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Installing 6020 Tube in Rep Case


jmb

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I have a lot of people contact me wondering why they can't just screw a 24-6020 tube into a rep case so they can use a Rolex crown.  It sounds like such an easy process, anybody should be able to do it!  Not quite so simple, though...

 

Most rep cases have a tube hole that's too small so it will need to be drilled out and re-tapped:

 

Tube%20install%201.jpg

 

A lot of folks do this and are bummed when the crown sticks up like a third-eye zit!  Most people don't look at the new tube that closely and fail to notice the chamfer/angle between the tube's crown threads and case threads so they keep cranking on it until the tube snaps off in the case:

 

Tube%20install%202.jpg

 

I have quite a few sent to me in this condition... :Jumpy:

 

It seems all that would be necessary would be to countersink the tube hole to allow the tube to set flush against the case:

 

Tube%20install%203.jpg

 

Tube%20install%204.jpg

 

Well, not quite - crown still sticks out too far:

 

Tube%20install%205.jpg

 

The amount of countersink is dependent on the crown being used so from this point I just increase the countersink into a shallow "counterbore" untill the crown sits about the way I want it.  The amount of counterbore will vary so I'm not going to say how deep, that is something you have to experiment with to find:

 

Tube%20install%206.jpg

 

Screw the tube in, just right:

 

Tube%20install%207.jpg

 

And you're all set!

 

Tube%20install%208.jpg

 

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Something else to jack the crown away from the case...

Genuine cases with 5.3mm and 6.0m crowns/tubes have small washers made of some sort of silver between the case tube and case.  This is what seals the tube to the case.  The washers are very hard to get for regular 6.0mm case tubes but some aftmkt 5.3mm case tubes have them included.  Brass dial washers will work as a last resort.

...or K&W Copper Coat.  Ha!

 

Do not know or care about the later model stuff because as far as I am concerned, RWC stopped making watches in the 1980s.  :pimp:

...or was it the 1970s?

 

 

Quick set! What the hell is a quick set?  Who cares what day it is anyway?  What will they think of next, solid bracelet end links? 

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I usually find that the tube starts out sticking waaaay too far out of the case, hence the need for the counterbore...

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