longines Hour Angle caseback crystal problem!!

[panerai153]

OK Guys, I know there is more watch knowledge here than on all the gen forums combined!! Well maybe that's a bit of and exaggeration, but the knowledge level here is impressive. So I need some help with a new arrival that came in with the following problem.

Here is the problem. I bought a Lindberg Hour Angle watch from and EBay seller. watch looked in very nice condition, lots of photos and good description. The watch arrived today and after carefully unpacking it, I opened the Hunter case back to have a look at the movement. much to my consternation, the back crystal had fallen out and was sitting inside the hunter case cover. Obviously I cannot use the watch like this, as the movement is exposed to the elements, and if the glass comes out while wearing the watch, it could get sort of sideways and possibly do damage to the movement.
I have messaged the seller with a couple of options, but first I wanted to check in here and see if anyone had ever experienced this problem with one of their clear caseback watches? Also if the seller wants to have me get it repaired and reimburse me for the costs, are there any suggestions as to who I might send it to and get the glass permanently put back in place. I know that guys here use UV cement to glue in crystals all the time, and from what it looks like this crystal had to have been glued in as I cannot see any other way to keep it in place. The crystal sits in a recessed groove. However I can't figure out if the caseback screws off or is it a snap on. It would be easy to glue the crystal back in if I could figure out how to remove the caseback. it needs to be cleaned up and then glue in the crystal. It's much trickier trying to do it in place, one drop of misplaced glue and the movement is glued together! 
Thanks very much

Here are some photos. I put it on my Timegrapher and the rate looks really good, although the amplitude isn't anything to write home about.  The others are the caseback open and the way the crystal sits when in place. the last photo is how I found it when I opened the Hunter case back.

 

 

 

[Mike on a bike]

Beautiful watch, I'm sure one of our guys can help.

[panerai153]

To add to the intrigue, i just got a reply from a guy on the Longines forum on WUS. He said that the caseback crystal is held in place by a gasket, which is conspicuously absent in this watch!!

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[automatico]

You will need a crystal gasket or maybe a crystal and a gasket. Order them by supplying crystal OD and bezel ID plus thickness.

If the watch originally came with a gasket, my guess is the gasket went missing because someone tried to r/r the crystal and damaged the gasket or the crystal cracked and they decided to glue one in. One way to tell if the watch originally came with a gasket or with the (original) crystal glued in is to see how much space there is between the crystal od and bezel id...real close = glued in and loose = gasket. If it had a gasket to begin with and the original crystal is missing and a larger OD crystal was glued in, it will be hard to tell. One thing you need to know for sure...is this is the original crystal or not so you can determine how it needs to be fixed. I looked at pictures of Hour Angle watches and there are a lot of different models and I can not tell if there is a gasket or not for sure.

The crystal should be installed by someone who knows what they are doing because if it is a 'press in a gasket' type, any glue, dirt etc will need to be cleaned away and the crystal pressed in the case back without damage to the rest of the watch. It may be made so the bezel can be removed and the crystal installed. Maybe not.

I wonder...did the seller buy it with (1) the crystal loose? (2) crystal glued in? (3) the crystal pressed in a gasket? (4) did they glue it in? (5) was it loose when they shipped it?

Somebody got some 'splainin' to do..

[panerai153]

Thanks automatic,

I just got a message back from the seller and he was very cooperative. He said that the glass was attached when they took photos of the watch. From what it looks like, the crystal was glued in in just a couple of spots. I got a response from a guy on the Longines forum and he said it had a gasket to hold the crystal in place. From the photos I took, and just placing the crystal back in place, it's definitely loose. In fact it looks like there is room for a gasket around the crystal. I have contacted a watch repair facility that works on Longines and claims to have genuine parts, which I suppose you would need especially if the glass is not the correct one. this is a little beyond my scope. If I  knew how the metal caseback came off, I might tackle it, but I have no idea as to whether it's screwed on or snap on. But looking it doesn't have any indentions or grooves that would allow you to use a caseback removal tool. I'm not going to experiment though, because if I screw something up, I'm screwed. Right now if I have someone else who knows what they are doing repair it, the seller has agreed to reimburse me for the repair.  

Thanks very much for your information and insight