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BP vintage FF crystals


panerai153

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I have a DSN LIP BP fifty fathoms. OK watch, however it’s what it is! Alan has built several amazing vintage BP’s using Vietnam cases and other more accurate components, however as he stated earlier, finding parts is getting harder and harder. I’m running into the same problem with my DSN. Crystal cracked, no longer water resistant. I’m finding it difficult to locate a replacement crystal, as DSN doesn’t have any spares to sell. Wondering if any folks out there have any ideas as to where I can find a replacement? Hopefully someone makes an acrylic that is a little better quality than the ones that came on the DSN FF.

 

 

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Just measure the crystal and then get a tension ring crystal from cousins, get the same size as the dsn plexi to fit inside the gasket, the tension ring makes for a tighter fit, in an ideal world you would fit the tension ring crystal without the gasket but if you do that the extra size will mean that when you turn the bezel you will turn the crystal 

https://www.cousinsuk.com/product/divers-chrome-ringed-glass-atct

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This is the kind of thing,the old skin diver type of plexi.
Really the dsn rehaut with the gasket is designed for a sapphire crystal but I used one of these in one of my dsn builds and it was pretty water tight , my Vietnam blancpain builds have the diver tite crystal and even without having a screw down crown they are water tight 20a906699a52284e3fbf810c43e25c9e.jpg00de794a91f28569f6c1b43571cb5c69.jpg759da5708fdad046e6f83ee9e525e584.jpg

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Thanks everyone. Matt has the watch and hopefully if anyone can sort out the crystal deal it would be him.
Alan your builds are really, really nice. Nice probably being and understatement !!
Nanug, if you remember years back I had an aqualung BP. That was sold to me by a watch shop here in the USA as a genuine. It had the thinner case like Alan’s Vietnam cases. Stupid me, I sold it mainly because most of the replicas had thicker cases and I thought the thinner case was incorrect. Boy was I wrong. . I never opened the back, but I would bet it had an AS movement.


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Thanks everyone. Matt has the watch and hopefully if anyone can sort out the crystal deal it would be him.
Alan your builds are really, really nice. Nice probably being and understatement !!
Nanug, if you remember years back I had an aqualung BP. That was sold to me by a watch shop here in the USA as a genuine. It had the thinner case like Alan’s Vietnam cases. Stupid me, I sold it mainly because most of the replicas had thicker cases and I thought the thinner case was incorrect. Boy was I wrong. . I never opened the back, but I would bet it had an AS movement.


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Probably would have been an as movement to, I think all the slim vietnam cases take that movement, over the last couple of years they have become hard to come by.
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  • 9 months later...

FF Aqua lung (vietnamese) disassembled  and ready for the crystal replacement.

originally equipped with a regular high domed plexi, found out to be far from tight and “glued”. During a trip to Indonesia humidity levels were so high that condensations formed inside of the crystal to my big surprise.

Got a GS-DT crystal from a Canadian seller on Ebay; diameter 30.1.

Operation was successful and new crystal is a tight fit for these cases.

Thank you again Alan for all the info, recommendations and support.

M.

670A116F-6D97-475D-B0A8-F5D594ABA466.jpeg

The result:

a tightly fit crystal, thick, sturdy and ss accurate as possible.

Alan, bezel was not so cooperative but was finally removed and the metal spring was replaced for the one you kindly sent me last year, for a tight rotation; not loose anymore.

cheers,

M.

BC53E689-710B-4F2C-93A9-336ADE49971B.jpeg

66924161-DAEF-49CF-AAFD-71A7051CD734.jpeg

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FF Aqua lung (vietnamese) disassembled  and ready for the crystal replacement.
originally equipped with a regular high domed plexi, found out to be far from tight and “glued”. During a trip to Indonesia humidity levels were so high that condensations formed inside of the crystal to my big surprise.
Got a GS-DT crystal from a Canadian seller on Ebay; diameter 30.1.
Operation was successful and new crystal is a tight fit for these cases.
Thank you again Alan for all the info, recommendations and support.
M.
670A116F-6D97-475D-B0A8-F5D594ABA466.thumb.jpeg.fca2366f446963616e6d510bcd1db522.jpeg
The result:
a tightly fit crystal, thick, sturdy and ss accurate as possible.
Alan, bezel was not so cooperative but was finally removed and the metal spring was replaced for the one you kindly sent me last year, for a tight rotation; not loose anymore.
cheers,
M.
BC53E689-710B-4F2C-93A9-336ADE49971B.thumb.jpeg.7370ed7d3da0a54e95bc4f9f28b0a94d.jpeg
66924161-DAEF-49CF-AAFD-71A7051CD734.thumb.jpeg.6f07c3e67a6a8d7eed3ce1e23d1004e3.jpeg
Nice, just needs the better insert now to, hopefully it should be reasonably water tight now too

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2 minutes ago, Alan72 said:

Nice, just needs the better insert now to, hopefully it should be reasonably water tight now too

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I had not the courage to replace the insert for the one you sent me since i will have to break this one first to be removed...

and the hands... I am yet to find an accurate replacement.

The AS movement is doing very decently and I am yet to test it for water tightness, guessing the crown will be an issue.

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I had not the courage to replace the insert for the one you sent me since i will have to break this one first to be removed...

and the hands... I am yet to find an accurate replacement.

The AS movement is doing very decently and I am yet to test it for water tightness, guessing the crown will be an issue.

Its easy to do the insert, just make a little hole in the other one with a screwdriver and hook it out, the other one just presses in, after reading this i decided to wear mine, mine is ok for swimming and it has no screw down criwn, as long as the rubber o ring is tight on the case tube its ok, the original didn't have a screw in crown either as rolex exclusively held the patent back then so other brands weren't able to use screw down crowns.

5f9589b9312aa12fb24444b0ebbdb5ba.jpg&key=3363f90e685b7a36bd4285da1258cdf31f013de0f7a26598ed547d7f6f249610ee23f51afab4004bbed6614d9cf0c189.jpg&key=6284d1e372eca02fdc1b54d1a9bdd2170758eea7a15c550ad807ed72f7d7bc94

 

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14 minutes ago, Alan72 said:

Its easy to do the insert, just make a little hole in the other one with a screwdriver and hook it out, the other one just presses in, after reading this i decided to wear mine
5f9589b9312aa12fb24444b0ebbdb5ba.jpgee23f51afab4004bbed6614d9cf0c189.jpg

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Beautiful!

and how about the strap?

is it a rubber tropic diver? Are they comfortable to wear?

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Beautiful!
and how about the strap?
is it a rubber tropic diver? Are they comfortable to wear?
Yeah its a 60s tropic, its great, actual tropic ones are really expensive now but there are lots of generic 60s ones out there, just don't go with a silicone one, they dont look right

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Just now, Alan72 said:

Yeah its a 60s tropic, its great, actual tropic ones are really expensive now but there are lots of generic 60s ones out there, just don't go with a silicone one, they dont look right

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I have some from the early 60s but I find them rough (and smelly) for daily use...

I usually go for nato, more suitable for tropical weather

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I have some from the early 60s but I find them rough (and smelly) for daily use...
I usually go for nato, more suitable for tropical weather
It smells of rubber i guess, but very soft and flexible, very comfortable

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On 7/31/2020 at 9:36 PM, Alan72 said:

It smells of rubber i guess, but very soft and flexible, very comfortable

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The vintage ones require some sanding in the tops, since they usually have barbed edges along and the bellybutton from the injector.

here is one of mine:

FE72396C-47CB-4CA1-89D5-02C22239AA3B.jpeg

8C111AAC-7929-4578-99B8-17EFD168FA55.jpeg

Edited by madasboot
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The vintage ones require some sanding in the tops, since they usually have barbed edges along and the bellybutton from the injector.
here is one of mine:
FE72396C-47CB-4CA1-89D5-02C22239AA3B.thumb.jpeg.3e3f480c63582a0a7e91591ef43ac195.jpeg
8C111AAC-7929-4578-99B8-17EFD168FA55.thumb.jpeg.a4f2f48026af38bbed0f73aeaeb000c0.jpeg
Looking very nice, just let me know when you get bored of it lol.

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