Nanuq Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 Emergency! Watch Down! Someone call 911! My MkIII fattie on the Big Gonzo cracked all the way across at the pearl opening. Are there any tricks to make it usable again? Drat!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dazza Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 Would a bit of epoxy or superglue from behind hold it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fraggle42 Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 Have no idea what a Mk III fattie is but it sounds like the hole for the pearl was a fraction too small, or the pearl a fraction too big. At a guess I'd say if you can remove it without any more damage and either shring the diameter of the pearl or increase the diamater of the hole, it should fit back on and close the split up by itself, you'd just need a tiny bit of glue to prevent the insert liftinng if a piece of clothing catches the snapped edge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpz5142 Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 Man, someone should have given that watch to a brown bear to quality test it before giving it to Nanuq to wear! It's just not safe for the watch otherwise! I'm guessing a spot weld would be out of the question? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike on a bike Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 Emergency! Watch Down! Someone call 911! My MkIII fattie on the Big Gonzo cracked all the way across at the pearl opening. Are there any tricks to make it usable again? Drat!! The horror!!! Was this the cause..................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpz5142 Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 Mike I think it went something like this.... Nanuq was reading some motivational material about having the energy of a bear inside your heart and how it will give you all of the power to overcome what is in the path ahead of you. And since he has been having power reserve issues with his watch he thought why doesn't my watch have the power of a bear inside of it? This is the result of some serious modding: His watch did get the much needed power boost but in the words of a famous Scottish space engineer, "it can't take any more power, she'll blow!" And well we know the rest.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbane883 Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 Did it happen as you were popping it out of the bezel? That happens all to frequently. sorry to hear that. There are two possible solutions: 1.) the cheapest option. Get a pearl (gen or rep athaya). You will have to "flatten" the tiny serrations where it snapped at the triangle.. not much material there. Then epoxy the pearl in place. The acrylic pearl will act as a binder of sorts and give it some rigidity. 2.) You can get it laser welded together, but probably not worth the cost/effort. The surface will be marred as you will need to sand down the weld marks and repaint. Of course the third option is to sell it for whatever salvage value there is.. for a MKIII, I think the best you can hope for is low-mid 300's (at best) if its not a faded insert Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 Thanks, that's good advice. It was strange. Last week I was in Waimea Bay and the swells were pretty nice... bad shore break but once you got out a ways you could just bob up and down like the world's biggest cork. So I set the bezel to mark when I left shore (don't want to keep the ever-patient Ms. Nanuq waiting overlong!) and out I went. I was swimming wit da fishes, diving and bobbing like the world's biggest dork cork when I saw my hour was up. So I went back to shore, got SPANKED by the world's ugliest shore break, rinsed the sand out of my a$$, and crawled up to dry ground. I looked at the bezel to reset it to 12:00 and the hole where the pearl lives was oval shaped. Also the "4" had a divot out of its surface in the silver lettering. Weird. Huh? Said I, eloquently. After that the erosion progressed so last night I got out my tools and removed the insert, cleaned it thoroughly, and pressed in a Yuki pearl with some epoxy. That's when I saw it was cracked across. I was all kinds of gentle (cough) when doing it, so I dunno. Right now it's snapped back into the bezel and seems solid, so tonight I'll warm up some 2-part epoxy and ease a drop in there beneath it. The Yuki pearl wouldn't stay in, the hole is too big. How weird is that?! I thought these were a tough piece of sheet alloy cut with a die. It feels more like sintered alloy, formed under pressure. Has anyone else seen this? It's a learning experience for me, for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 Jpz, that's AWESOME!!! Love it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbane883 Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 Athaya pearls are a fraction wider than gen pearls i find... I can send you one if you like.. I've already filled it. It sounds like you hit something and in doing so, compressed the bezel and thereby pushed the insert and when it hit the edge of the crystal, something had to give.. These are not made of adamantium sadly. Inserts get bent all the time... paging @lionsandtigers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionsandtigers Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 @dbane883 real nice. Kick me when I'm down. Anyone wanna buy a cracked gen mkIII fat font insert???? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 That's a good theory... It's exactly what I did to my first bezel... this now wears Son of Bezel v2.0 and so far it's unbent. I'd appreciate your pearl offer, I bet it will go a long way toward strengthening what I've got there. Thanks! Until then I intend to use this like the tool it is. So far so good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbane883 Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 ok cool.. I'll mail it out early next week B. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lionsandtigers Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 I was trying to get it into a gen bezel (before it was cracked with gen tri pearl), and despite the fact that both items are gen, it wouldnt budge. SO, I bent it ever so slightly and snap, pearl went flying off into the abyss. LUCKY for me I found the pearl on the floor, but want to use it for a faded insert I have yet to source. So ole mkIII sitting in the parts box, broken head and broken heart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cyberwarhol Posted May 2, 2014 Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 I read it somewhere that the triangle is the weakest area (obviously). They suggested that when installing the insert, place the triangle into the bezel first and then work around to snap in. You certainly don't want to have the triangle in last since the shear bending force would crack the area. I guess in removing the insert it would be the reverse steps? Sent from my Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted May 2, 2014 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2014 That's a great suggestion, cyberwarhol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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