Alternative bezel for 7002-7020

10332 Views 16 Replies 11 Participants Last post by gingi310, Nov 30, 2014

gingi310

Discussion Starter · Nov 24, 2014

4

The 7002-7020 is an odd bird. It tries to hide amongst more common divers in the 7002 series but sticks out like a sore thumb. A sore blue thumb in some cases.

I never paid too much attention to it until I saw this on on a blue stingray strap (sorry for the super shallow depth of field on this one)

and fell in love with the combination. The subtle blue of the dial against the blue of the stingray is something I LOVE. What I very much DO NOT LOVE is the bezel. Mainly the six protruding parts that make it look like a starfish.

I was told that the bezel from a standard 7002 diver would fit. No go.

Backside of bezel from 7002-7020 on the left, bezel with insert from 7002-7039 on the right.

It's bugging the heck out of me - I dislike it to the point that I won't wear it out of the house and I would love to see it with just a plain bezel with a simple silver insert. Something like this:

Look at that first photo again. It looks better WITHOUT a bezel to me.

Are there any options available out there? Any other bezel that would snap on as-is?

I'm down to considering whether I can turn it in a lathe, but I would love to try any other ready-fit option.

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1 - 17 of 17 Posts

skg7548

· #2 · Nov 24, 2014

2

Hi, I felt the same when I got my first 7002 which also was the 7020 case.
I wanted to put a normal rotating bezel on but there was nothing that fitted as I was aware.
It was a full resto so I knew nothing about them and it took a long time to get together.
What I'd suggest is leave it alone especialy if you have the blue dial version as there were supposedly less of these than black dials.
If you dislike the bezel so much then find yourself a 7002-700x instead, this is what I did. I now have 5 of them and ought to pass some on.

My blue dial 7020, a modded 7020 (changed dial and put pepsi colours to the rotating bezel) and a 700a with aftermarket dial & hands.

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John_D

· #3 · Nov 24, 2014

Assuming the original bezel is stainless steel, could not some enterprising soul with a lathe turn the offending lugs off and machine a shallow recess to accept a more pleasing bezel insert?

skg7548

· #4 · Nov 24, 2014

That might be a better way as it's not just about the fit, the click method differs too. However it's a lot of effort and lathe time won't be cheap so is it worth it on a watch with value in the region of £100.

Dynam0humm

· #5 · Nov 24, 2014

A SKX007 bezel can be made to fit. You just need to remove some of the metal on the inside edge where the insert sits, otherwise it fouls the case.

ivorbiggin

· #6 · Nov 24, 2014

A bezel from a 7002 7039 will fit, you can use an insert from the earlier 1st generation of 7002's
Gen 2 7002's use the same click system as the later SKX series, in the "Buyers guide to the 7002" it does mention that people have transplanted the later SKX bezels, some with success and some without, its a bit hit and miss, depends on how much wear is on the donor bezel maybe.

JaSharp

· #7 · Nov 24, 2014

What about buying a non-running 7002-7039, move over the movement/blue dial/hands?

TheTigerUK

· #8 · Nov 25, 2014

Jashatp said:
What about buying a non-running 7002-7039, move over the movement/blue dial/hands?

Or......................start with a 6309-7290/7040 and have none of these problems and end up with a great watch ?

killsnapz

· #9 · Nov 25, 2014

We I personally tried every bezel I have in my inventory and not one came close to fitting. I found out one time when I bought what was advertised on eBay as a 7002-700x. When I went to break the watch down the bezel was stuck not unusual as we all know. once managed to pop it off what I found was an old 6309 type diver bezel than someone had ground the snot out of the bottom and had glued on top of the case. When I grabbed the back case which was pretty dirty and cleaned it off the case read 7002-7020. I tried every bezel known to the Seiko world and nothing that I can see could even be modified to fit. In the end I emailed the seller and got all of my money back because the watch also had a 7009 movement in the case it to boot! The seller just refunded all of my money and told me just to keep the watch.

Michael

MikeyT

· #10 · Nov 26, 2014 (Edited)

Oops!

Dynam0humm

· #11 · Nov 26, 2014

TheTigerUK said:
Or......................start with a 6309-7290/7040 and have none of these problems and end up with a great watch ?

The op already has a 7002-7020 so why buy a new watch when you can just swap the bezel? Besides, the 7002 divers are good watches in their own right and don't deserve the poor relation status they sometimes get vs the earlier and later versions of breed

MikeyT

· #12 · Nov 26, 2014 (Edited)

2

Here's my 7002-7020 with a bezel from a 7002-7039. It was a straight-up swap. The hands are from Harold.

The bezel from the 7002-7020 is, as near as I can tell, the same as that on the 7S26-7020, aka SKX171.

The dials are quite similar, too, given that one is day only and the other is day/date.

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gingi310

Discussion Starter · #13 · Nov 26, 2014

A lot of great feedback, ideas; thanks guys. I actually have an old watchmakers' lathe that I have been threatening to fire up (I have no idea how to use it); this might be the time!

MikeyT said:
Here's my 7002-7020 with a bezel from a 7002-7039. It was a straight-up swap. The hands are from Harold.

That makes no sense to me. If you look at the photo in my original post of the backside of the two, they are completely different animals; strange!

In the end, I am going to look for an SKX bezel and make that work; I think that is the best idea.

I also have several of the regular 7002 divers and agree these are underrated. I am actually starting to like them more than the 6309s <gasp!> because, for some reason, I have grown to dislike watches with a day/date display in the same window; makes them look off-balance. Date only or no date for me.

Which is why...

Cheers,

Jon in SF

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ivorbiggin

· #14 · Nov 28, 2014

gingi310 said:
That makes no sense to me. If you look at the photo in my original post of the backside of the two, they are completely different animals; strange!

Jon in SF

The left one in the original pic is from a gen2 200m resist 7020, and the underside should look exactly the same on the 7039, the right hand pic is a bezel from a gen1 150m resist, or 6309
Its possible that someone has put a 200M resist dial (Gen2) into a 150M resist case (Gen1).
The difference between cases is that the crystal is 0.5 mm smaller in dia on the Gen 2 and there are two holes in the case for the click ring positioned at 1 and 7 o'clock. There is only one hole in the Gen 1 150M case positioned at 1 o'clock which uses a ball and spring arrangement instead of a click ring.
Id check the cases, you might find that you have a 7002 200m sitting in a 7002 150M case with a 7002 7039 case back, and yes it will all fit together.

mwbuss8

· #15 · Nov 29, 2014

gingi310 said:
A lot of great feedback, ideas; thanks guys. I actually have an old watchmakers' lathe that I have been threatening to fire up (I have no idea how to use it); this might be the time!

That makes no sense to me. If you look at the photo in my original post of the backside of the two, they are completely different animals; strange!

In the end, I am going to look for an SKX bezel and make that work; I think that is the best idea.

I also have several of the regular 7002 divers and agree these are underrated. I am actually starting to like them more than the 6309s <gasp!> because, for some reason, I have grown to dislike watches with a day/date display in the same window; makes them look off-balance. Date only or no date for me.

Which is why...

Cheers,

Jon in SF

modding an skx bezel also isn't the easiest to do. Because Seiko uses nothing more than a gasket to hold the bezel in place, tolerances are quite tight.

Jason1970M

· #16 · Nov 29, 2014

As Ivorbiggin has said ( twice) the standard 7002 diver has two different bezel options depending on the age of the watch, the early ones used clickballs like the 6309 and the later ones clicksprings, you need the later version, your picture is of the early version.

gingi310

Discussion Starter · #17 · Nov 30, 2014

Jason1970M said:
As Ivorbiggin has said ( twice) the standard 7002 diver has two different bezel options depending on the age of the watch, the early ones used clickballs like the 6309 and the later ones clicksprings, you need the later version, your picture is of the early version.

Thanks for the clarification; I had missed the reference to Gen1/Gen2.

Time to crack open some 7002s...

Cheers,

Jon in SF

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