"Bracelet stretching"

[scl6118]

Hello all. I don't have much knowledge of "bracelet stretching" so I wanted to request some information. Could somebody tell me how long this usually takes to occur, if it occurs in certain bracelets more than others, what causes it, and things to look for when it first starts to occur. Thanks in advance.

[mike]

My experience is that stretch is exacerbated by poor fit (to loose) and dirt, grit. Keep it properly sized and clean and it'll last a long time.

As I recall older jubliee bracelets were prone to stretch much more so than oysters, but it's been a while.

[scl6118]

I also understood that older jubilees were prone to stretching.

[scl6118]

Why does a loose fit cause stretching anyway?

[mike]

Originally Posted by scl6118

Why does a loose fit cause stretching anyway?

It seems the weight of the watch head over time stretches the pins. (movement) Some feel it's not the most efficient system for the auto winding system as well.

[JohnBoy]

Regarding the jubilee design, the link hoops are really thin as opposed to the Oyster. Aside from just flattening the hoops in traditional stretch, the mating surfaces between jubilee center links have very small areas of contact - but the physical loads are the same as most other watches from the head swinging around. The excessive 'swinging around' can be accentuated from an overly-loose bracelet. So, contact smaller area and the same load equals higher bearing stress (force per area) - and more wear. Add the TT factor of soft, ductile 14/18k gold middle links bearing (think chewing almost) on each other and on the harder, less-ductile stainless steel beside them and you can really get some serious wear.

A good reason to keep the jubilee bracelet clean and maybe set it aside when really loading the bracelet inertially, like when chopping wood....playing cricket/baseball.

[scl6118]

Thanks guys!

[kyle L]

http://rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=89782