slay Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 I'm building a 6538A and the only piece I am missing is the right Bezel. Does anyone have any suggestions what's the best one to use? Were these bezels also made out of brass, or were they steel? Shall I just use a 1665 Bezel? This is what it looks like: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbane883 Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 From what I understand, some were made from "German silver", while others were 2-piece (brass on top of steel). Many of these did not survive. So some have used 1665 bezels as replacements:http://www.watchprosite.com/?page=wf.forumpost&fi=732&ti=503086&pi=3040201 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted December 17, 2015 Report Share Posted December 17, 2015 What he said ^^^Slay, look closely at your first photo, it shows the brass sandwiched on top of stainless. The majority are "white copper" or "German silver".The A/6538 uses a tropic19 crystal which has the same outside diameter as a tropic 39, so if you can find a 1665 bezel and retaining ring to gen spec, it ought to work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slay Posted December 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 18, 2015 Thanks guys! I saw the top/bottom part of the bezel and thought it looked like different material, but wasn't sure why they would do that instead of making it out of one material only (was it so complicated to make grooves into steel back in the days? How do you even solder steel to brass? I always thought that was very challenging to do.)Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbane883 Posted December 18, 2015 Report Share Posted December 18, 2015 The soft brass was intended to dent on purpose to absorb the impact of banging on rocks, guns, etc. same with the soft alloy "German silver" lol. The bezel was always meant to be disposable and replaceable quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted December 18, 2015 Report Share Posted December 18, 2015 Oddly enough, they weren't soldered together either. They were machined as press-fit parts and pressure was applied. Like this: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbane883 Posted December 18, 2015 Report Share Posted December 18, 2015 lol. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dlf Posted December 18, 2015 Report Share Posted December 18, 2015 I'm using a 1655 bezel on my 6538a here's a pic if that helps at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slay Posted December 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2015 lol @ nanuq. Is there an after pic?Any idea where I can get an aftermarket 1665 bezel (aside from phong)? Checked star time and eBay but they are all the low profile sub bezel rings :/Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slay Posted December 19, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2015 By the way, is the dial supposed to be matte or glossy? Dlf, yours looks matte, the 6538A watches I've seen make it hard to tell from pictures whether the dial is glossy or not?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dlf Posted December 19, 2015 Report Share Posted December 19, 2015 Well I'm going for the 'burford' dial in mine I'm pretty sure those were Matt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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