GMT gen or rep?

[dieselpower]

I was out at the weekend and noticed that a friend of a friend was wearing a GMT II which was missing its bezel. Loose bezels are a thing close top my heart at the moment so I asked him what had happened. He told me it fell off playing golf and he did not want to go to the expense of Rolex prices. Thus implying that the watch was gen. I looked at the watch and as I know nothing about GMT's I took him at his word.

 

Two things struck me. Firstly a gen bezel should be pretty damned difficult to dislodge so the story of losing it during a round of golf seemed pretty tenuous. Secondly, when I looked at the watch I noticed a hole drilled in the case behind where the bezel would sit. The hole was somewhere around the 1 o'clock marker I think. 

 

I was wondering if the gen GMT case had such a hole or was I looking at a rep that the owner was trying to pass off as gen?

 

Opinions please. Thanks in advance.

[SSTEEL]

Rep

[dusk]

I have a gen gmt 2 and it has the hole at about 1. Its where the click spring locates. 

[SSTEEL]

Some rep cases I have here are the same, didn't realise they were to gen spec.

[dieselpower]

Interesting. Thanks for feedback.

[automatico]

"...gen bezel should be pretty damned difficult to dislodge so the story of losing it during a round of golf seemed pretty tenuous."

 

Genuine submariner 55xx, 1680, 16610, GMT etc of the same era have bezels that are fairly easy to knock off.  I have pulled a few off by hand...just push down hard toward the center on one side and pry the other side up with fingers.  Gold bezels are even easier to remove and lose. 

 

A bump against a door frame or reaching into a tight pocket will often knock a bezel ring off.  Imho they are made this way so the gomers at their repair shops can r/r them easily...and sell more bezels.  Older models, 6538 etc had spring wire bezels and they stayed in place but many were bent or broken by careless removal.

 

As for replicas with spring wire bezels...try to r/r the bezel on an F520117 noobmariner.  If you do not know 'the trick' you will bend it. 

[manodeoro]

"...gen bezel should be pretty damned difficult to dislodge so the story of losing it during a round of golf seemed pretty tenuous."
 
Genuine submariner 55xx, 1680, 16610, GMT etc of the same era have bezels that are fairly easy to knock off.  I have pulled a few off by hand...just push down hard toward the center on one side and pry the other side up with fingers.  Gold bezels are even easier to remove and lose. 
 
A bump against a door frame or reaching into a tight pocket will often knock a bezel ring off.  Imho they are made this way so the gomers at their repair shops can r/r them easily...and sell more bezels.  Older models, 6538 etc had spring wire bezels and they stayed in place but many were bent or broken by careless removal.
 
As for replicas with spring wire bezels...try to r/r the bezel on an F520117 noobmariner.  If you do not know 'the trick' you will bend it. 

So which is "the trick" ?
On most 6538 it's quite easy to remove the spring because of the "gap" between the bezel and the case.
But how do you when there is no gap ?

Envoyé de mon XT1068 en utilisant Tapatalk

[dieselpower]

Cheers automatico, the watch is very likely gen then. Any suggestions as to where I might get him a replacement bezel without spending gen money?

[Sogeha]

Star time or WSO might be a good start

[dieselpower]

I've got a spare WSO bezel which was on my Mk2 MBW 1680. It was very loose and kept falling off. I started a thread about it and apparently its a common problem with them.

[Sogeha]

Hmm yes I forgot that was a WSO.