A question for the watchmaker's

Orisok · Mar 25, 2019

Hi, I was wondering if one of the watchmaker's on this forum could point me in the right direction.
I am trying to buy an assortment of watch crown gaskets that are around the size of 2mm (iner diameter) to 3.75mm ( outer diameter) and I guess it would make it 1,7mm thick, to fit inside a watch crown. I have searched everywhere on the web/ supply houses and no one sells anything close, they are all a lot smaller and thinner.
Does anyone know where I could purchase watch crown orings around these larger/ thicker sizes?

STANDY · Mar 25, 2019

At only $4:17

https://www.ebay.com/i/192666522593...0%26rvr_ts%3Db80f62641690ac1c6811d8c9ffc3dca7

Orisok · Mar 26, 2019

Hi, thanks for the reply, but the orings you suggested are too small.
I need the gaskets to go up to 4mm outside diameter. Cheers

ChrisN · Mar 26, 2019

It's not really possible to replace seals in many Omega crowns (and most makes) so most of the seals available are for pushers or the Seiko crowns, where the seal is replaceable.

I suppose you mean 2 mm inner and 0.875 mm thickness to give the outer diameter of 3.75 mm? I think you've mis-typed the thickness if they are O rings.

I have these. Biggest there is 2.15 mm I.D. and 3.65 mm O.D. This should suit for your purposes.
And from here, the first set shown. Might be a bit small for what you want.

Post some pictures to let us know how you get on. Good luck.

Cheers, Chris

Orisok · Mar 26, 2019

Hi Chris, thanks for the link, the gaskets seem like they might just work if I can't find others. And yes , sorry your right I miss calculated the thickness of the gasket.

Just out of curiosity, how do you store your gaskets?
And what do you think is the shelf life of these small rubber orings?
For instance if they where vacuum sealed, would they last for years?

ChrisN · Mar 26, 2019

I've never really thought too much about shelf life of seals and of course, you don't know how long the supplier has had them. In the aerospace industry (previous life), we would not allow any type of O ring (regardless of composition) to be on the shelf for more than 15 years and often far less. To be safe here, I would say 5-10 years as they may have spent some time at the supplier. You'll know by the feel of them if they are going off.

I doubt packing them in a vacuum would make a difference but I'm not a specialist in these sort of materials so, if anyone knows better I'd be interested to hear it. I store them in my workshop in a dark cupboard.

Any pictures of the crown you're trying to work on?

Cheers, Chris

Archer · Mar 26, 2019

As you are finding, the sizes available for the small O-rings are much more limited than for case back O-rings. I have many different assortments that I've bought over the years, and even with all those I still find it's tough to find exactly the right size. Finding thicker cross section O-rings in the small sizes is the most difficult task in my experience.

I'm currently looking for 2.5 ID X 4.1 OD...not having much luck...

Orisok · Mar 26, 2019

ChrisN
I've never really thought too much about shelf life of seals and of course, you don't know how long the supplier has had them. In the aerospace industry (previous life), we would not allow any type of O ring (regardless of composition) to be on the shelf for more than 15 years and often far less. To be safe here, I would say 5-10 years as they may have spent some time at the supplier. You'll know by the feel of them if they are going off.

I doubt packing them in a vacuum would make a difference but I'm not a specialist in these sort of materials so, if anyone knows better I'd be interested to hear it. I store them in my workshop in a dark cupboard.

Any pictures of the crown you're trying to work on?

Cheers, Chris

Thanks again for your reply, sorry I have no pic's of the crown as I was only doing research in possibly purchasing a vintage watch that i seen on ebay, and having fun servicing, replacing the sealed watch crown gasket. ( So as to keep the watch original).

As for the reason why I asked about the shelf life of watch orings is because, I have a mechanical depth gauge for scuba diving that I have used for nearly 30 years as a backup.
Every year I disassemble the depth gauge and clean it out. I have had the same black rubber gaskets in it, as I can't find a replacement ( as the spare parts have been discontinued for over 20 years).
All I do is re lubricate the old orings and to my surprise it still has not failed.
Mind you the orings are quite thick.

Orisok · Mar 26, 2019

Archer
As you are finding, the sizes available for the small O-rings are much more limited than for case back O-rings. I have many different assortments that I've bought over the years, and even with all those I still find it's tough to find exactly the right size. Finding thicker cross section O-rings in the small sizes is the most difficult task in my experience.

I'm currently looking for 2.5 ID X 4.1 OD...not having much luck...

Hi, as a thought, have you ever disassemble a cheap generic sealed watch crown as to use the orings in that as a replacement for an original factory crown?

Archer · Mar 26, 2019

O Orisok
Hi, as a thought, have you ever disassemble a cheap generic sealed watch crown as to use the orings in that as a replacement for an original factory crown?

No - you would not be able to tell the size until you get it apart, so it would likely take a lot of crowns to find what you need...

A question for the watchmaker's

Orisok

STANDY

Orisok

ChrisN

Orisok

ChrisN

Archer

Orisok

Orisok

Archer

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