Removing Moray Bezel?

[kraeken]

I was showing my new Moray to a watchmaker/jeweler friend of mine, and was showing him the extra black bezel I got with it.

He warned me that removing a bezel is a somewhat advanced skill and should not be done often. He said sternly that it is not the same as changing straps, and can damage the watch. I suddenly felt frightened and my self esteem went into the gutter.

Should I be scared, or should I follow the advice of the folks here who happily pop off their bezels with paring knives?

[skoochy]

Anything that is friction/press-fit should not be removed and replaced on a regular basis if you want it to remain friction fit. Each time the friction is reduced, and eventually it may not be enough friction to hold together reliably. Naturally, this will vary with the materials in use and the amount of clearance.

-s-

[Beau8]

Practice on cheaper watches before you try it on the expensive ones. All else fails~better to leave it to the professionals~cheers!

[Genway]

Beside the above sound suggestions, I will further explain what your watchmaker friend's warning.
Most bezel were made out of Aluminum or Brass, and the friction spring is stainless steel, so while you remove the bezel from the case, yuou are force the spring away from both groves, case gorve and bezel grove, the spring will not get damage, but the bezel and case will because of the softer metal, but spring will distored a little or change shape.
Spring can be reshape but the damaged bezel and case can not be repair. It is not a big problem if you just do once or twice, but if you do 4-5 times, the bezel will no longer hold tight by the spring, sometime will pop out by itself.