AP Royal Oak Endlinks

[tallguy83]

I'm on an AP Royal Oak kick right now. These watches are sweet, but there is a catch. You can't get a leather strap on any of them.

After poking around a little, turns out you can get endlinks from AP for genuines. Of course, they cost a ton.

So I'm thinking, it looks like the endlinks aren't very complicated. Basically, four metal "tabs" that need to be threaded. Of course, you would need to modify any strap you buy to get it on these links, but that's not a huge issue.

Is there anyone out there interested in researching and possible getting some of these made? Is there anyone here with the machining skills to do so? Post here and lets see what we can do.

[ratchpot]

After poking around a little, turns out you can get endlinks from AP for genuines. Of course, they cost a ton.

It's interesting to hear that AP are now selling end links to the public. When I last checked (last year), AP still had an express policy not to sell endlinks to anyone.

Good luck with the project though, and keep us posted.

[archibald]

It's interesting to hear that AP are now selling end links to the public. When I last checked (last year), AP still had an express policy not to sell endlinks to anyone.

Good luck with the project though, and keep us posted.

can you post a pic of the end links? I may be able to help in the near future.

[thomasng]

It is impossible to get these links from AP. I have tried endlessly to get them for my RO Jumbo/15300/RO Chrono. I can get them for the RO Chrono, but they only sell WG ones, no SS ones and they are $300 a piece, and when you multiply that by 4, that's $1200! I was bent on putting my RO Chrono on a croc or rubber strap, but if I wanted to buy an OEM deployant buckle and strap, it adds up very quickly.

I would love to get some of these links. What's funny in all this is, AP will not sell SS endlinks for Offshore chronos, but will sell bracelets.

[ubiquitous]

Damn.... I had some of the small endlinks left over from a rep bracelet I junked sometime back. I don't recall what I did with them; either threw them out or gave them away. Always seems to happen without fail- I have parts that collect dust in my parts box, I clean it out and donate/trash them and a week or a month later, I run into a situation where they could really come in handy.

From now on, I'm holding onto everything.

[rek001]

Paging RBJ - he has a friend who can cast steel parts, I believe.

And, Joe loves Audemars RO.

[tallguy83]

I can't find a good pic of just the endlinks. Click this link:

http://www.kronosclub.com/ROC/mainX.asp?mnuNum=15300

The two gold watches at the bottom have the setup we need for a strap. I just don't feel like destroying a bracelet for those 4 little pieces of SS.

@rek

I PMd Joe about it. He's a bit busy right now to do it, but maybe in the future.

[archibald]

I checked on the Setup costs of CNC thinking they'd be low because of the reletively simple shape--sadly they're still killer--it's alwas the setup costs that kill you in CNC--you'd almost have to work out a deal w/ a dealer to do a run of RO's on leather. It may be worth sacrificing a bracelet to have them traditionally machined, though, since the actual machinining looks pretty straight forward. In fact, you may not even have to sacrifice the bracelet they're so simple. I'd check w/ a local metal shop if I had to have a RO on leather.

I'm not exactly clear--The way it stands now if you wan't your RO on leather you have to destroy the bracelt or the end links or both?

[tallguy83]

@ archibald

That stinks that the CNC costs are so high.

There are a few reasons why I'm trying to avoid destroying a bracelet.

1) I still like the bracelet, but want the strap option.

2) I don't think I have the skill/tools to get the endlinks out without doing a fair amount of damage to them.

3) I would still need screws and the endlinks tapped to put a strap on.

Any more thoughts from anyone?

[ratchpot]

can you post a pic of the end links? I may be able to help in the near future.

See below.

The way it stands now if you wan't your RO on leather you have to destroy the bracelt or the end links or both?

As you can see in the picture, the endlinks are designed so that they are removable from the case, but are permanently

fixed to the bracelet. The only options therefore for people wanting to convert to strap are to get the endlinks by cutting

through the bracelet or source the endlinks separately.

This is a picture of a genuine RO, with the endlinks removed. The endlinks are IMO an essential item for conversion to strap.

[archibald]

See below.

As you can see in the picture, the endlinks are designed so that they are removable from the case, but are permanently

fixed to the bracelet. The only options therefore for people wanting to convert to strap are to get the endlinks by cutting

through the bracelet or source the endlinks separately.

This is a picture of a genuine RO, with the endlinks removed. The endlinks are IMO an essential item for conversion to strap.

I'm no machinist, but I'd guess those parts wouldn't be too difficult to measure and then reproduce w/o taking them off--it looks like the issue would be figuring out where to drill.

I can't promise anything, but I have an OEM RO dial on the way--if it is in usable condition and I can fix the date position problem w/ an ETA movement, I'll buy the rep and see if it fits the rep case. Since I despise bracelets on any watch, I'll probably head over to a local machine shop and see what they can do.

I think another RWGer has an OEM dial coming from an Ebay seller so maybe s/he will try the same thing! In the meantime, it may be fun if someone who already has a RO lets their fingers do the walking and give a machine shop a call.

[tallguy83]

I know a guy I can ask about this. I'll give him a ring and see what he says.

[ratchpot]

I think another RWGer has an OEM dial coming from an Ebay seller so maybe s/he will try the same thing!

That's a coincidence. I sold a RO dial on eBay earlier this week because it wouldn't fit my rep...

[thomasng]

I'm the one who recently bought a RO dial, but it's for an Offshore T3 which I'm using for a frankenwatch.

ratchpot, let me guess, the dial was too small? If you're the person I'm thinking about, you bought the dial for a 33mm, not a 36mm.

[ratchpot]

That's right, the dials (I got two) were for the 33mm model. I gave up on that project and am now focusing on swapping out the dial of my Nick Faldo rep, with a Fick Faldo dial, and then replacing the see through caseback with a regular RO caseback. This way I'll have an almost perfect 14790 military dial model.

Back to the "endlinks project", I have just remembered that last year I had a discussion with someone over at TRC about the next step in the process, i.e. once you have the endlinks in place, you need to get a strap to fit correctly.

To cut a long story short, I gave up on the strap conversion project because AP have never made a 36mm (or smaller) RO that has the strap with dual endlinks combo. All of those watches have a completely different case design for their strap models. For example, the regular RO strap equivalent of my 36mm Nick Faldo actually looks like this:

Therefore, unless you want a frankenwatch on your hands, the strap conversion is only appropriate for the larger RO models, e.g. Jumbo, Chrono etc.

[archibald]

That's right, the dials (I got two) were for the 33mm model. I gave up on that project and am now focusing on swapping out the dial of my Nick Faldo rep, with a Fick Faldo dial, and then replacing the see through caseback with a regular RO caseback. This way I'll have an almost perfect 14790 military dial model.

I saw your auction--that dial was in very nice condition.

I hope mine is not for the 33mm--the seller absolutely confirmed it was for the 36mm. Mine's coming from Switzerland--where was your seller from, Ratchpot?

[ratchpot]

The picture was actually from the original seller ("leggas", from Australia), and wasn't very good. But I had to use it because my camera is crap. The dial I sold was in about 98% condition.

Did you buy from "watchpool"? When I asked what diameter the dial was, he never responded...

[tallguy83]

Update:

I spoke to a friend of mine who works at a fabrication shop. The word of the day is expensive. He said given the tolerances needed (i.e. drilling and tapping the holes for screws) and the material (Stainless Steel) being used, this could, and most likely will, be a very expensive project. Unfortunately, he does not work in the machine shop section and wouldn't be able to help a brother out.

Any other thoughts?

[ratchpot]

Any other thoughts?

Looks like you'll have to buy a cheap RO rep and grab the endlinks from that.