Interchanging a 6263/6265 bezel by yourself?

[theflywrist]

Good day guys, hope everyone is doing well

So yesterday I was sitting with a good friend and we were trying to remove the bezel off his 6263. I have a ton of experience changing inserts/bezels on submariners/gmts, but it was my first time trying to do it on the Daytona.

To my surprise, removing the bezel was actually quite easy, I also noticed that the crystal was a little loose, and I could freely move it too easily and even lift it without any force if I wanted to, that's why I suggested a new service crystal (at least that's what I would do), and it would probably be firmer, the swap should be easy and could be done at home.

My question is just this, is it NOT supposed to be this easy to remove the bezel?
I'm not quite sure if that's the norm of if that means his bezel was not firmly secured?
The bezel would definitely not move around or be able to be lifted by hand, but with a watchmaker's knife it was not difficult at all.
Is there any harm in doing this if one wanted to shift between a steel/plastic bezel from time to time?

Just to be sure, it would be advisable to replace the crystal if it felt too loose and moved around that freely? I remember on my subs, the aftermarket crystals normally would be loose and similar to the Daytona I saw yesterday, but the service or genuine rolex crystals would be very firmly secured, and that's why I suggested changing it.

Sorry for the silly questions, appreciate the insight!

[roh123]

I would not do it at home. The bezel is what secures the crystal and that is very different from a sub/gmt where this is done by the glass ring. I hope you used a proper tool to press back the bezel so your friend doesn't lose both crystal and bezel one day. As I don't know how skiled you are and what tools you may have access to I can't really judge but I would not recommend the average daytona owner to do this by themselves. I imagine that it is also quite easy to crack the crystal while pressing the bezel back on.

[theflywrist]

Originally Posted by roh123

I would not do it at home. The bezel is what secures the crystal and that is very different from a sub/gmt where this is done by the glass ring. I hope you used a proper tool to press back the bezel so your friend doesn't lose both crystal and bezel one day. As I don't know how skiled you are and what tools you may have access to I can't really judge but I would not recommend the average daytona owner to do this by themselves. I imagine that it is also quite easy to crack the crystal while pressing the bezel back on.

Thank you for the response!
The watch is actually going to a watch maker in 2 days when the rolex service crystal arrives.
I do understand about the bezel serving as a retaining ring would on a sub, and thats actually why I am wondering why it was not too difficult to remove the bezel in the first place. He's glad we did it because we are not sure if the bezel is normally not supposed to be so easy to pop out, but we also definitely found out that the crystal is extremely loose, which of course is equally as much of an issue.

Appreciate your input !

[roh123]

If the bezel didn't sit tight and if it is easy to put on and remove it might need to be tightened by the appropriate tool. I believe it is called 1006? When bezels are removed too often they get looser every time and in the end the fit is poor. I have not personally done this but my watchmaker have on some of my sports watches. I believe this could be done to the Daytona bezels as well. At least the steel ones.

[theflywrist]

Originally Posted by roh123

If the bezel didn't sit tight and if it is easy to put on and remove it might need to be tightened by the appropriate tool. I believe it is called 1006? When bezels are removed too often they get looser every time and in the end the fit is poor. I have not personally done this but my watchmaker have on some of my sports watches. I believe this could be done to the Daytona bezels as well. At least the steel ones.

Ah absolutely. I have had a friend help tighten 1 of my bezel rings that would not mount on to the watch, and also loosen one that would come off easily.
Problem is on the 6263 acrylic bezel, couldn't this damage the plastic on it?
Would love to hear if anyone has an insight on this, or had tried it.
Appreciate your help buddy!