Thomas Preik sapphire case back - an installation and review

[withthesword]

so as some of you may or may not have known, i decided to (gasp) modify my submariner.

so before we go on, let's just get this out of the way:

yes, i know i can possibly be 'depreciating' the value of my sub. no biggie, i can just reinstall the old case back.

no, the rolex movement isn't the most beautiful thing in the world, but i simply don't care. it's beautiful to me, and that's all that matters.

why didn't i just go to my favorite watchmaker to have this taken care of? well, just like i like to be able to perform some routine things to my own car, i'd like to be able to do certain things to my watches. no, i won't do a full service myself, but yes i might replace the bezel insert. no, i won't replace the crystal myself, but yes, i think something as simple as taking a case back off and screwing it back on is easy enough for a regular person.

so let's begin

firstly, i'd like to say that Thomas Preik's order process was very smooth. the order came out a little cheaper than i thought (i realised later it was because i didn't get charged that pesky VAT), and even came with tracking. it arrived before anything else i had ordered to complete this modification arrived.

the quality of the case back is superb. the fit and finish is on par with rolex's own case back. granted, it's not terribly difficult to make a decent looking case back, but i've seen some crummily done ones in my time, and this one is definately not it.



the first thing i did was gather all the stuff i thought i would need, and placed it in my work space. no, not exactly like above, but within reach so that i wouldn't have to move around too much and stir up dust.



rolex uses a 29.5mm socket to remove the case back on the submariner. i tried using the grooved chuck wrench without a case vice, and realised it's not so easy. you really need a good grip on the case to get the right pressure to be able to unscrew the back.




the case vice i used was a very cheap $1 CAD thing with free shipping. it did the job though. i think if i was going to do this a few more times, i would probably opt to get a somewhat more expensive one.

with the back open, we catch a glimpse of what i consider the most beautiful workhorse around. beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

the first thing i notice is that there is almost no crud at all. not on the threads of the original back, not around the gasket, and none on the gasket at all.

for all those shower naysayers out there, i've been showering with my watches on for 15 years. the last watch i had serviced was my old Marathon SAR, and when i asked the watchmaker how the gasket was doing, he said he had half a mind to reuse the old one because it looked so good.

whoever said showering with your watch on melts the gaskets must have been showering in pure acid.



meanwhile, i remove the gasket, clean off the nothing that was on it, and grease it up in some silicone grease.
i dabbed around the whole circumference with some rodico just to be extra safe. the putty came away nearly spotless.




here, i had a chance to use my calipers to check on the case back heights. suprisingly, the new sapphire case back actually sits lower than the original back! realistically, three tenths of a mm isn't going to make a whole lot of difference, but it was a real suprise to see there was such a difference.

i realise that this measurement was from the back surface to the end of the threads though. i kinda wish i had the right kind of caliper to check the actually surface thickness.



with the gasket greased, and the case back threads greased as well, i cranked it down. it was really easy to match the threads, and the same 29.5mm socket tightened it down. just such a simple change, and it already seems like a completely new watch.



and there we have it. installed and ready for the wearer...me...to enjoy the ticking workhorse that is the rolex caliber 3130 movement!

seriously, i can't believe people can say that it looks ugly. is it that it's ugly for what it is, or that it's simply an ugly movement? either way, it's beautiful to me!

THE REVIEW!

this case back is fantastic. i've always admired all mechanical movements. yes, even that ugly as sin seiko 7s26, or vostok whatevers. all movements have a certain beauty to me. it really is amazing that this hundreds year old art of creating a physical manifestation of the passing of time is driven by a couple springs and bunch of toothed wheels.

the sapphire back is something i've always admired in other watches like hamiltons or panerais, but have never had myself because i've been such a hard core rolex fan.

Thomas Preik's case back solves that problem for me.

it's interesting to me that the case back is very slightly shallower than the original case back. it was very unexpected, but a welcome difference.

it's also interesting to note that on this model, the 14060m, i don't seem to have the same issue that some users with the new supercases have had. for example, on minus4plus6, it was found that the case back sat slightly recessed into the newer cases. in his case it was the gmtIIc. i'm not too sure if this is true for the new supercase submariners though.

in my case, this isn't an issue. the fitment is perfect, and i haven't found any recessing issues.

in the days to come, i'm going to bring my sub into my watchmaker to have a simple pressure test. i figure if it passes the 100m it should be more than good enough for my needs.

in conclusion, this easy modification is something i recommend any who are interested to try. i haven't tried any of the other sapphire backs, but Preik's case backs seem to have the best reviews, and i couldn't agree with them more.

any questions about the process are welcome!

Cofion Cynnes,

Matte

[nauticajoe]

Nice job!

[mjclark32]

I love it, looks great IMO. Well done

[impalass]

Looks great and TP makes a high quality product.

[Rashid.bk]

Looks real good. Is this good for the 300 meters resistance.

[HL65]

Very cool--well done!

[Sub4Life]

Get that Sub pressure tested!

[b06tmm]

Thanks for sharing!

[teqp]

Looks good and nice write-up.

[lja1821]

Very nice..

[lig]

Very enjoyable post. Congrats and thank you!

[threemonkeys]

I like that look.

[KeepTicking]

Awesome review!!! I love when people take the time to do detailed reviews like this!!

[Gharddog03]

Looks Awesome. Nice review!

[Bruno C]

looks great!

[mrbill2mrbill2]

Nice job! Looks great!

[Lrd2sea]

great job! Love mine on the GMT 2c, too.

[123joule]

Looks great!

[cop414]

I'm usually a keep it stock kind of guy, but that looks fantastic! It's something that I might consider at service time, very, very nice simple mod. Great job!

[Tools]

Nicely done.. looks good

I keep a couple of my watches on a Preik case-back just because they're such a nice product..

The Sub will pressure check to the full depth, no problem....

[AmbSteve]

Nice job Matte, looks great! Thanks for sharing the photos of the process

[Psmith]

Looks great, well done!

[onkyo]

Great post. Your write up and pics are fantastic. Enjoy the watch.

[DJJon]

Fantastic review. Thanks for the time invested to post such a clear and detailed post.

Sticky status?

[Hairdude1]

Thanks for sharing!

[LightOnAHill]

I think the movement is very good looking, sexy in its robustness

Sweet mod!

I will do the same thing for my Daytona when I get it. I'll look into the brand of back you got,n sounds like it worked out well. Thanks for posting the thread.

[Rolex-10]

Great review.
A very cool mod indeed.

[GeoGio Greece]

Matte thanks. Great presentation and job. Enjoy !!

I would like such a modification, but as I get a lot of sea water use, I still wonder if it be safe. Let us have the pressure test results.

[Matt_Regan]

Very nice! Some serious "movement-porn" there!

[SeaDweller50]

Looks great IMO. Thanks