DSSD Gen Bezel Mod

[436NR]

Hello everyone! 

As promised, here’s my DSSD Gen Bezel mod.  I guess you can say that I fell into this one.  I was looking for a gen dial after reading PeteM’s post on the differences in Rolex gen dials for the DSSD.  So when one came up for sale on the boards, I couldn’t help but jump on it!  That same member was also selling a gen bezel with gen insert.  Well, after a little salesmanship and negotiating by the Sacsah1, I had a gen bezel assembly with gen bearings and click.  Very exciting!

 

Now came the research.  I had reached out to PeteM, BK, and the member that sold me the dial and bezel, Sacsah1.  Pete built an incredible franken DSSD from gen parts that he stumbled upon, so I picked his brain a bit.  To no surprise, Pete being Pete, shared a wealth of info on his journey to building the ultimate DSSD Franken.  But most of what he did also included a lot of machining parts and mid-case.  He did all the work on his own.  Being the son of a Tool & Die Maker trained in Germany, I was not without some skills and more importantly… tools!  Sacsah1, as I learned is a great connection to the gen parts world!  He also had a lot of insight into what you can do and what you can’t do.  He has worked with a few of this forum’s best modders on his own pieces and was a wealth of info for me as well.  What I learned is that this mod of fitting a gen bezel on a Noob DSSD case was a problem that has frustrated some modders.  BK provided guidance from what he learned that works with the Noob case and what needs modding.

Here’s what I learned. First, how the gen is broken down.

 

The clamping ring is the part that would need to be modified, as it was larger on the Noob than the gen.  The bezel would not snap down on it. 

CAUTION:  By trying to force the bezel on, I nearly destroyed the fastening ring.  The fastening ring is a nylon ring that sits inside of a groove in the bezel.  I was able to repair it so that it was functional.  But it’s damaged.  Some of it was flattened and nearly torn.  Thanks to Sacsah1, I have a new one on its way! 

 

The Noob DSSD is actually pretty amazing!  They built it part by part to the gen.  Not necessarily to spec, but really close.

 

When chatting with Pete, he mentioned that he had some extra parts and a double AR’d crystal.  I purchased the crystal from him without hesitation and he offered to send me all his extra parts for just shipping cost.  A truly noteworthy member of this community! 

 

In order for the bezel to fit, I had to machine down the outside of the clamping ring to a point where the center groove is cut.  So it’s practically smooth all the way down.  I could still make out where the groove was cut.  I checked my progress every now and then by putting the clamping ring into the bezel (without the fastening ring installed) until it rotated smoothly inside the bezel.

 

I used a sharp tipped Jewelers file to hand cut a new groove into the clamping ring.  I later learned that I cut that groove about 0.75mm too high, leaving a gap between the bezel and the mid-case.  I ended up machining down the height of the ring by 0.75 mm.  

 

By machining the clamping ring down, the rep bezel would no longer fit.  I got a bit nervous that if this didn’t work, I’d be up the creek.  I reached out to BK who had an extra clamping ring in his toolbox and sent it to me for the cost of postage.  With a plan B, I felt comfortable to push this forward.

Clamping ring before:

After machining:

 

Bezel gap before:

After:

To say that I was a bit anxious when it came to putting it back together would be an understatement.  I did realize that that by machining the ring down, I did stretch the diameter a bit.  I decided to heat the ring up to a red glow and quickly cooling it down.  That did the trick and it was back down to its original inner diameter.

 

I found some pics of a gen mid-case of a DSSD and saw a machining pattern on the case under where the bezel sits.  I decided to cut the same pattern into my Noob mid-case as well.  I also sealed up the HEV with clear Jeweler Epoxy while in there.

 

 

When I had everything apart; I ultrasonically cleaned all the parts and rebrushed and polished the case and bracelet.  I used Bergeon medium and fine Satin Bars to achieve that Rolex look. 

 

It came time to reassemble the case and see if this whole endeavor worked.  I carefully reinstalled the fastening ring into the bezel and made sure that all the pinched areas were deep in its setting and placed the bezel over the clamping ring, and it snapped into place!  HOLY CRAP!  THIS WORKED! It rotated smoothly and had that perfect click! 

 

 

 

In order to have the top of the crystal sitting evenly with the bezel, I pressed the crystal in place with the bezel already on.

There it is!  Gen bezel and insert on a Noob case!  

 

So, This DSSD has the following:

Gen Bezel and insert

Get click and bearings

Gen Dial

Double AR Crystal

 

I have to say that the AR’d crystal makes this whole thing pop.  The gen uses a very high quality crystal that almost looks AR’d.  Pete compared it to his buddy’s gen and the rep looked better.  Not by much, but better.  With this crystal, the dial and bezel really pop!

 

I want to give a shout out to those that helped make this mod possible!  Thanks to Sacsah1, PeteM, and BK! 

Thanks for reading!

P

 

Edited November 2, 2015 by 436NR

[panerai153]

Outstanding work!! And a beautiful watch as well.

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[sacsah1]

Fantastic write up. Its is going to be very useful for a lot of members.

I just have little bit of the knowledge but you have the true skills P.

The deepsea looks beautiful my friend.

Wear it in good health!

[Sub007]

Just beautiful !!!

[dbane883]

Congrats . Always good to see creative solutions. Looks great.

[Jordanf1]

Fabulous work mate and well done PDAD currently has mine for the same thing as he's done several for people I know, great write up mate

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[SSTEEL]

Well done, worth the effort!

[436NR]

Thanks guys!

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[vapplebomb]

Excellent job and congratulation P!!

Now can I send my franken DSSD to you for further modding/machining? :-)

Also Sacsah1 is the guy to go with the gen parts! He's the best!