Maintenance of very thin handwinders (cal. 7001)

[watchNoob]

I've recently developed an affinity for thin, handwound watches along the lines of the Epos "Originale" which uses the reintroduced ETA 7001:

I'm using their promotional photo here because it illustrates my question pretty well; on a lot of the ultra-thin watches I've looked at, the diameter of the caseback is clearly smaller than the dial, leading me to believe that removing the dial+movement as a block would be require popping off the bezel. (expensive and possibly damaging over repeated services)

So, my question is, is it possible to give a watch decent routine maintenance without removing the dial and mainplate from the case?

[RON in PA]

No

[watchNoob]

So, has anyone around here dealt thin cases like this before (Oris, Edox and Fred. Constant have similar models with even more severely tapered cases) and had good/bad experiences? I find it surprising that $1200-$2000 watches would be designed in such a way as to make them so difficult to service.

[bracky1]

What makes you think they will be difficult to service?

Any competent watchmaker will be able to remove the movement without doing any damage.
Then it's just a manual wind movement, similar to any other except a bit thinner.

[lysanderxiii]

You're to young, or have been around enough vintage watches to know about front loaders....

I'm willing to bet those come aprt much easier that you think.

[vbomega]

I find it surprising that $1200-$2000 watches would be designed in such a way as to make them so difficult to service.

Not sure why you believe that this watch is difficult to service. Seems trivial. And yes, it will have to be taken apart completely.

[watchNoob]

You're to young, or have been around enough vintage watches to know about front loaders....

Ha ha, I'm feeling old in real life so it's nice to be young in vintage watch years. I've disassembled several quartz watches but never one with a front-loading case.

On my watch, (the Epos) I see that there is a little lip to allow the bezel+crystal assembly to open, but it looks like it would be difficult to do without marring the finish on bezel edge. It's definitely one I won't be tinkering with myself.

[ec633]

Looking at the movement, it's not difficult at all to remove the crown ,followed by the movement in order to service the watch. The case back can even be unscrewed. The case screws are readily visible & can be removed in an ordinary manner. It's not even an automatic movement , therefore no worry about having to deal with the extra component to be disassembled. I've seen thinner watch than what is shown.

[ec633]

Don't be fooled by the fine groove along the baseline of the bezel which in my view is integral with the watch case & cannot be removed. The bezel is highly chrome polished whereas the case may be brushed finish with negligible difference.

[emso]

well then you have to pump it off
if the bezel is part of the case the only way is to apply pressure of air through the tube with a special bergeon pump.
the crystal will get out and after that you can remove the movement from the hole for the crystal, but after you pop off the crystal you will have to remove the screws holding the movement. Beware you will need a new gasket for the crystal for sure!

But its highly unlikely for a watch to be opened this way because it has a crystal on the bottom also so this one might pop off also sooo
dont know what to say.