Air King est 1977

[CantStop]

Good evening mates,
New to the forum. Watch aficionado. Have a couple tags and a breitling. Acquired a watch after my grandfather passed. It is from what I can gather a Air King 1977 Precision. It has the 7835 bracelet with 357 on the endlinks. It has significant wear and I took it in for servicing to Rolex Authorized repair facility. They quoted 890 to recondition, put a new crown stem, and crystal. However they have no links and quoted me almost another thousand to replace the bracelet. I found one that is in ok conditions on eBay and was wondering would it be too hard to take links from that bracelet out and place into current watch and have them recondition then. The links all look like different sizes. Thank for taking time to read and respond.

[CantStop]

Forgot to mention it is all original so I so do contemplating refinishing. It has nor been serviced and to my surprise it is still hold time well.

[CantStop]

Some pics of watch and case. Dad found receipt but could not find outside of box and inside garb. Bought in Germany PX.

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[R.O.L.E.X]

With the 7835 bracelet, links are removed by bending one side of the folded piece on the underside of the bracelet. It is quite a risky procedure as the probability of permanently denting the bracelet is high. I have owned one of these and it had some bending on the visible side of the links from bending taking place on the underside.

I would have an expert replace the links if you go down that path, otherwise you may be able to find a cheap replacement (full bracelet) on ebay if you wait a bit & bid on auctions. Keep the original either way.

What is wrong with the crystal? It looks fine in your photo. If it just has surface-level scratches they can be polished out with Polywatch or by a watchmaker. Crown also looks fine. Are you sure there's actually anything wrong with the stem/crown?

[brand_c]

A 78350 bracelet with 557 end links should fit right? At least you dont have to deal with complicated folded links removal

[CantStop]

Originally Posted by R.O.L.E.X

With the 7835 bracelet, links are removed by bending one side of the folded piece on the underside of the bracelet. It is quite a risky procedure as the probability of permanently denting the bracelet is high. I have owned one of these and it had some bending on the visible side of the links from bending taking place on the underside.

I would have an expert replace the links if you go down that path, otherwise you may be able to find a cheap replacement (full bracelet) on ebay if you wait a bit & bid on auctions. Keep the original either way.

What is wrong with the crystal? It looks fine in your photo. If it just has surface-level scratches they can be polished out with Polywatch or by a watchmaker. Crown also looks fine. Are you sure there's actually anything wrong with the stem/crown?

Thank you kindly for taking the time to respond to my post. I just ordered a duplicate bracelet from eBay and they will add links just like the procedure you described. I originally took it to Rolex Authorized Repair Center in Dallas. They would not touch the bracelet. They quoted the stem and crown needing replacement. They said per their service they would replace the acrylic crystal. I currently have the watch High Grade Watch Inc in Plano and feel very good after talking with them about the service and links they will put in.

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[R.O.L.E.X]

Originally Posted by CantStop

Thank you kindly for taking the time to respond to my post. I just ordered a duplicate bracelet from eBay and they will add links just like the procedure you described. I originally took it to Rolex Authorized Repair Center in Dallas. They would not touch the bracelet. They quoted the stem and crown needing replacement. They said per their service they would replace the acrylic crystal. I currently have the watch High Grade Watch Inc in Plano and feel very good after talking with them about the service and links they will put in.

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Alternatively if the new bracelet is fully intact, you can try just using that one & resizing it with the adjustments on the clasp to avoid playing with links. Otherwise i'm sure your local watch specialist can assist.

Edit: Yes the authorised repair centres like to do pointless replacements. Unless the crystal has extremely deep scratches or stress cracks, scratches can be polished out (if that's necessary). Also, the stem is probably 100% fine..

[CantStop]

Originally Posted by R.O.L.E.X

Alternatively if the new bracelet is fully intact, you can try just using that one & resizing it with the adjustments on the clasp to avoid playing with links. Otherwise i'm sure your local watch specialist can assist.

Edit: Yes the authorised repair centres like to do pointless replacements. Unless the crystal has extremely deep scratches or stress cracks, scratches can be polished out (if that's necessary). Also, the stem is probably 100% fine..

Thank you a million for your input and expertise

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[CantStop]

I got a final estimate back from High Grade Watch Inc. It will be 375 to clean, service, polish and insert the 3 links off another bracket to the one currently in the watch. That bracelet cost me 315 on eBay. They inspected watch and recommended that there is no need to replace crown and stem. They also further said that there is no need to replace the crystal, it is able to be polished. Glad I went to them rather that sticking to Rolex. It would have cost 890 plus another 1000 for the new bracelet. I Will keep you posted on outcome. I also was able to find out what watch it is. It is the Air King 5500 with 1530 movement.

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[77T]

That savings is common compared to RSC. Sometimes you don’t have a choice when the RSC insists on doing replacements you don’t want done.

But taking their side for a moment, they’re trained to “make it like new”...


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[CantStop]

Originally Posted by 77T

That savings is common compared to RSC. Sometimes you don’t have a choice when the RSC insists on doing replacements you don’t want done.

But taking their side for a moment, they’re trained to “make it like new”...


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Agreed. The final outcome of this will determine if I go to Rolex for further service or this private shop. I hope they do restore it to like to like new as I advised.

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[CantStop]

Here is the watch back from High Grade Watch Inc in Plano TX. They did a first class job on servicing the watch and fitting links from another air king bracelet. They were able to also offer one year service and polishing on the watch. Very happy that the watch has a patina but looks tip top as well with the polishing. They saved me the headache of replacing the acrylic crystal, buying a new bracelet, replacing the crown and stem, and servicing at RSC Downtown Dallas. Turnaround time was about week and a half compared to RSC 6 weeks. Thanks to Hutch and Jonathan saved about 1200 dollars.

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[J. W. Hall]

Love that AK. I’ve got a very similar one coming back from service any day. Wear it in good health. Cheers.


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[Redtele58]

That looks super. They did a very nice job.

[Woody]

If it was my watch I would have paid extra and gone with the RSC (but then I am easily parted from my cash!!) but having said that the people you selected look to have done a great job - I hope you enjoy wearing the watch for many years to come.

[Paulie 50]

Originally Posted by Redtele58

That looks super. They did a very nice job.

x2👍

[CantStop]

Thank you to all for the compliments.

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