Bezel on my SubC Just Fell Off and Rolled Away!!!

[Glidelock]

Wow...starting to lose the faith here! Last night, while at dinner looked down and to my complete shock and amazement, my 116610 LN was missing it's bezel.

Only about 30 minutes prior, I had used the bezel to time the duration from which we ordered to when the food arrived, as it was so busy we were nervous our order would be lost in the shuffle and or take way longer to get than is reasonable.

Either way, it arrived in fair time, and we were eating when I realized my bezel was gone. Shocked, and amazed, as I've only owned this watch for a few months, and it still had full stickers when I purchased from a Trusted Seller (in which I have done many transaction with). Either way, the watch is still in the honeymoon phase, and hasn't take a good whack on even a door frame yet.

Now, if you've ever read any of my previous posts about the abuse I have put my 16610's through over the years, (Sledgehammering, Jack hammering, Diving in excess of 100 feet, smacking it countless times into door frames etc. where I thought "no way it survives that hit without needing repair!", but without fail, my 16610's just didn't fail.

I love the look of the Ceramic Sub's, but this is not acceptable by any measure. The good news is I looked down on the ground, and saw that it had rolled about 7 feet away under a now empty table!

Plus, it wasn't the insert that fell off, but the whole frickin' bezel! Additionally, even though the watch was really brand new, it's warranty was up about 3 months ago, so not sure exactly sure how that conversation is going to go, especially after having done a search and reading a thread in which Rolex service center had insisted on servicing the whole watch and also claimed the bezel ring was bent and needed to be replaced! That OP had to put up a fight, in which if I understood, Rolex eventually caved a bit!








Note the one odd ball bearing at position 6:34. it almost appears to have a flat weld to it? Looks like all the other ball bearings are gone though!

Not sure exactly what the rubber seal is for, but it goes around the entire crystal.

[iLLGT2]

Damn sorry to hear :/

[kieselguhr]

Jeez... there have been a few of these threads lately... and here I was in the market to buy a SubC. I sure am having doubts now. Maybe aluminium is the way to go... aaargh I really like the newer clasp though!

[sherwin]

i wouldnt let that experience put you off buying one Nick. there are more threads when things go wrong than when they dont.

also bezels falling off hasnt been anything new. infact, its happened before, and for the most part is a simple fix.

[mtb]

well... look on the bright side...at least it didn't crack...

hope to see it fixed soon :)

[Jake B]

Yep, sucks to have the tension ring break, but at least the insert isn't cracked.

[Bangel]

My goodness!

At least you were able to recover the missing parts and they appear intact.

Keep us posted about how the repairs go. Good luck!

[Baselman]

Unbeleivable but it's a Rolex and service repair will make it perfect must have been a fault not spotted in quality control

[leicashot]

This happened to a friend if mine with his older Sub. Very sad to hear and I would be very pissed. Hope my Pelagos holds up ok

[oxycon83]

Seems like a QC fault and good that you managed to get it fixed. My colleague SubC bezel popped after he knocked it in a door frame.

RSC had a field day dealing with his complain....

Sent from my XT910 using Tapatalk 2

[crowncollection]

That's bad but at least you have all the parts.


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[Glidelock]

Originally Posted by oxycon83

Seems like a QC fault and good that you managed to get it fixed. My colleague SubC bezel popped after he knocked it in a door frame.

RSC had a field day dealing with his complain....

Sent from my XT910 using Tapatalk 2

Well, not fixed at this point at all.

Appears that the thin rubber seal is in fact a thin separation or splintering off of the Rubber Gasket that me be in fact what the design is to hold the bezel into position. God help us all if that is in fact the case, as the rubber on this gasket is so soft and pliable that it would clearly start to degrade and separate with just a few rinses with soap and water!

[Old Expat Beast]

That's bad, I sympathise. Did you in fact use it as a dive watch, or in any other way that could have caused something to get at the rubber under there?

[travisb]

Not pretty.
Sorry to hear this.
I love the new Subs, and can imagine how disappointed you are.
I hope that Rolex might work with you despite the warranty being expired...

[Rashid.bk]

Originally Posted by oxycon83

Seems like a QC fault and good that you managed to get it fixed. My colleague SubC bezel popped after he knocked it in a door frame.

RSC had a field day dealing with his complain....

Sent from my XT910 using Tapatalk 2

Don't think he got it fixed yet.

This is scary to imagine. God I hope this is some bizarre rare instance. I love the modern Rolex line and don't like the small presence of the pre ceramic although I do love vintage Rolex.
As the years add up, we'll see how the modern improvements hold up. Perhaps I'll turn into a vintage guy.

I've seen a few other issues like this that happened out of warranty, like when the GMT2 ceramics were released and the there were a few clasp weld failures. Rolex replaced the clasp and on one example even took the whole watch and replaced with new one.

So good luck, and keep us posted.

[Pete17]

Nigh on a million watches produced a year and it looks like yours was faulty.
Rolex will fix it.
Hang in there.

[Psmith]

Sorry to hear. I'm sure Rolex will sort it out without fuss - please keep us informed

[padi56]

Originally Posted by Glidelock

Wow...starting to lose the faith here! Last night, while at dinner looked down and to my complete shock and amazement, my 116610 LN was missing it's bezel.

Only about 30 minutes prior, I had used the bezel to time the duration from which we ordered to when the food arrived, as it was so busy we were nervous our order would be lost in the shuffle and or take way longer to get than is reasonable.

Either way, it arrived in fair time, and we were eating when I realized my bezel was gone. Shocked, and amazed, as I've only owned this watch for a few months, and it still had full stickers when I purchased from a Trusted Seller (in which I have done many transaction with). Either way, the watch is still in the honeymoon phase, and hasn't take a good whack on even a door frame yet.

Now, if you've ever read any of my previous posts about the abuse I have put my 16610's through over the years, (Sledgehammering, Jack hammering, Diving in excess of 100 feet, smacking it countless times into door frames etc. where I thought "no way it survives that hit without needing repair!", but without fail, my 16610's just didn't fail.

I love the look of the Ceramic Sub's, but this is not acceptable by any measure. The good news is I looked down on the ground, and saw that it had rolled about 7 feet away under a now empty table!

Plus, it wasn't the insert that fell off, but the whole frickin' bezel! Additionally, even though the watch was really brand new, it's warranty was up about 3 months ago, so not sure exactly sure how that conversation is going to go, especially after having done a search and reading a thread in which Rolex service center had insisted on servicing the whole watch and also claimed the bezel ring was bent and needed to be replaced! That OP had to put up a fight, in which if I understood, Rolex eventually caved a bit!


Not sure exactly what the rubber seal is for, but it goes around the entire crystal.

Its a good job you found it and there have been quite a few with the same thing happening IMHO its a very poor design.I would ask Rolex to do the repair and no charge these ceramic inserts are IMHO a needless replacement to the perfectly functional aluminum bezel/insert. And with the ceramic a very costly replace if needed plus the need for special tools and gasket retaining ring replacement and not a simple DIY job.

[DavW]

Ouch, that's gonna hurt!! Hopes its an easy fix, good luck.


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[dysondiver]

at last you have the expensive bits found again , although a bit of a let down ,,, it could have been a lot worse.

[Urosfan]

Yikes sorry to hear it

[cop414]

Wow, talk about ruining a night out. Thankfully as others have said the bezel insert didn't break and you were able to find it. I cringe when I think of some kid sweeding up at night and throwing that bezel and insert out with the trash... hopefully the repair cost won't be too much. Please keep us posted and thanks for the "before" pics.

[SUBversive]

Wow terrible to hear and see pics. Once I pulled the bezel off my gmt while doing the most dangerous activity of pulling clothes out of the washer. I'll never do that again. As others have said...very good you recovered the bezel. But you need professional repairs.

[FremStar]

Very interesting... Maybe I'm just lucky, however, I have never had any problems with ANY of my modern timepiecs... Rolex, Patek, JLC, Tudor, etc... To those that say its a poor design and are losing faith in the modern iterations just take a closer look at the older aluminum timepieces and think about the defects on the bracelets, plexiglas glass crystals, etc... Stuff happens.

Good luck OP on whatever you decide to do.

[joejoe1225]

That would piss me off!! - They should fix that for free and get it back to you ASAP - I'm sure they will do the right thing.

JS

[Bimmer16]

Wow, sorry to hear! That's no good, but I'm sure Rolex will have it fixed. Those watches are damn ugly without the bezel!

[GPPD 276]

Your right, that weld looks funny. Hopefully they will take care of it at no cost. Sorry that happened to you

[Micha]

keep us posted of the outcome dealing with RSC, although I am not very confident...good luck

[00Seven]

Wow - that's disconcerting. Hope Rolex steps up.

[Speedbird-1]

I wonder how Rolex would react if, not only had your bezel popped off, but if say, your waiter had trodden on it and completely trashed the ceramic insert.
On a relatively new Sub, this is very worrying.
Does anybody know if there is much difference between the Sub C and the GMT and Yacht Master bezel retaining designs.
Imagine losing a jewel encrusted Gold or Platinum bezel. Aaaaargh!!!!!!!!