Open a Tag Heuer Aquaracer 300 case back

[tomh207]

15 minutes ago, Drum said:

Here is a photo of what I mean. The bezel triangle does not align up with the 12 o'clock marker properly after it has been rotated. I know it's not far away, but I can't stop looking at it.

I don’t think you can personally do much about this unfortunately. You can’t rotate the movement/dial as the winding stem will bind, not go in at all or the screw down crown will not screw down and seal. With a normal round bezel insert you would remove it and re glue it at the proper place, it doesn’t look like you can do it here with the polygonal insert/bezel. It looks like there may be a manufacturing defect of the bezel or case causing this. If you turn it one more click then ease it back is there any difference? It might just be unavoidable backlash.

 

Tom

[AndyGSi]

So will it not rotate one more click anti clockwise to line it up?

 

 

Edited September 20, 2024 by AndyGSi

[SwissSeiko]

34 minutes ago, Drum said:

Here is a photo of what I mean. The bezel triangle does not align up with the 12 o'clock marker properly after it has been rotated. I know it's not far away, but I can't stop looking at it.

Would changing which hole the bezel spring tab sits in maybe make a difference? I know the holes look farther apart than what the bezel is misaligned, but I bet there are 2 bezel clicks worth of distance in there.

[Drum]

If I turn it one more click, it is way off, and if I leave it like it is, there is some backlash, but not enough to get it to align up and stay there. Looks like I'm just going to have to live with it, unless there is some way to adjust the spring mechanism under the bezel.

[Drum]

Sorry SwissSeiko, I posted that before I had read your last comment. That seems as though it might work, as I could try the bezel spring in all the three different holes, and see if it makes any difference. It all depends on how easy it is going to be to remove the bezel and replace it.

[Drum]

Well the bezel came off easily. I moved the bezel spring round to the third hole of the three holes, it was on the first hole originally, and the bezel is now aligned perfectly. I'm over the moon. Thank you everyone for your help and advice, much appreciated.

[LazyTimegrapher]

I’m glad you were able to get it fixed. I was going to suggest switching the hole the bezel spring goes into. When I reassembled my watch a few times, the bezel was misaligned exactly like your watch, but switching which hole the bezel spring goes into shifts the position slightly, so it’s usually possible to get perfect alignment in one of the holes. 
 

I'm glad you were able to  figure it out and get your bezel aligned!

Sorry I was a little slow to respond, but glad others were able to give you good advice on this.

On 9/20/2024 at 3:33 PM, Drum said:

If I turn it one more click, it is way off, and if I leave it like it is, there is some backlash, but not enough to get it to align up and stay there. Looks like I'm just going to have to live with it, unless there is some way to adjust the spring mechanism under the bezel.

Did you have any difficulty removing and reinstalling the bezel? It took a little courage for me to attempt it the first time, but it came off pretty easily and snapped back in place fine for me.

Your watch looks great by the way. I’ve been really enjoying mine. The micro adjustment feature is really amazing. I think it’s the best system out there on the market. I can alway get a perfect fit by making it tighter or looser without even taking the watch off my wrist.

[Drum]

Thank you for your detailed photos of when you did your watch, it helped me a lot. I was also a little hesitant to try and get the bezel off, but I just pulled it in a couple of places with just my finger nail, and it popped right off. 

I tried the bezel spring in the second hole at first, but it was still off, so tried the third hole and it was spot on.

You right about the micro adjustment on the bracelet, it's one of the reasons I bought it. I have a Tag Heuer formula 1, but cannot get the correct fit for the bracelet, and they do not sell half links for it, which would solve the problem for me.

I bit the bullet a couple of weeks ago, and got the watch I had wanted for a few years now, a Omega Seamaster diver 300 professional, which also has the micro adjustable clasp, and I'm really pleased with that as well.

[LazyTimegrapher]

Glad I was able to help. I spent quite a long time trying to figure out how to open the watch and regulate it, so I figured I could save others some trouble. I spent probably two or three months trying to figure it out before getting help from this forum and finally figuring it out. Just opening these aquaracers is pretty unintuitive. It’s a pretty unique design.
 

It was really worth it to me though because I got it from +10 seconds fast per day down to +2, which means it’s within a minute of the right time for a month, which is longer than I usually wear it anyway.

[Wesker]

Maybe I'm a bit late to the party, but to me it seems we must finish the work of the brand ourselves. I'm not a Tag hater, I'm wearing one as I'm writing this, but still. Having to tear apart a brand new watch costing thousands, to regulate the movement and properly align the bezel because the brand did neither ? Wow. I might add that your very watch @LazyTimegrapher is the Ti version priced for $4,450.00 as I'm writing this. Losing 10 seconds a day on a brand new four thousands dollars watch is something unfathomable in my book.

I've also had my share of issues with Calibre 5 inside a Formula 1. The rotor was spinning hard while winding the crown. This is due to a jammed reverse wheel and only happens with a poorly lubricated movement. After a while, all lubricants inside a movement are gone, but this issue happened while the watch wasn't even four years old. On Calibre 5 or ETA2824/SW200 maintenance is required every 5 years but that's a ballpark and most can usually last much longer than that. I have a 10 years old tissot still running fine on a never overhauled 2836. 

So how this could happen on a 3.5 years old watch bought brand new from an A.D ? My theory is that the Calibre 5 inside my F1 watch sat at Tag Heuer in storage for years before being finally installed in my watch. While my timepiece wasn't even 4 y.o at the time of the issue, the movement inside was probably much more older than that, with completely depleted lubricants. 

http://[url=https://ibb.co/VYb4JRq][img]https://i.ibb.co/1GBW71m/IMG-1726.jpg[/img][/url]

Today on the wrist : WAY101B.BA0746.

Quartz ETA F06.111 inside, 94 months battery life. Gears-free but worry-free too, and losing 0 seconds per week. 

[Wesker]

Here's the pic I tried to attach in the first place...who said quartz can't be sexy ? 

[Wesker]

On 8/3/2024 at 8:30 PM, LazyTimegrapher said:

As I mentioned in some of my prior posts, I would probably work up the nerve to open the watch eventually. Well, this morning I woke up and decided to give it a go.

In the intervening time, I bought a set of 10 watch screwdrivers, 5 brass pliers, a watch case vise/holder, and 4 loupes. They were all quite affordable around $10-20 for each set of tools. My wife had already bought me a time grapher some time ago, so I watched some YouTube videos on how to regulate an SW-200-1 and decided to try my luck opening the watch and turning the fine regulation screw a bit.

The following posts will break down the steps of what I did.

The image below shows the set of tools I used for the job.

Here’s the watch in question. The images show the watch exterior front and back. The last one shows the dive bezel and the bezel spring removed, which reveals the six screws under the bezel holding the case back on. This is as far as I got during my last aborted attempt to open the watch.

 

The next step was to remove the six screws under the dive bezel and spring that hold the case back on.

 

At this point I thought I needed to unscrew the case back, so I put the watch in the vise and used the rubber ball method to try to unscrew the case back. I applied as much force as I could by hand, but it wouldn’t move the slightest bit. This left me quite confused, so I took the watch out of the vice and inspected it. As I was rotating the watch around and looking at it, the case back came loose and nearly fell off.

 

Apparently those six screws are the only thing holding the case back on, so once they are removed, it comes off very easily.

 

Then I inspected the movement. Tag Heuer calls this movement the Caliber 5 and gives very little information about it beyond that. However, through research on the internet, I surmised it was almost certainly a Sellita SW200-1. My suspicions were confirmed upon review of the movement.

In the second picture below, you can see SW200-1 stamped into the baseplate near the top of the balance spring. In the third picture you can see the stamp saying 26 jewels.

 

Another image zoomed in shows the 26 jewels a bit better

At this point I wanted to regulate the watch. My previous post listed the performance in various positions. I’m reposting that information here for reference.

regarding the daily rate, it is very consistently +10spd measured on my wrist. Every 24hours I wear it, it gains about 10 seconds, and it gains about 70 seconds in 7 days. So the +10spd is the average daily rate when I wear it 24hrs/day. 

on the time grapher the rates are all over the place.  Amplitude is around 290-300 in all positions. On a full wind the rates are:
Dial up it’s +10spd

3 down it’s +18spd

12 down it’s +5spd

6 down it’s +20spd

dial down its +13spd

9 down it’s +4spd

 

Those rate numbers correspond to the fine regulation screw being at the position shown above. This is how the watch was when I opened it.

I spent about an hour tweaking the position of that screw back and forth while watching the rate change on the time grapher. My sense is that when wearing the watch it runs +10spd and that is the roughly the rate for the dial up position. That indicated to me that I should regulate the watch mainly focused on that single position as that seems to be the effective rate of the watch given my wearing habits.

After several adjustments and trail and error while watching the rate on the time grapher I ended up in the position shown below.

It seems odd to me that the fine screw was not centered for yhe watch coming out of the box from the factory. In the end I just moved the screw back to its centered position which brought the daily rate onI the dial up position to 0 and the crown down to +10. 
I was happy with the new rates, so I reassembled the watch and checked it on the time grapher. The image below shows the rate for dial up.

I’m not sure how the time grapher rates will translate to real world performance so I’ll wear the watch for a few weeks and see how it does.

In any case, I’m happy I didn’t break the movement or case during this adventure. I’ll report back on how it performs in a week or two when I have enough data to assess it.

Thanks for everyone’s help and advice here. I don’t think I would’ve know how to proceed through this process carefully enough to avoid destroying the watch without your suggestions.

I'm glad they finally part way with the controversial plastic movement holder. Seeing a piece of hardware made of the same plastic as your average trash can shouldn't happen when opening an high-end timepiece. I'm less happy to see that the movement is the absolute bottom of the barrel standard grade unregulated SW200. I remember personally contacting Tag customer service, asking what grade the movement was before I bought my F1 Cal. 5. 

They told me it was a custom, made for spec elaborated grade caliber. It's none of thoses things, apparently. This caliber can be found in $500 watches. The difference between the SW200s found in Tissots vs Breitlings is the grade of the movement, and the decoration. Apparently Tag didn't get the memo. Very disappointing. I'll honestly rather have a decent quartz than a bottom of the barrel SW200. 

[Jon]

1 hour ago, Wesker said:

Seeing a piece of hardware made of the same plastic as your average trash can shouldn't happen when opening an high-end timepiece. I'm less happy to see that the movement is the absolute bottom of the barrel standard grade unregulated SW200

You'll see a lot of plastic these days, especially movement retaining rings, but not generally in high end watches, which Tag Heuer doesn't fall into that category. Every Tag I've worked on recently has been a bag of crap that they've called their own in-house movement, which is really a Sellita in one form or another. Paying £7000 for a Tag Heuer Monaco (calibre 7) with a few hundred quids worth of Sellita SW300 movement with a DD module bolted on isn't an in-house movement, regardless of who's house you are in. What crap!

After I've finished servicing this Tag Heuer Calibre 7 (which is actually an SW200) I've got a lovely IWC chronograph on my bench later today, which has a Valjoux 7750 inside. That is a proper watch. Non of that bolt on rubbish that you can't service and can't get parts for.

Rant over, carry on.... 

Edited January 17 by Jon

[Wesker]

56 minutes ago, Jon said:

You'll see a lot of plastic these days, especially movement retaining rings, but not generally in high end watches, which Tag Heuer doesn't fall into that category. Every Tag I've worked on recently has been a bag of crap that they've called their own in-house movement, which is really a Sellita in one form or another. Paying £7000 for a Tag Heuer Monaco (calibre 7) with a few hundred quids worth of Sellita SW300 movement with a DD module bolted on isn't an in-house movement, regardless of who's house you are in. What crap!

After I've finished servicing this Tag Heuer Calibre 7 (which is actually an SW200) I've got a lovely IWC chronograph on my bench later today, which has a Valjoux 7750 inside. That is a proper watch. Non of that bolt on rubbish that you can't service and can't get parts for.

Rant over, carry on.... 

I don't know where you got it wrong but no Monacos were ever made with the Calibre 7, which is an ETA2893-2 / SW330 (GMT movement). I assume you meant Calibre 17, which is indeed an ETA2894 with an non-serviceable (understand expandable) DD module on top of it. Tag Heuer does use the 7750 inside many watches, they nickamed it the calibre 16. Still a standard bare bones grade movement though, while the IWC i assume must be top grade if not chronometer. 

[Jon]

24 minutes ago, Wesker said:

I don't know where you got it wrong but no Monacos were ever made with the Calibre 7, which is an ETA2893-2 / SW330 (GMT movement). I assume you meant Calibre 17, which is indeed an ETA2894 with an non-serviceable (understand expandable) DD module on top of it. Tag Heuer does use the 7750 inside many watches, they nickamed it the calibre 16. Still a standard bare bones grade movement though, while the IWC i assume must be top grade if not chronometer. 

You're right, I made a mistake, it was a calibre 11 with a SW300 inside of the Monaco I serviced with the bolt on chrono module

And in fact the calibre 7 I'm servicing has an ETA 2893-2 inside, so that's not so bad as they are really nice movements to service.

[drift]

On 8/4/2024 at 2:30 AM, LazyTimegrapher said:

 

 

Hi, I recently opened up my tag aquaracer 300 for a change of battery and damaged the screws/ pins like the ones in this photo, does anyone know where i can buy them outside of going to tag directly?

 

 

[LazyTimegrapher]

On 1/17/2025 at 4:21 AM, Wesker said:

Maybe I'm a bit late to the party, but to me it seems we must finish the work of the brand ourselves. I'm not a Tag hater, I'm wearing one as I'm writing this, but still. Having to tear apart a brand new watch costing thousands, to regulate the movement and properly align the bezel because the brand did neither ? Wow. I might add that your very watch @LazyTimegrapher is the Ti version priced for $4,450.00 as I'm writing this. Losing 10 seconds a day on a brand new four thousands dollars watch is something unfathomable in my book.

 

I totally agree that having to regulate a brand new watch at this price is pretty ridiculous. I did get it for 30% off retail, but still.

What was even more odd though was that when I asked the matchmaker at the store I bought it from to regulate it, they said that +10spd was within spec and that it wouldn’t be possible to regulate it any better than +10spd without sending it back to TAG in Europe. 

I assume that just translates to “I can’t be bothered to open or regulate your watch.” Because I had no difficulty getting it to be +1spd after a few tries.

I think what it comes down to is that there are fewer and fewer real watchmakers. I think a lot of people call themselves watch makers when really they're just salespeople selling watches. 

However despite all that, I do love the watch. The clasp is the best I’ve seen, and I think it looks great. And after regulating it, it runs great too.

On 2/2/2025 at 2:02 AM, drift said:

 

Maybe try eBay? Or maybe an AD could source the screws for you. I would guess anyone shop that repairs TAG watches would be able to get the parts.