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I took my Avenger Seawolf in the Atlantic yesterday on Hilton Head Island, we had a gay ol time on the beach for a few hours but i noticed afterwards that my bezel didn't make that "pingy" clicking sound when I turned it. Is the bezel sealed or can water and sand get under it? It's been about half a day now and the bezel is sounding better, so I'm thinking that maybe there was just some water in it, but now I'm worried that there might be still be sand in it. Am I able to take the bezel off myself to clean it or should I take it to a AD?

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If it's not a Breitling then don't touch me!!

Just unscrew it and it will pop off. Loosen the screws rather than removing them entirely, it will make it much easier to put it back on and be careful as there is a spring underneath the bezel that you don't want to damage.

"Sand under my bezel" Sounds like a euphemism for something rather painful!

As Roff said, with the right size screwdriver it's a very simple job to pop the bezel off and give it a clean underneath. The bezel is entirely separate to the case so removing it won't compromise water resistance at all.

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Driver8

Site Moderator

Ok cool I will try to clean the bezel myself. Is there anything specifically I should watch out for? Do I tighten the screws down a certain amount? Do I have to grease or re-grease anything? Is anything going to fall apart in there that I'll have to reassemble before I put the bezel on? Do I have to lock tite the screws before tightening them?

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If it's not a Breitling then don't touch me!!

Just do what I said, it's fine.

OK, first of all make sure you have the right size screwdriver. If you don't, I'd suggest getting an AD to do it because you could knacker the screw heads otherwise. Assuming you DO have the right size screwdriver, CAREFULLY loosen each of the screws in turn. Careful is the key here as it's quite easy to slip and if you do you'll most likely put a nice big scratch on your bezel or case. While you can remove the screws completely from the bezel, there's actually no need to and they're quite small and fiddly, so getting them back in the hole again can be a pain. That's not to say it's impossible - far from it - it's just that as you don't need to fully remove them to remove the bezel, it just makes life easier if you don't. It's worth keeping a little downward pressure on the bezel when you undo the screws as there is a springy piece of metal under the bezel that pushes the bezel upwards when the screws are loosened. Once you have loosened the screws, the bezel will lift right off. In a groove inside the bezel is a vaguely octagonal shaped peice of wire : it shouldn't have come out of the groove during removal, but if it has, just push it back in. (This piece of wire is what the screws push against to hold the bezel on). Under the bezel on the case you will see the springy piece of metal I mentioned earlier. This is what provides the unidirectional ratcheting/"clicking" when you turn the bezel. You will notice a small "pointed bit" on the spring - this seats in a small hole in the case at the top at the "12" end. Once you've cleaned the sand out of everything, dry everything off and then lay the springy metal onto the top of the case, ensuring it's the right way up by making sure that the little pointed bit sits in the tiny hole in the case. Next place the bezel back on over the top. You will once again need to apply a little downward pressure on the bezel to push against the spring while you retighten the screws. The screws should obviously be tight, but there's no need at all to go bananas tightening them up. Personally I've never used Loctite or any other threadlock, but I guess you could if you really wanted to. I wouldn't bother with it myself as you can always see if any appear to come loose over time as the bezel screws are right in front of your face, but it's up to you.

This is a very simple job on the Aeromarine and Windrider models as the bezel is totally separate from the case and removing it doesn't compromise water resistance. Nothing needs regreasing or oiling, you just take it off, clean it and pop it back on. The key things to remember are 1) use the right size screwdriver, and 2) go careful to make sure you don't slip...... and that's about it. Good luck.

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Driver8

Site Moderator