Making replacement bezels/inserts, "bakelite"/acrylic & aluminium- Tissot PR516

mcgyver

I have had request for making a bezel/insert for the PR516 chronographs with tachy/pulsations scale before - but I never had an original at hand to se how it was made. @TrboDieselPwrd kindly sent me a case with a worn bezel/insert to disect!

I have allways taught it was a rather thick acrylic insert, but it turns out to be 0.5mm and held in place by a piece of black plastic that is press fitted to the case.

I took measurements and produced a new "bezel" from fresh POM plastic.

The insert was made from 0.5mm acrylic sheet. Numbers/scale are made with a special method of painting and etching (muuuuuuuuuch experimentation to get it to work) and finally the backside is painted white.

The insert is then glued to the bezel and gets a final polish - done.

​

ghce

Have you had any experience with the red bezel chronographs, my new to me project watch's bezel looks a little tired and I do worry about its fragility if I have to remove it in the restoration.

mcgyver

The problem is the process of making them has a hard time with the color red! I can do another testrun, but I do not think it is going to work! 🙁

mcgyver

This is a 0.5mm thick acrylic insert - so it needs to be painted and "printed" ! :/