DWC D03 GMT bezel to dive bezel swap? Also new silver plated bezel?

Upgrades and mods
,
#1

So I am getting around to building my 925 silver plated aging experience GMT watch that I purchased back in May of this year (2024). It was sold specifically as the aging experience kit. I have a few questions about everything.

  1. Can I swap the bezel (and insert) to a standard dive bezel setup using their click spring? The case has one small detent with a spring to allow the GMT bezel to rotate both ways. I will be using a 24h GMT chapter ring for the GMT function so no need for the bezel to also have the 24h markings.

  2. Where can I get another 925 silver plated bezel? I want to run two different bezel inserts on this watch and swap them out whenever I want, but I want the patina on both bezels to match of course.

  3. It appears that they sent me either a stainless steel or ceramic GMT bezel insert with this watch. It is all black with standard GMT markings that are lumed. While not really a big deal, I was very surprised when the bezel hadn’t faded after 25+ minutes soaking in bleach while rubbing with a Q tip.

#2

DWC uses the SNZF Urchin case, and says they are compatible with the SKX size, but the instructions are a little ambiguous: Mod Parts Compatibility for Seiko Mod | DIY Watch Club
It’s worth double-checking the measurements before buying and save receipts. That said, neither SKX nor SNZF are unusual.

If you look at photos of diver cases, they usually have two small holes for the click spring to fit in. For example: https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-uzonwrhn18/images/stencil/1280x1280/products/17425/88784/skx007-replacement-watch-case-01-1__12246.1624146041.jpg?c=1

I /assume/ DWC does the same thing. In which case, you can just buy another click spring. If it only has one hole, you would be best served by drilling a second hole yourself.

With all of that said… if you’re happy with the bezel, it’s easiest to pop the insert off and install a new one. You just need another one of the little 3M double-sided tape circles. If you need to replace the bi-directional click-spring with a uni-directional click spring, you can do that too. Even comparing stainless steel to stainless steel, it can be hard to get bezels that color-match the case perfectly. I can’t imagine aged finish will be easy to color match at all.

At a quick read, to match the aging, you’ll need a silver-plated insert (like how the case is plated). I’ve not seen those advertised specifically, so not sure where you’d find one.

1 Like
#3

Yeah that was my main issue, sourcing another silver plated bezel, but with 60 (or 120) position diver slots on the back instead of the 24 position GMT detent slots. I appreciate the info about the case sizes, I’ve built a few watches but I’m still relatively new to watch modding and I don’t know all the case standards, parts compatibility, etc. yet.

I want to run both a dive bezel with dive insert and a GMT bezel with GMT insert. I understand that I will need to also swap out the GMT bidirectional detent and spring with the unidirectional click spring when I swap bezels. I picked up the bronze diver bezel insert from here to give me a bit more contrast and a different patina, and I REALLY like how it is aging. However, it feels wrong to slap this bezel insert with traditional diver markings onto a GMT bezel with 24 clicks. I do use my bezel to time things probably every couple of days so proper dive bezel function is somewhat important to me. I am also waiting on some bronze hands for this watch to show up so I can age them too. That way the bronze dive bezel insert isn’t the only bronze on the watch.

I do know that the bezel inserts from here are not direct fit for the standard size Seiko SKX bezels so I’ll have to do some measuring to ensure fitment. I swear I saw a spare 925 plated bezel in the store here a month or two ago when I was still deciding if I wanted to do two bezels or not, but now I can’t find it. I suppose I can always buy the bezel from here and either silver plate it myself or take it to a jeweler to do it for me. I also saw a few how-tos on aging stainless steel using ferric chloride, which I already have. The patina does look similar to the patina I put on the silver plated case and bezel. So I could just go with a standard stainless steel dive bezel from here and age it using harsh chemicals.

I will double check that the case has two holes, I know there was only one spring and detent plunger, but there may have been a second hole there. If not, I can drill one myself, I’ve got plenty of tools big and small due to my crippling addiction of modifying cars, and also for my RC car addiction.

Now to go measure the bezel and insert, and hopefully find an extra compatible bezel with diver style slots on the back!

#4

If you can’t find or plate a bezel and your only restriction is 120(ish) clicks, you might alternatively consider modifying the click spring. The one I’m wearing currently has two uplifted prongs at different offsets, which effectively changes my 60 click bezel into 120 clicks. If the inside of your bezel has 24 teeth, then creating 5 prongs would get you dangerously close to 120 clicks. The default click spring material is just thin steel, so super easy to work with, and since it’s out of sight, it doesn’t matter if it has the imperfections of handworking. IMO, probably best to get a new steel disk and cut it out by hand. For a clumsy person like myself with no eye for color matching, it seems like the easier solution.

You do still have the problem of only having a single bezel. I’ve not seen anyone make quick-swap inserts. I have some thoughts on how it might be done, but I’m still learning to drill steel for a different project so maybe I’ll explore another day.