The bezel fell off my 1985 Rolex submariner and rolled away. I will take it to the NYC RSC but am concerned about bezel replacement because unbeknownst to me the bezels changed in 2010 or at some point and are now ceramic. I would prefer an original bezel. Can I source a correct time period bezel on the internet? Otherwise any advice?
You would have seen a comical rendition of ‘man chasing hat’ as I tore down the sidewalk after that bezel insert. Unless it was already gone when you noticed it 😖
As David said, Rolex will should have a bezel insert that “fits”, it won’t be outrageously priced and there is nothing wrong with factory service parts. But the font may be different than the original (if that bothers you) and the pip will be stark white (luminova)
and not the creame color you probably have on the indices by now.
Be careful shopping on eBay- there are lots of fake parts- particularly bezel inserts, and they have gotten good at aging the pips to look vintage. There would be no shame posting a link to an auction here and asking the pro’s if it’s legit or not
I was walking a huge dog (170lbs) when the dog playfully jumped on me but the metal fastener on the end of the leash smashed into the side of my Rolex and the bezel made a metallic ping noise and rolled away* I got the dog under control and put her back in the apartment and returned with a flashlight to search but after crawling around parked cars and through occasional traffic with a flashlight for 3 hours I decided the most likely scenario is the bezel rolled into a drainage grate. There may have been some weird circular wire piece as well. I was going through a difficult divorce and could not deal with resolving the Rolex issue then but am returning to it now.
I will take your sage advice and do just that.
Entire bezel or just insert? Which Submariner reference? Period-correct parts can always be sourced at a price. Rolex will supply an authentic replacement part, but not period-correct.
The link you provided is for a no date Submariner (ref. 14060) bezel insert.
Is yours a no date Sub or Sub with date?
The bezel inserts for the 14060 no-date Sub and 16610 Sub w/ date, are different and not interchangeable so you'll want to make sure you're looking to source the right part(s).
You can always do you best Marlon Brando impersonation and wear it as is 😜
In seriousness, good luck finding the parts. You’ll need to know which to look for as fitment is important. You can try hunting on TRF as you may find the standalone parts there.
IF you can get a RSC to sell you a complete bezel without a service, that may be the way to go. However, if they will only provide a bezel with a complete service, which is what I’m inclined to believe, I may caution that route. If your watch has the original tritium dial/hands, Rolex will replace those with modern parts and keep the originals.
I agree you should have the whole assembly replaced by Rolex, and then perhaps buy a period-correct insert on the secondary market some time in the future. Depending on whether your local AD actually has a service department or not, they may have to send the watch to the RSC for installation. Of course, they may not tell you that unless you specifically ask. Or you can send the watch to an RSC directly.
