Folded Oyster Score

[Nanuq]

I tried an eBay item for the heck of it and I’m pleasantly surprised by how it worked out. Guy is selling 20mm folded oyster bands and they’re actually surprisingly good. The clasp and endlinks are crap but the oyster links and most importantly the last midlink are usable. And they’re $14 apiece. I’m buying half a dozen just to get the last mid links to put on Mary’s 7836 bands. I put WSO 580s on and am replacing the clasp and it’s a piece I can live with.
 

 

 
 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/381546383310

[automatico]

Good find!

 

The connecting (end) links are worth the cost of admission imho because supply houses do not sell the end links. 

They usually have the little narrow links to connect the bracelet to the clasp but not the wider end links that connect the bracelet to the spring bar/hoods between the lugs...and that is what is needed to fix the 'Mary' bracelets.

[alt.watch.obsessive]

Looks the part!

[Ronin]

Will it take 2mm bars?

 

[automatico]

"Will it take 2mm bars?"

 

I have a couple similar bracelets and they will accept 2mm spring bars after a 2.1 or 2.2mm rod is pressed through the opening to expand the link if needed.  Taper the leading end slightly and use grease on the rod to keep it from getting stuck.   

 

I refer to this type of end link (pictured below) as a 'figure eight' type as opposed to other types such as the 'tube' type.  The figure eight type seems to work better than the tube type because the figure eight end link fits around the spring bar and the pin in the bracelet and does not allow the end link to get in a bind.  The tube type end link can get in a bind when the bracelet is moved around because there is a lot of empty space inside the hollow tube link, especially if the tube is too long.  This is why a regular hollow bracelet mid link will not work very well for a connecting link...it is too long and can allow the outer links to climb up over the bracelet hoods. 

I know this sounds like mumbo Jumbo but you will know what I'm talking about if it ever happens.   

 

Btw, Mumbo Jumbo is my second language.   

 

 

eBay item number:

381546383310

[alligoat]

Don't those little arrows on the back of the bracelet mean push pins?

[Nanuq]

Yes indeed, those are push pins.  I haven't tried pushing one yet but it looks like that would make it possible to add or remove folded links without having to bend the midlinks.      Looking closely at the sides of the folded links you can see these are not the typical Rolex fold.  But for $14 you get two midlinks to fix the Mary 7836 band.  Or leave the thing bloody alone and wear it and see if it isn't a suitable replacement for Mary's piece?  I've been going over mine to soften/ease the sharp edges and I scrubbed hell out of it with soap and that brightened it up considerably.  Add some WSO 580 endlinks because the ones it comes with are crap, and find a donor clasp somewhere (my 18mm rivet pins are on order) and I think you'll have a winner.  At least at arm's length.

[Ronin]

16 hours ago, alligoat said:

Don't those little arrows on the back of the bracelet mean push pins?

 

Yep! The theme this week is what can we get from Seiko.  Looking closely at this, this is basically an early Seiko 7002 (pre-SKX) bracelet. 

[freddy333]

On 5/10/2021 at 5:44 PM, alligoat said:

Don't those little arrows on the back of the bracelet mean push pins?

I bought a couple of those many years ago & still have 1 of them around somewhere. I recall that they weigh less than the folded gens, but otherwise appear to be nice bracelets for the price.

[tomhorn]

That watch looks somewhat familiar .... improving it already .... 

[alt.watch.obsessive]

Ahh...HH case I assume? These look so good. You need to run the insert over with your truck at the 35 minute mark 🙂.

[Nanuq]

Yep it’s HH, I’ve already replaced the insert and used the High Pressure Fitment Method to snap it down tight into the bezel, to expose the sides of the crystal more. Now I’m easing sharp edges, next step is to scribe crimp marks on the inner edge of the Athaya crown (unless someone has a gen 702 they want to sell).

[automatico]

"You need to run the insert over with your truck at the 35 minute mark..."  

I had a few inserts that refused to be pressed into the seat because they were a hair too big OD so I pressed them down over the tapered neck of a glass bottle to slightly reduce the OD.  I padded the insert (printed side up) with a soft cloth and used a piece of plastic plumbing pipe for the press tube.  The pipe needs to be the right size to catch the outer half of the bezel OD to make it work.  Keep the pipe centered on the insert to make sure it does not bend it and lightly press down by hand, then measure it.  May take a few tries.  

This is for thicker oem type inserts, not the thin stick-on type.  No guarantees.  

 

You might turn an insert printed side down between two flat surfaces in a press of some sort to make a bigger OD but I never tried it.

[Nanuq]

Yep I did something similar, got a bit of a “dish” to it and snapped it deep into the bezel, then inverted the bezel on a piece of leather and pushed to flatten it a smidgen. That insert ain’t going nowhere! Probably better than my old technique...

[automatico]

"That insert ain’t going nowhere!"

 

 

But now it's only .00002mm thick...   

[pezzy]

are marys 7836 the same as cartels 7836? cant get a hold of mary so thinking of just buying from trusty.

edit: damn the bracelets are sold out. did you buy the whole lot lol?

 

Edited June 11, 2021 by pezzy

[Nanuq]

Moi????   

[Ronin]

I might have actually grabbed the last one to repair a stretched out side of a 9315. Worked well.
 

The clasp and end links these come with are total junk. Bin’d those. 
 

Thanks to my small wrists the removal of the links was a snap and the “push pins” are obscured in the clasp. 
 

I literally am using half of it on the 12’ o clock side of my 1675. (Top)

 

Gen links on the 6 o clock side (bottom) with Gen clasp, Gen 280 end links.  The color and size is a perfect.