External bezel shims

[jbcollier]

Underneath the external bezel/indictor ring there is a thin, flat shim/spacer/washer made out of hard plastic (I think). Anyone have a source for these? Suggestions for material source? Alternatives?

 

[JimJupiter]

Oh, thats a good question and I would love to join this. Until now I failed to find a matching substitute.

Nico

 

[jbcollier]

Sigh, that's what I was afraid of. I'm off and on looking. If I find anything, I'll post it here.

 

[JimJupiter]

these are the parts we are talking about, if anyone wonders. They are made of kind of plastic and as far as I know were oiled for better moving of the bezel.

 

[jbcollier]

Finding suitable stock was easy enough.

McMaster-Carr

McMaster-Carr is the complete source for your plant with over 595,000 products. 98% of products ordered ship from stock and deliver same or next day.

www.mcmaster.com

Making up the dies to punch them to size is next...

 

[Joe_A]

Most plastics rapidly degrade when exposed to lubricants, but if these rings are PTFE, commonly referred to by the trade names Teflon here in the States or Rulon elsewhere, they are pretty immune to chemicals and normal heat ranges and are naturally very slippery.

 

[jbcollier]

Misdirecting link. Once you click, search for "ptfe shims".

 

[martink]

by the way, these plastic rings were - back then - actually sealing to prevent water coming in between the bezel and the case.
Later they were left out because probably one realised that they were not needed any more.
Maybe they were also used for gliding.
At least in the patent they say it's a seal / gasket.
And back then this was usually thermoplastic material.

One source today could be Aubry in Switzerland but I am not sure.
At least they are THE specialist for plastic parts in the Swiss watch industry.

Cheers,

Martin