ring presses down to compress the o-ring and squeeze the crystal. So your ring is still attached to the bezel, they both popped off and hit the floor and rolled off under your toolbox or something. Replacement crystals are readily available from SternKreuz and G&S. I believe Offshore has them at WatchBitz. O. Frei has them but why subject yourself to the abuse? http://www.sternkreuz.com/accordion/assets/Sternkreuz_Gesamtkatalog%20G22.pdf http://www.ofrei.com/page419.html The G&S PA 462-20A may be perfect, at 30.3mm and should be a (perhaps too-) tight fit inside your Clarks ring. If it's too tight, carefully sand down the crystal's perimeter and/or sand down the inside face of your ring just a little. Use some lubricant like Vaseline and press that ring in place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sishac Posted September 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 Well, as my crystal (measured at the base with my digital caliper) measures exactly 30.00mm, I'm going to guess that is the problem...I wonder if maybe I got a mislabeled crystal? Thanks to everyone who commented, I appreciate the ideas and thoughts....I'll let you know how it turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted September 7, 2012 Report Share Posted September 7, 2012 T-19 crystals can vary in OD from 30.3 to 30.5- look at the Sternkruz crystals Nanuq pointed out- XS303.472 XS305.451 Ofrei also lists 3-4 crystals. Best bet is to measure your crystal retaining ring ID and order something a little bit bigger for a tight fit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sishac Posted September 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 That is a great idea! Gary Clark was good enough to send me out a new crystal as well as entire bezel assembly, including retaining ring. Hopefully that will work...if not I will try other crystals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ephry73 Posted September 12, 2012 Report Share Posted September 12, 2012 You NEED a bezel assembly. Right now you have a crystal snapped on a case and no secure way to hold it there. The retainer IS missing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woof* Posted September 13, 2012 Report Share Posted September 13, 2012 In general, bezels do not play well with other brand retaining rings, at least not for me. If you use the Clark 5513 bezel, use the retaining ring that comes with it. Clarks T19 or gen T19 should be a perfect fit to the new bezel and ring. The retaining ring has to be installed with a press. I have lost a few bezels, but never the whole assembly. I wonder if yours was pressed in and fully installed in the first place? Also Freddy might be right about that [censored]. Keep us posted on the outcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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