Best Seamaster 120 Aftermarket Bezel

M AgoMe

Just realised you're not Dan.

"Nothing like" in what ways? In that, would it fit? Or is that why you've crossed out the 31mm inner diameter?

Davidt

It looks completely different to a Seamaster 60 bezel. The graduations are in 10, not 15 before we even start on colour, font, overall design construction method etc

M AgoMe

Just realised you're not Dan.

"Nothing like" in what ways? In that, would it fit? Or is that why you've crossed out the 31mm inner diameter?

M AgoMe

But would it fit?

The colour issue could be resolved by asking the company to send a picture of their insert. Often the real thing looks different to a screen shot image.

Regards aesthetics, it's better than what Dan has now so, for a reasonable cost, if it made the watch more complete until an accurate alternative came up, why not?

M AgoMe

Things have moved on a bit and after Christmas I intend to post a picture or two.

On Friday, after 12 months, I finally got my completed watch back from OMEGA. They were able to repair the dial such that it didn't need a re-paint. Which was great news.

I then found a NOS Bezel for my 166.0027 which means that it now has the original face, date window, hands and a new bezel which, with the aged lume-dot matches perfectly.

And as a consequence(!), I also have a bakelite bezel that was fitted to the watch and then taken off before it was worn (in fact, before it even had a strap fitted). All of the work was done by OMEGA.

I know that it doesn't help you but what 'they' say is true, sometimes original bezels can be found.

Also, I believe that as 3d printing technology improves, aftermarket bezels will appear again at some point. And given that OMEGA have no problem supplying other parts for watches, it must be possible that they will choose do it themselves.

As for there being suppliers of good quality that are alternatives available now, I'm afraid that I tried very hard to find one and failed.

sonicosa

Also out of curiosity, does anyone know if the bezels from these 4 SM 120 references are interchangeable?

At one point I tried swapping the case backs between reference 135.027 and 166.027 to see if they were interchangeable (other than the shape that accommodates the rotor on the auto version obviously), and the threads didn’t line up.

So, it seems there are at least some differences between the mid-cases on some of the references, and I wonder if those differences extended to how these bezels fit. Would be important information for anyone trying to buy one of these watches to source a bezel from.

W wallaby-dan

So, the saga continues but on a much happier note. Over the weekend, I found a seller on eBay with a NOS Bakelite bezel insert and bezel for sale. I overpaid but it is now mine, or at least DHL’s until they deliver it!!

It is the black bezel and my dial is blue. I have never seen this combo and frankly, if I could get a blue one I would but they come up for sale every 5 years or so. I could either look now for a black dial or just stop being so pedantic and wear the watch for a while before deciding

pics to follow