Help! How to change the bezel of the Gulfmaster GWN-1000?!

[shiro]

Hi Guys,

I am no watch expert so I really need your help!

I bought a yellow Gulfmaster couple months ago and it is as awesome as it looks. Packed with all the features a G-Shock could have. But the yellow is difficult to maintain as it gets dirty and stained easily. So I decided to get the band and bezel in black (since they are relatively cheap <$50) hoping to change the watch from yellow to just black.

The band is no-brainer, six screws loosen and it is out. The real pain is the bezel. It is so securely assembled under the stain steel crown. I removed the back plate to see if I could find any mechanism to release the top crown but found none and I don't think I want to remove the module neither...

I really want to know how to remove the top steel crown in order to free the bezel underneath. I wonder if the crown is screwed in? Or just taped down.... before I break anything.

Worst case, I would just sell the new band and bezel and take a loss.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Knives & Lint]

I have done it, and I must say, It was probably the most difficult mod I've ever done. It can definitely be done though.

What you have to do is pull the entire bezel (metal ring and resin together) off. This is made difficult by the fact that the resin bezel is secured to the case by adhesive tape. It takes a lot of pulling to get it off, and the entire time it feels like you're gonna break the thing. In fact, it took me a few nights of pulling on the resin, thinking it might be impossible, and then giving up for the night before I finally decided one night that I was just gonna go balls out and pull until it came off. Finally, once the adhesive starts to give way, the bezel will separate from the case and you can pull it around the buttons much like any other G. Then once the entire bezel is off, the steel ring easily snaps off by bending the resin part of the bezel, which now becomes possible because it will now be flexible after it is not attached to the case.

Here is a picture of the watch with the bezel removed. Notice the four white strips, this is the adhesive tape. It should be helpful to know the location, that way you know where to focus your force as you pull.





Reassembly is fairly easy. You just snap the steel ring on the new (resin) bezel and stretch it back over the case. The adhesive should remain intact and sticky enough to just reuse. However, if you do happen to damage the adhesive, you should be able to find some more that will work from a hardware or hobby store. It appears to just be 3M double sided tape, cut to size.

Hope this helps. I'm not sure if I explained it sufficiently well. Feel free to ask any more questions you may have or drop me a PM if you like and I will help in any way I can. Also, be sure to update us with your progress.


BTW, Here's my results. I wanted the blue steel ring with the blue resin, a combination that Casio does not offer from the factory.

 

[Deepsea_Dweller]

I have done it, and I must say, It was probably the most difficult mod I've ever done. It can definitely be done though.

What you have to do is pull the entire bezel (metal ring and resin together) off. This is made difficult by the fact that the resin bezel is secured to the case by adhesive tape. It takes a lot of pulling to get it off, and the entire time it feels like you're gonna break the thing. In fact, it took me a few nights of pulling on the resin, thinking it might be impossible, and then giving up for the night before I finally decided one night that I was just gonna go balls out and pull until it came off. Finally, once the adhesive starts to give way, the bezel will separate from the case and you can pull it around the buttons much like any other G. Then once the entire bezel is off, the steel ring easily snaps off by bending the resin part of the bezel, which now becomes possible because it will now be flexible after it is not attached to the case.

Here is a picture of the watch with the bezel removed. Notice the four white strips, this is the adhesive tape. It should be helpful to know the location, that way you know where to focus your force as you pull.





Reassembly is fairly easy. You just snap the steel ring on the new (resin) bezel and stretch it back over the case. The adhesive should remain intact and sticky enough to just reuse. However, if you do happen to damage the adhesive, you should be able to find some more that will work from a hardware or hobby store. It appears to just be 3M double sided tape, cut to size.

Hope this helps. I'm not sure if I explained it sufficiently well. Feel free to ask any more questions you may have or drop me a PM if you like and I will help in any way I can. Also, be sure to update us with your progress.


BTW, Here's my results. I wanted the blue steel ring with the blue resin, a combination that Casio does not offer from the factory.

Great stuff K&L


Sent from my iPhone 6+