tightning the bracelet

[amador]

Hey guys, Im new to TRF, this is my first post.

Can someone explain what goes into tightning the Bracelet. Iask because my dad gave me his Rolex 18k DJ w/President belt, its 22 years old watch runs great and looks good but the bracelet is loose took it to a AD and they are charging me $6000.00 for a new bracelet, thats not happening.

Any advise will greatly be appreciated

Thanks

[OysterDavid]

First, know that there are very few places to go to refurb a Rolex bracelet...and probably the one best known here on TRF is a guy named Michael Young who works out of Hong Kong.

What he does is, with the proper machinery, pulls apart the links and removes and replaces the attaching pins and then squishes everything back together. It is wear on the attaching pins that causes the gradual looseness in a linked bracelet. Most often, it is caused by dirt (never cleaning the bracelet) that grinds the metal to metal contact, leading to the increased spacing between links.

Michael's cost is far less than buying a new bracelet...but still not cheap. And, if you do some searching around this forum, you'll find a recent thread where someone felt wronged by Michael, but mostly you'll find praise. And I can add my name to the list of satisfied clients, as back in '06, I sent off a solid gold Jubilee to him and I'm still impressed with the quality of his work when I wear that watch/bracelet today. But you'll probably feel better reading not only the past praise, but also the most recent chatter about Michael. Yes, it takes a leap of faith to send off a solid gold bracelet to Hong Kong based on the recommendation of a bunch of people on an internet forum, but it worked out OK for me and many others.

Michael can be found at classicwatchparts.com....but the last time I checked, that bounces to a new URL.

There's a place in Florida that says they can do the same thing, but my suspicion is that they just send it off to Michael for the same job as their web site hasn't been updated in more than 5 years on the bracelet repair page. Do a web search and see what you find. I've not found, nor heard of any other places that do this in the USA, but, who knows...you might be able to find a skillful goldsmith who might tackle the job and not screw it up...and you can also scour the sales pages on this and other watch web sites, and there's also the aftermarket alternative...but that too isn't going to be cheap.

[amador]

thanks for the info,

much appreciated

[subtona]

went through similar experience with my watch, over 20 years old.

Sadly your best option, may become a new watch by the time your done.
seems like the system is set up that way?

best of luck.