Installing Panerai Metal Bracelets

[Victoria]

2 hours, and counting. What the hell!?!

That is all.

EDIT: All I need are some cats, and right now, I'd be the perfect crazy lady.

...mind you, Davidsen did warn me I needed "skills" to mount his bracelets, but did I listen? No.

PHOTO EVIDENCE:

I call this the "Tools of Destruction".

"Screw me!"

(Note to self: Manicures and watch hobbies do not mix)

[ryyannon]

Didn't they give you the RWG Hotline number when you upgraded?

[Victoria]

Didn't they give you the RWG Hotline number when you upgraded?

Oh, was that it? Kenberg gave me an obscure number, no explanations. When I rang up, a lady answered in a low sexy voice. "Adult Finder, how can I make your dreams come true, bad boy?".

I hung right up!

[Victoria]

2 hours, and counting.

V's Diary, starring Ren

[georgegrasser]

Careful. At least that what my jeweler said. Took him two hours on and off while I waited for my new 090 to get a new Davidsen bracelet fitted.

He broke two bracelet/case attachment bars claiming very little tension causes them to break. I think I read this was a common problem.

Well at least I finally got a bracelet PAM thanks to WBK's exceptional deals.

[jiro]

haha, sorry that i can't be much help here V~ since i haven't had DSN pam yet....but yes, I have heard people saying about that hard to mount bracelet issue....good luck to ya~ I'm sure other experts will chime in and give you a good advice~

[Victoria]

Careful. At least that what my jeweler said. Took him two hours on and off while I waited for my new 090 to get a new Davidsen bracelet fitted.

He broke two bracelet/case attachment bars claiming very little tension causes them to break. I think I read this was a common problem.

Well at least I finally got a bracelet PAM thanks to WBK's exceptional deals.

You know how you read stuff on the forum, process the info, but really just move on? That's my case with the metal bracelets. I remember reading a few threads about the suckability of DSN metal bracelets, but I wanted one anyway, so I got me one.

I LOVE my PAM 112. Already I have scratched outside the lugs, not badly, but enough so that something is telling me, stop. If your WATCHMAKER took 2 hours, I don't feel so badly, so thanks so much for telling me that George.

I might seek out the naked chick on RWI, and see what happens.

@Jiro: Thanks, babe! Nice to see you around these parts too.

[hambone]

My first Panerai steel bracelet is on the way. Wanted to try something different and the look of it is great. I had no idea it was more difficult to install than the leather straps? Just screw and slide right? Anyway, the bracelet is for my 111 and from the same dealer so hopefully it won't be a problem.

VB, sounds like you need a watchsmith to do that for you. Maybe a spring bar is the answer? Good luck

[georgegrasser]

Well it came to two hours because he had to dig out the broken bars.

He also used a high spinning wheel. He was grinding on something but I was too nervous to look.

I wanted my bracelet PAM to be OK in time for me to watch "After the Sunset." Child like, but I don't care.

Or maybe even worse, now that I think about it.

[Victoria]

My first Panerai steel bracelet is on the way. Wanted to try something different and the look of it is great. I had no idea it was more difficult to install than the leather straps? Just screw and slide right? Anyway, the bracelet is for my 111 and from the same dealer so hopefully it won't be a problem.

This is the deal, Hambone.

I didn't want to tear up my DSN PAM 112, so I used one of my two Andrew PAM 111hs to test out the bracelet. Nitchevo. Took me half an hour just to align the bracelet to the lugs. That's when it dawned on me that, hey!, maybe Andrew's version isn't a 1:1 casing like Davidsen's is said to be.

So off I went to the PAM 112. To my UTTER joy, the bottom lug screw slid as easy as Jackie Robinson stealing home. WOO! I was in with a chance, I thought.

Top lug, 1 hour and counting...tried WD-40, the works. Meanwhile, I chipped two nails, broke the tip of 7 screwdrivers (the cheapos, not the Bergeons, or the DSN ones), and still that screw is popping out.

I know when I'm licked. Never thought that make me feel bad.

VB, sounds like you need a watchsmith to do that for you. Maybe a spring bar is the answer? Good luck

Thanks...yeah, I thought of the springbar on the PAM 111, but usually when I uninstall a springbar screw, I gently push out one side of the strap to take it out. With metal bracelets, there is no "give", of course, so I'm scared it'll get stuck there for eternity, and my 2 million straps will sit there mocking me.

Life sucks.

[subzero1]

There are small metal tabs at the bottom of the endlinks on the bracelet. Take some pliers and bend them down about 30 degrees, then try installing it. Worked like a charm for me. If it causes a gap between the case and the top of the endlinks, take it off and bend them back to around 15 degrees. By adjusting these tabs you can adjust how tightly the top of the endlinks fit against the case.

[hambone]

It will all work, don't sweat the small stuff, and these little operations are pretty small indeed. You should have one of those spring bar install/remove tools. Having that will insure a speedy change. This much I'm sure of anyway.

[Victoria]

There are small metal tabs at the bottom of the endlinks on the bracelet. Take some pliers and bend them down about 30 degrees, then try installing it. Worked like a charm for me. If it causes a gap between the case and the top of the endlinks, take it off and bend them back to around 15 degrees. By adjusting these tabs you can adjust how tightly the top of the endlinks fit against the case.

NICE! It's worth a try.

The only problem is there is not a blue-collar instrument in the house, not even a hammer. My dad doesn't know how to change a lightbulb.

I'll borrow one from a neighbour tomorrow, and see. THANKS SUBBY!

[Victoria]

I'll borrow one from a neighbour tomorrow, and see. THANKS SUBBY!

"1 pair of rusty pliers, new men (cads!), no baby (alas)"

Dear Diary,

Just when I though I was licked (hah!), I ran to get an old pair of pliers I remembered we'd gotten from the Red Cross during Hurricane Andrew (nightmare).

I gently tilted the under-lugs, or whatevs, and tried to screw in the bracelet again. IT WENT IN, HUZZAH! Hugh would be so proud. What a gripping life I do lead!

This just goes to show RWG is worth the VIP upgrade, because men here are not all alcoholics, workoholics, sexaholics, commitment-phobics, peeping toms, megalomaniacs, emotional [censored]wits, or perverts -- unlike at other forums."

[Victoria]

#1

#2

#3

TADA!!

THANK YOU SUBZERO1! I can live with the gap.

[subzero1]

Glad I could help

[Victoria]

Sometimes the end results are worth showing off, as in your example, or they are not ... as in my example

WOW! Someone busted up Teddy Roosevelt's watch REAL good on Mt. Rushmore. Damn hippies.

[chubbchubb]

It really sucks if you sit down for what you think will be a quick repair/change and then you get stuck... glad to hear it finally worked out. Davidsen's cases are a bit different - as are Jiimmyzfu's. I have a bracelet and case from Andrew and they install just like a leather strap - no sweat.

You definitely need more tools...

[Desuetude]

My goodness... the EFFORT you went through to get a truculent case to fit its bracelet! In times like these I always remember

the age old Manly Rule Number One: "If a little is good then MORE is better"

Sometimes the end results are worth showing off, as in your example, or they are not ... as in my example

Funny, My UPO turned the same color after I put it in the fireplace in frustration!

Then there was the time I did this...

I swear, I really don't have a temper!

[NORing]

Nice to get to know how to actually fit the bracelet. I just went ahead and used brute force. Still took me more than an hour, but got the sucker on. I guess it will be a pain to get it off again on my part, but as I love the look that don't bother me right now.

Wear them well and have a noce day

[plaifender]

Never had a stainless steel bracelet watch.. except for my yachtmaster.. i should really invest and get one! Miss V... you I'll hire you to put the stainless steel on my Panny since you're such an expert now!

[section8]

I guess this is a problem confined to the DSN pams cause my SS bracelet fits to my 005 no sweat. I wore it yesterday actually.

[Desuetude]

Now THIS, I like! We really must exchange ideas! I'm thinking .44cal Ruger at 15 feet...??

Comments?

Oh...you like destruction, do you? Wish I had pics of the .44 magnum my friend used on a canal st. PAM87 (saying it's an 87 is being too kind..this POS didn't resemble an 87 in any way, it's just the closest PAM diver that it resembled)

Also gotta dig up the video of PAM210 vs. hammer+lighter fluid. Unfortunately, I was not responsible for that one either.

Disclaimer: Kids, if you read this, and subsequently think that this would be wise to recreate...do it. If you're stupid enough to contemplate doing any of the aforementioned acts or any variations thereof, then you deserve any bodily harm incurred.

[flamemax]

Hello Vbarret,

Where did you get the spring bars from?

I have just been told form my dealer that the spring bars he has in stock are too fat for the holes in the SS bracelet.

I am thinking that perhaps he encountered the same issue as you??

Any thoughts?

[Victoria]

Hello Vbarret,

Where did you get the spring bars from?

I have just been told form my dealer that the spring bars he has in stock are too fat for the holes in the SS bracelet.

I am thinking that perhaps he encountered the same issue as you??

Any thoughts?

I got the spring bars from River, and I use the bracelet exclusively on my PAM 111h from Andrew (I have two). The bracelet I got from Davidsen.

He warned me twice that his bracelets are very hard to install. As you can see above, he was right...

After I got the tip of bending the "wings", the tubes didn't seem too fat. Otherwise, there is no way I would've been able to fit them in without busting up my 111h.

I never tried the bracelet on the DSN 112 because it came with threaded lugs...

Would say to give River a PM and see if he stocks those springbars still. I had read somewhere that he ran out. OTOH, DSN also has them, but I don't know if he actually sells them (they come as part of the 112).