Getting the bezel right on my dream watch.

[ColinC]

After a good long learning curve I have become confident enough to start buying and fixing up some of the watches I have always wanted myself.

I bought this lovely (albeit frighteningly heavy)  Tag 2000 Exclusive Chronograph with a 7750 movement inside.  It had a few problems…. The biggest one now is the bezel.

When I got it the bezel had a lot of play and clicked unevenly.  I removed the bezel and found that the bezel spring that sits under the bezel was broken and that one of the little bits that sticks up had snapped off.  I ordered a replacement from Cousins - I believe they are not original parts but it was listed for this watch.

I have put the new spring in (pretty sure correctly!) and now find that the pip does not align at 12 o’ clock but is off by about 1/2 minute (about as bad as it can get with 60 clicks)

Is there something I can do - I found something somewhere about gently filing the notches on the spring but that sounded like a recipe for me destroying the new spring I just bought.  Is this usual and do you have to tune it -  and how is that done properly

I am also not happy with the stiffness of the bezel but am unsure how to tighten it.  There is an another little octagonal wire spring that sits inside a groove in the bezel. This I believe is what affects how hard it holds to the case and how tight the bezel is - Can this be manipulated to make it better or should it be replaced?  Not sure where to find that either (would have expected it to be close to where I bought the other spring but nothing there….)

 

[AndyGSi]

Some models have various holes in the case to set the spring in different positions to adjust the alignment of the bezel.

[ColinC]

39 minutes ago, AndyGSi said:

Some models have various holes in the case to set the spring in different positions to adjust the alignment of the bezel.

There was just 1 hole in the case and only 1 way it could be placed.  I have worked on a Seiko that had a similar spring with 2 holes in the case under the bezel and that one could take the same spring in 2 different orientations - I guess it was symmetrical anyway….

That Seiko also had a much tighter grip on the bezel and it felt a lot less likely it could get pulled off. It was however a much harder job getting that bezel back on

[AndyGSi]

What model is it and what spring did you get from Cousins as it looks like a CN2110 which Cousins don't show a click for?

[ColinC]

I bought one with the part no: T49740 - Now I look at the site I can't see CN2110 (which is what is written on my caseback) on the list of supported cases. I think I read somewhere else it was the same? But I guess not....

Putting it side by side with the old one I took out it appears identical - The seller was the original owner but I guess they have kept secrets from me about what was wrong with the watch - I needed to change the oscillating weight bolt as it was broken causing the weight to not spin freely enough to keep the watch going. I guess that and the wonky bezel could have been the subject of failed repairs in the past

Edited April 1 by ColinC
typos

[AndyGSi]

That was going to be my next question how it compared to the original and was it a 3 or 4 click ratchet.

Does the Cailbre 16 have the same weight and assembly as the 7750?

[ColinC]

On 4/1/2025 at 9:59 PM, AndyGSi said:

That was going to be my next question how it compared to the original and was it a 3 or 4 click ratchet.

I am not sure that the spring in there when I got it  was the original / correct!
I compared the old and the new placing them on top of each other and I could not see any difference (apart from the fact that 2 of the prongs were broken on the old one).

The photo here is probably better than anything I will take
https://www.cousinsuk.com/sku/details/tag-heuer/t49740
 

On 4/1/2025 at 9:59 PM, AndyGSi said:

Does the Cailbre 16 have the same weight and assembly as the 7750?

I will need to open the watch again to be 100% sure - but I recall that the watch is a 7750 and not a Calibre 16. The oscillating weight says Tag and not Calibre 16!.  What difference would this make to the bezel?

[AndyGSi]

17 minutes ago, ColinC said:

I will need to open the watch again to be 100% sure - but I recall that the watch is a 7750 and not a Calibre 16. The oscillating weight says Tag and not Calibre 16!.  What difference would this make to the bezel?

This was in relation to your comment about needing to change the weight.

[ColinC]

4 minutes ago, AndyGSi said:

This was in relation to your comment about needing to change the weight.

I didn't change the weight but had to replace the bolt that holds the bearing to the weight - Mark makes the job look so easy!!!! (I really struggled and annoyingly put a scratch on the weight)

[ColinC]

I decided to have a go at manipulating the  bezel ratchet spring and gently bent up all the 4 prongs evenly - after a few rounds of doing that the bezel is now lined up properly and the click feels much firmer. Happy with the result!

 

[lsimon19]

Hi I had a great experience with bq watches who changed my omega bezel for me v happy