Repair: Rado DiaStar

When Scot contacted me about his DiaStar, I wanted to pass him on to a case and crystal repairer, but he didn’t have any luck, so I said I’d have a look.

The crystal has come loose at the bottom…

Looking from the side, you can see how the crystal is lifted up a bit at the right.

And here is the culprit. A metal bar with threads is soldered to a copper layer on the crystal, and the soldering joint has broken. I would love to re-solder the joint, but that would almost certainly damaged the inner coating of the crystal and show up. So I decide to choose a different weapon here and trundle off to B&Q to buy some Evo-Stick Metal two component glue. It’s made for metal joints (solder in this case), and is an epoxy two component glue, so probably the right stuff for something like this.

I clean both sides of the joint under the microscope, to make sure all traces of dirt are gone.

When mixing the epoxy, you have to make sure you have exactly the same amount of the two components. I use micro scales to measure the amounts. Once properly mixed (this is important), you have less than three minutes to apply…

Once properly in position, I put a watchmaker’s vise on top of the metal bar and leave it there for an hour. Even though the glue claims to set in 5 minutes, I will give it a lot more time.

After a hour, I take the vise off, and now will let the glue set for another 12 hours.

It’s the next morning, and I can put the crystal back on.

The crystal now sits perfectly flat on the case, and the watch is ready to be shipped back.

13 thoughts on “Repair: Rado DiaStar

  1. My glass bezel has come apart from the rado frame which is appox 20-25 years ago can you recommend any diy tips to use what type glue

  2. Hey hello…how are you?…I am Danny…I am from Brownsville Tx….I got a big quick question…I got a RADO diastar wrist watch model 586….I am looking for a crystal replacement for it….do you know where how can I find it?….also please fell free contact me at my personal cell any time….(956) 908 7753..so can I sent you a pic of it…..

  3. Received the watch today and it’s a really nice job. Many thanks Christian, I’m sure I’ll be in touch in the future.

  4. Epoxies generally state “5 minutes” or “60 minutes” or whatever curing time, but if you read the small print that is usually how long until it is essentially solid and able to support itself – but it can take up to 48 hours to reach its full cure and strength.

    Nice little watch – no pics of the movement for us geeky types..?

    😉

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