jacobsen1 Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 I just got my first rep from Joshua, a Rolex GMT II: link to bigger shot: http://www.pbase.com/benjacobsen/image/73195199 and the crystal seems to be a tad out of alignment... Not horrible, but I'm sure in time it will bug me. If you look at the cyclopes in the above link you should be able to see it, and the etched rolex logo on the crystal is just a tad past the :30 mark... Not even halfway to :31 though... So is there an easy way to fix this without taking the whole watch apart? I've never taken a watch apart before so that's a bit intimidating, but now that I've found the wonderful world of Reps, I can see how I might get into it anyway... I've found this excellent thread: http://www.rwg.cc/members/index.php?showtopic=4275 but I'm just wondering if I can avoid the whole disassembly? Thanks, Ben Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobsen1 Posted January 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 I'm also considering taking the cyclops off and either putting it back on right, or just going without... I'm not a huge fan of date them anyway so the only negative of losing it is it wouldn't be as accurate to the gen, but I don't think I really care about that anyway... But that little itty bitty rolex etching will still be slightly off.... Hmmmm So to remove the cyclops I just heat it up with a little torch? Is there anything I have to be careful not to get hot when I do it? I was reading this: I have used a pinflame type torch for this. I use the flame at 90 deg to the crystal so that it is really just heating the cyclops. After a few seconds you will see the glue between the cyclops and crystal sort of pop! It's a bit like watching aerial film of a bomb blast - the shockwave radiating out from the centre!! It will be obvious and as soon as that happens use a thin blade to gently scrape the cyclops away form the crystal. I have done about 6 of these and only one of them was damaged (it cracked in half). You do not need much heat and the sapphire crsytal whilst hot was not too hot to touch. and that sounds easy enough.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 I don't think this is going to be easy. It looks to me like the cyclops may be sitting a tad high relative to the date window. So if you popped the crystal out, repositioned it and repressed it, dropping the cyclops down a tad, the etched crown would move closer to 31 and not 30, as it should. Now, I guess it is possible to remove the crystal and heat the cyclops and break the glue bond between the cyclops and the sapphire crystal and clean it all up and reposition and reglue the cyclops using UV glue.... but that's a lot of work. The topics been covered here a few times in the past, and I usually read about half or two-thirds of the how-to part, before I shake my head and say I ain't doing that. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobsen1 Posted January 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 I don't think this is going to be easy. It looks to me like the cyclops may be sitting a tad high relative to the date window. Not sure how it looks in the photo because I'm staring at the watch But they are both "low" or too far clock wise... Not sure if they will both be perfect at the same point, but the cyclops is the only thing that's noticable without staring at it close up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Well, Finepics is certainly a lot more accomplished than I am, but it's not clear if he's removing the sapphire from the case, but since the crystal is held in place by a plastic/nylon white ring to the case, it seems like you wouldn't want to expose it to any heat. So, I'd think it would be best to remove the crystal from the watch case, which ain't that big a deal, if you have the tools- caseback opener (Rolex), screwdrivers, and a crystal press for reinstallation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alligoat Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Well, if you can move the cyclops up a tad, the etched crown would also rotate and that would about solve your problem- but I'd do it by removing the crystal and resetting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobsen1 Posted January 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Well, if you can move the cyclops up a tad, the etched crown would also rotate and that would about solve your problem- but I'd do it by removing the crystal and resetting it. Yep, it appears that if I can move it both will line up fine... I'm just a big nervous of opening up a brand new watch... Also since I don't like the cyclops anyway, maybe I should just remove that and see how bit the misaligned etching bugs me down the road... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gioarmani Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 No short cuts, and no way to do it without removing the movement. If you don't feel comfortable doing it, just have a local hole-in-the-wall watch shop move it a few mm for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namor Posted January 17, 2007 Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 No short cuts, and no way to do it without removing the movement. If you don't feel comfortable doing it, just have a local hole-in-the-wall watch shop move it a few mm for you. Absolutely right, there's never a shortcut - either you do it the right way, or you better don't touch it at all... But even Watchsmiths are aware of removing these cyclopses because there's always a risk of breaking the crystal/cyclops - you have to ask first if they work on reps, and then you can ask if they are able and willing to do this mod. Personally I can say that I removed and reglued at least a dozen cyclopses (because they are almost never 100%) and I always took my time to do this and succeeded everytime. Never broke any (but burnt my fingers a little... ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobsen1 Posted January 17, 2007 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2007 Absolutely right, there's never a shortcut - either you do it the right way, or you better don't touch it at all... But even Watchsmiths are aware of removing these cyclopses because there's always a risk of breaking the crystal/cyclops - you have to ask first if they work on reps, and then you can ask if they are able and willing to do this mod. Personally I can say that I removed and reglued at least a dozen cyclopses (because they are almost never 100%) and I always took my time to do this and succeeded everytime. Never broke any (but burnt my fingers a little... ). yeah, I'm thinking I might remove it and see how I like it w/o, then if I don't like it I'll put it back on straight.... But I'll wait till tomorrow so I can see how it bugs me after another day... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2671 Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 yeah, I'm thinking I might remove it and see how I like it w/o, then if I don't like it I'll put it back on straight.... But I'll wait till tomorrow so I can see how it bugs me after another day... Jacobsen1, I've come across a few recent 16610LVs with D serial from a customer. I guess these are the latest version from GuangZhou that he brought back. Crystals are 2mm sapphire non-stepped with laser-etched crown, no raised lip on case. Similar to what you have. Crystals are held down by thin white plastic rings/seals. Since they are press fitted and popped out easily by applying a LITTLE pressure from underneath (thumb pushing). You may want to try using the hand tool with rubber/vacuum cup (Suction-type screw back case opener?) which most people would use for case back opening. Try it on the crystal see if it turns. I have never tried this on customers watches though, but that's what I'll try before taking the disassembly route, and I guess it'll work. It may be even better if you have a watchmaker around you and if he can give it a shot on his Bergeon 5700 or Horotec opener . If that works that'd barely cost you anything. Just my 0.02. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torques Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 On the subject of cyclops, how hard is it to position a new cyclops before the glue dries. I have a replacement crystal and cyclops and maybe have been putting it off for a while because of a little uncertainty of the gluing technique. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namor Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 Jacobsen1, I've come across a few recent 16610LVs with D serial from a customer. I guess these are the latest version from GuangZhou that he brought back. Crystals are 2mm sapphire non-stepped with laser-etched crown, no raised lip on case. Similar to what you have. Crystals are held down by thin white plastic rings/seals. Since they are press fitted and popped out easily by applying a LITTLE pressure from underneath (thumb pushing). You may want to try using the hand tool with rubber/vacuum cup (Suction-type screw back case opener?) which most people would use for case back opening. Try it on the crystal see if it turns. I have never tried this on customers watches though, but that's what I'll try before taking the disassembly route, and I guess it'll work. It may be even better if you have a watchmaker around you and if he can give it a shot on his Bergeon 5700 or Horotec opener . If that works that'd barely cost you anything. Just my 0.02. If you have a watch like this - forget about ANY water-resistancy... The crystal definately can be popped off with "thumb pushing", but it should be really really hard to do so... On the subject of cyclops, how hard is it to position a new cyclops before the glue dries. I have a replacement crystal and cyclops and maybe have been putting it off for a while because of a little uncertainty of the gluing technique. If you have the right glue for the job, you will have more than sufficient time to align and adjust, it takes at least half an hour to dry (with the glue I use) - better not to touch it for 1 day to dry completely... Ah, one additional thing: be 100% sure to not have any microbubbles with air under the cyclops - otherwise it will bug you to insanity and you have to start over... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torques Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 If you have a watch like this - forget about ANY water-resistancy... The crystal definately can be popped off with "thumb pushing", but it should be really really hard to do so... If you have the right glue for the job, you will have more than sufficient time to align and adjust, it takes at least half an hour to dry (with the glue I use) - better not to touch it for 1 day to dry completely... Ah, one additional thing: be 100% sure to not have any microbubbles with air under the cyclops - otherwise it will bug you to insanity and you have to start over... Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
namor Posted January 18, 2007 Report Share Posted January 18, 2007 You're welcome ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flamemax Posted May 5, 2007 Report Share Posted May 5, 2007 This is some very cool information! OK, this might sound corny For those of you who have done this, can you describe your first time and what it was like? were you nervous? what went wrong? If it were possible, what would you change abourt that experience? Thanks! Robb AKA Flamemax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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