rogerthat Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 I have had this project in the works for a long time and have had some bad news along the way, but the ending looks to be a happy one. Bought a gen rolex GMTIIc bezel and was hoping to franken my rep. Problem I ran into was that the gen bezel would not attach to the rep. It fits but won't stay put and I didn't want to epoxy it on. The rep shown in the pictures now has a gen bezel Insert installed and also Cheif's AR'd cyclops. To be honest I was hoping the cyclops AR would have come out better, Cheiftang's watch crystals are truly amazing and I am a proud owner of a handful of watches with them. The cyclops though does not have the same affect so that was a little disappointing. I no longer have anything to compare it to,though so if anyone out there can post if they see a difference in the visibility and/or magnification of the cyclops in my pics vs. their rep or gen it would be much appreciated. I did not use any photoshop editing on these pics just cropping and resizing. I wanted to keep the colors as accurate as possible to show the difference between the rep and gen bezels as they are very different. 1st picture shows gen bezel insert on the left and rep bezel insert on the right. I scratched the heck out of the rep trying to pry the f'er off the rep bezel. The pictures do not lie, the bezel font is very accurate but the color of the numbers is not. The gen is much whiter and the black ceramic has a little more sheen/shine to it. 2nd picture gen bezel insert on top, rep on bottom. 3rd picture, gen bezel insert on bottom, rep on top. Why was it so hard to get the rep bezel insert off, well look at this picture. Rep insert backside is covered with glue or something very sticky holding the insert on the rep making it very hard to remove. Keep this in mind if you think about doing a similar mod. Couple of pictures of rep watch with insert removed, looks strange this way! Watch is pre-cleaning in these 2 photos. Bezels ; metal portion rep vs. gen. Very little difference though the rep is softer and much easier to bend. The rep bezel pictured came off of a backup rep case I had. I was able to pry it off with aknife but I bent it beyond repair in the process. The size though is the same and the gen really does not look any better. Gen bezel on rep case, it fits, it fits!!! Yes, but unfortunately it falls right off and there does not seem any good way to attach. Epoxy I guess would work but I choose to use the insert only instead. The gen does seem to turn the same way on the rep bezel. So I added some small daps of Gorilla Glue to the back of the gen bezel insert and pressed it onto the rep bezel. That was the only easy part of this mod. Without further ado, some pictures of the finished product. Let me know what you think...about the gen insert, cyclops. Is the bezel properly seated, is the crystal? I am not very familiar with Rolex. Lastly a few comparison pictures of the rep bezel insert next to the watch. For the last shot I took from further away to try to show how the gen has a little more sheen/presence/shine, etc... Of course without having the two bezels to compare head to head the rep would be very hard to spot. Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolexman Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Thanks for the info. The result is very nice indeed! Good to know the gen insert fits the rep bezel without any mods. Judging from all the scratches on the rep insert can we conclude the rep insert is in fact NOT real ceramic? There are a lot of myths about this so hopefully you can put this issue to bed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Fantastic mod review Indeed, watches sure look funny without the inserts in place. At my wedding, I saw that my best man was wearing his watch minus the entire bezel assembly Are you planning on doing anything with the spare bezel insert, or might you be open to negotiations on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerthat Posted April 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 The rep bezel insert is scratched to all hell and not ever usable. I had a spare case from another member here but that spare came without the insert or the crystal so I have no real useful spare parts remaining. The rep insert scratches very easily with a razor blade and will also sratch with even a sharp edge of a screwdriver tip. I used both when scratching mine. I am not sure if this means it is not real ceramic. Coffee mugs are ceramic right and I can sure scratch those with any thing sharp as well? I will try to see what appears if I scrape the bottom side of the insert, maybe it is just a coating on top of aluminum on the rep I am not sure. If I find out conclusively, I will post it or if you have any advise on how I can test it, the rep insert is useless so might as well use it for educational purposes. That said the Hublot ceramic bezels do seem much more "scratch resistant" than the rolex inserts. Even the gen rolex one I think would scratch, though I don't plan on trying that one out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 The rep bezel insert is scratched to all hell and not ever usable. I had a spare case from another member here but that spare came without the insert or the crystal so I have no real useful spare parts remaining. The rep insert scratches very easily with a razor blade and will also sratch with even a sharp edge of a screwdriver tip. I used both when scratching mine. I am not sure if this means it is not real ceramic. Coffee mugs are ceramic right and I can sure scratch those with any thing sharp as well? I will try to see what appears if I scrape the bottom side of the insert, maybe it is just a coating on top of aluminum on the rep I am not sure. If I find out conclusively, I will post it or if you have any advise on how I can test it, the rep insert is useless so might as well use it for educational purposes. That said the Hublot ceramic bezels do seem much more "scratch resistant" than the rolex inserts. Even the gen rolex one I think would scratch, though I don't plan on trying that one out. Although the scratches are visible in the photos, I can't quite 'decipher' them... Are they simply 'surface gouges', or are they 'missing pigmentation' with bare metal showing through? ARe the scratches of the kind which would appear on a Submariner insert which had been beaten up, or are they just 'indented' into the substance of the insert? If it's a case of it being some kind of 'paint' removed, then indeed, possibly irreperable, but, if it is simply surface scratches, such as clasps and bracelets pick up, I'm wondering if it might be possible to 'buff out' the scratches Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
indyberetta Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Is the gen bezel cracked at the #1 position or is that something on there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dandonnelly Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 where did you find a gen bezel and insert? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rolexman Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 The rep bezel insert is scratched to all hell and not ever usable. I had a spare case from another member here but that spare came without the insert or the crystal so I have no real useful spare parts remaining. The rep insert scratches very easily with a razor blade and will also sratch with even a sharp edge of a screwdriver tip. I used both when scratching mine. I am not sure if this means it is not real ceramic. Coffee mugs are ceramic right and I can sure scratch those with any thing sharp as well? I will try to see what appears if I scrape the bottom side of the insert, maybe it is just a coating on top of aluminum on the rep I am not sure. If I find out conclusively, I will post it or if you have any advise on how I can test it, the rep insert is useless so might as well use it for educational purposes. That said the Hublot ceramic bezels do seem much more "scratch resistant" than the rolex inserts. Even the gen rolex one I think would scratch, though I don't plan on trying that one out. Thanks for the info. Looking forward to the findings and pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cib0rgman Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 where did you find a gen bezel and insert? Ditto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tribal Posted April 30, 2009 Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 The gen GMT use a complete different click mechanism like ballbearing (hard to describe) That's the reason why you can't install it properly on the Rep. Beware that gen Ceracrom Inserts crack total easily This is reported from a lot of gen owners. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rogerthat Posted April 30, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2009 Gen bezel was a rare Ebay find. Not found by me but another forum member. Price was reasonable so I took the chance, I have only once seen one other offered and it was 4x the price. I paid $300 and some change. Yes, that crack at the 1 o'clock marker is real and on the gen. Unfortunately that was part of the earlier downs of this whole project. The gen bezel insert cracked when removing it from the gen bezel. Happened months ago and I thought of scrapping the whole idea at that time but then decided even with the hairline crack it looks better than the rep insert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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