ROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEXROLEX

ROLLiWORKS · 26 July 2018, 07:20 AM

A fellow member sent us an Oyster band for repair.

ROLLiWORKS · 26 July 2018, 07:26 AM

Up close there are some real trouble spots. In this area a center link has dug in so deep that it is actually occupying the space of the outer the link!

Opened we get a better look at the outer link of the affected area. The center link has worked a very deep groove well into the outer part of the link. It takes a lot of friction for an extended period of time to create a groove this deep.

Many rounds of welding, adding 316L fill material, grinding, more welding, and even more grinding then surfacing goes into each end link. We then repeat this 19 more times of all the outer links. Here's a look at the fruits of our labor. We're constantly trying new techniques and improving our tooling to achieve even better results.

BEFORE / AFTER SHOTS

Staying busy, now onto to the next!

rushca01 · 26 July 2018, 07:44 AM

Very nice work! Nice to have an option state side.

watchcrank · 26 July 2018, 10:33 AM

Looks pretty darn good considering the wear. Nice

springer · 26 July 2018, 10:37 AM

The bracelet looks very nice. Great work.

joli160 · 26 July 2018, 11:10 PM

Love to see a professional job

Thuilln · 26 July 2018, 11:21 PM

Beautifully restored. Bravo!

ROLLiWORKS · 27 July 2018, 05:05 AM

Thanks. More to come

Rogoal · 27 July 2018, 06:10 AM

Nice work!

I highly recommend Sand Hill! Just got my oyster band back and was highly satisfied. Would recommend to others. As rushca mentioned, it’s great to have a source in the States.

Keep up the good work!

Time4aRolex · 27 July 2018, 10:59 AM

Looking good!

BNA/LION · 27 July 2018, 11:00 AM

Great Work!

SloRolexfan · 6 August 2018, 12:56 PM

that is pretty impressive. I assume TIG with an extremely small tungsten under magnification?

ROLLiWORKS · 6 August 2018, 01:05 PM

TIG when we need better penetration laser welding on thinner portions.

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SloRolexfan · 6 August 2018, 01:53 PM

thanks for responding! thats some awesome craftsmanship!

SearChart · 6 August 2018, 03:37 PM

Very well done!

ROLLiWORKS · 25 August 2018, 03:06 PM

Swiss folded Jubilee? Yes sir!

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ROLLiWORKS · 25 August 2018, 03:07 PM

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

SloRolexfan · 31 August 2018, 04:45 PM

That's pretty dramatic! Great work!

1William · 31 August 2018, 09:11 PM

Wow. Looks great.

J_1964 · 1 September 2018, 01:43 PM

Absolutely Amazing! Almost makes me wish I had a worn out bracelet....

ROLLiWORKS · 7 September 2018, 12:40 PM

Another Oyster band in need of major TLC. It's not always practical to stop work at every stage to take photos (quite disruptive in fact) but we like to do this from time to time. Now it's time to do what we do when we're doin how we're doing it.

After close inspection there are some real trouble spots that are in real concern. Red arrows indicate the most of it but technically we there could easily 15+ more spots that could have arrows.

Here's a fun shot of the basic components of bracelet after all the pins are removed.

Up close you see the surface of every corner is missing metal. All of this will need to be rebuilt. When a bracelet starts to get loose, all the friction is transferred and focused to the corners rather than being spread evenly throughout the link. This grinds down the corners of all the components increasing the sloppiness in the links. The degradation grows exponentially so from kinda sloppy to very sloppy happens fairly quickly.

There is a lot of damage here and a lot repair work is needed.

This is what the damage looks like.

Outer part of the links with deep gouges dug into them.

Center part of the links ground down from rubbing.

ROLLiWORKS · 7 September 2018, 12:46 PM

All 36 pieces of this bracelet will need laser welding. On average 15 mins per piece between welding, grinding, and touch ups. You got it 9 hours of welding and grinding alone. Yep, sigh.

This is what the welding process looks like. A spool of 316L stainless steel fill wire, argon shielding, gas, and a laser beam of light. In the photo is one of the side pieces of the oyster link.

316L fill material is added to rebuild these areas. It may not be pretty but this is exactly what is needed.

ROLLiWORKS · 7 September 2018, 12:47 PM

Here is what these components look like after the excess metal is removed.

ROLLiWORKS · 7 September 2018, 12:59 PM

ROLLiWORKS · 7 September 2018, 01:00 PM

More to come ....

SearChart · 7 September 2018, 02:57 PM

Wow dude that is awesome stuff. I wish we would do that here at our RSC but just too time consuming.
Very well done

ROLLiWORKS · 7 September 2018, 03:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SearChart

Wow dude that is awesome stuff. I wish we would do that here at our RSC but just too time consuming.
Very well done

Haha. Yah im sure I could find a more enjoyable way to spend 12 hrs.

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SloRolexfan · 7 September 2018, 03:27 PM

I LOVE it!!!!!!

I want to see more of this!!!

SearChart · 7 September 2018, 03:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROLLiWORKS

Haha. Yah im sure I could find a more enjoyable way to spend 12 hrs.

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How often do you repair bracelets? Or is it all you do?

ROLLiWORKS · 7 September 2018, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SearChart

How often do you repair bracelets? Or is it all you do?

We’re repairing bracelets at an increasing number week by week. More than one per day at the moment but not quite two per day.

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26 July 2018, 07:20 AM	#1
ROLLiWORKS "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Real Name: Michael H Posts: 964	Adventures in Band Repair (B4/After photos) A fellow member sent us an Oyster band for repair.

26 July 2018, 10:37 AM	#5
springer 2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Real Name: jP Location: Texas Watch: GMT-MASTER Posts: 17,309	The bracelet looks very nice. Great work. __________________ Member of NAWCC since 1990. INSTAGRAM USER NAME: SPRINGERJFP Visit my Instagram page to view some of the finest vintage GMTs anywhere - as well as other vintage classics.

26 July 2018, 11:10 PM	#6
joli160 2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: NL Watch: Yachtmaster Posts: 14,745	Love to see a professional job __________________ Day Date 18238, Yachtmaster 16622, Deepsea 116660, Submariner 116619, SkyD 326935, DJ 178271, DJ 69158, Yachtmaster 169622, GMT 116713LN, GMT 126711.

26 July 2018, 11:21 PM	#7
Thuilln "TRF" Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Real Name: Nick Location: YUL Watch: 16570 Posts: 1,936	Beautifully restored. Bravo! __________________ Nick _________________________________________ 14060M - 114200 - 114270 - 214270 - 16710BLRO - 16570 - 3570.50 - Cartier Tank Solo - Cartier Tank Française ‘Yearling’ - CWC Navy Diver

27 July 2018, 10:59 AM	#10
Time4aRolex "TRF" Member Join Date: Jul 2018 Real Name: Kent Location: New Hampshire Posts: 1,716	Looking good! __________________ Rolex 116610 and 16220 You miss 100% of the shots you don't take

26 July 2018, 07:26 AM	#2
ROLLiWORKS "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Real Name: Michael H Posts: 964	Up close there are some real trouble spots. In this area a center link has dug in so deep that it is actually occupying the space of the outer the link! Opened we get a better look at the outer link of the affected area. The center link has worked a very deep groove well into the outer part of the link. It takes a lot of friction for an extended period of time to create a groove this deep. Many rounds of welding, adding 316L fill material, grinding, more welding, and even more grinding then surfacing goes into each end link. We then repeat this 19 more times of all the outer links. Here's a look at the fruits of our labor. We're constantly trying new techniques and improving our tooling to achieve even better results. BEFORE / AFTER SHOTS Staying busy, now onto to the next!

26 July 2018, 07:44 AM	#3
rushca01 "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2016 Location: Indiana Watch: GMT BLRO Posts: 1,750	Very nice work! Nice to have an option state side.

26 July 2018, 10:33 AM	#4
watchcrank "TRF" Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Real Name: michael Location: Florida Watch: explorer II cream Posts: 1,664	Looks pretty darn good considering the wear. Nice

27 July 2018, 05:05 AM	#8
ROLLiWORKS "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Real Name: Michael H Posts: 964	Thanks. More to come

27 July 2018, 06:10 AM	#9
Rogoal "TRF" Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: USA Posts: 54	Nice work! I highly recommend Sand Hill! Just got my oyster band back and was highly satisfied. Would recommend to others. As rushca mentioned, it’s great to have a source in the States. Keep up the good work!

27 July 2018, 11:00 AM	#11
BNA/LION 2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member Join Date: May 2011 Real Name: Larry Location: San Diego, CA Watch: ROLEX Posts: 25,627	Adventures in Band Repair (B4/After photos) Great Work! __________________ ✦ 28238 President DD 18K/YG ✦ 16610LN SS Sub ✦ 16613 18K/SS Serti ✦ 16550 Exp II Non-Rail Cream Dial ✦ Daytona C 116500 ✦ 126710 BLRO GMT-Master II ✦ NEXT-->? ⛳ Hole In One! 10/3/19 DMCC 5th hole, par 3, 168 yards w/ 4-Iron.

6 August 2018, 12:56 PM	#12
SloRolexfan "TRF" Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: SLO Posts: 59	that is pretty impressive. I assume TIG with an extremely small tungsten under magnification?

6 August 2018, 01:05 PM	#13
ROLLiWORKS "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Real Name: Michael H Posts: 964	TIG when we need better penetration laser welding on thinner portions. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

6 August 2018, 01:53 PM	#14
SloRolexfan "TRF" Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: SLO Posts: 59	thanks for responding! thats some awesome craftsmanship!

25 August 2018, 03:06 PM	#16
ROLLiWORKS "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Real Name: Michael H Posts: 964	Swiss folded Jubilee? Yes sir! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

25 August 2018, 03:07 PM	#17
ROLLiWORKS "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Real Name: Michael H Posts: 964	Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

31 August 2018, 04:45 PM	#18
SloRolexfan "TRF" Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: SLO Posts: 59	That's pretty dramatic! Great work!

31 August 2018, 09:11 PM	#19
1William 2024 SubLV41 Pledge Member Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: North Carolina Watch: Rolex/Others Posts: 47,676	Wow. Looks great.

1 September 2018, 01:43 PM	#20
J_1964 "TRF" Member Join Date: Apr 2017 Real Name: Jim Location: NoCal USA Watch: 16710 Posts: 1,955	Absolutely Amazing! Almost makes me wish I had a worn out bracelet....

7 September 2018, 12:40 PM	#21
ROLLiWORKS "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Real Name: Michael H Posts: 964	Another Oyster band in need of major TLC. It's not always practical to stop work at every stage to take photos (quite disruptive in fact) but we like to do this from time to time. Now it's time to do what we do when we're doin how we're doing it. After close inspection there are some real trouble spots that are in real concern. Red arrows indicate the most of it but technically we there could easily 15+ more spots that could have arrows. Here's a fun shot of the basic components of bracelet after all the pins are removed. Up close you see the surface of every corner is missing metal. All of this will need to be rebuilt. When a bracelet starts to get loose, all the friction is transferred and focused to the corners rather than being spread evenly throughout the link. This grinds down the corners of all the components increasing the sloppiness in the links. The degradation grows exponentially so from kinda sloppy to very sloppy happens fairly quickly. There is a lot of damage here and a lot repair work is needed. This is what the damage looks like. Outer part of the links with deep gouges dug into them. Center part of the links ground down from rubbing.

7 September 2018, 12:46 PM	#22
ROLLiWORKS "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Real Name: Michael H Posts: 964	All 36 pieces of this bracelet will need laser welding. On average 15 mins per piece between welding, grinding, and touch ups. You got it 9 hours of welding and grinding alone. Yep, sigh. This is what the welding process looks like. A spool of 316L stainless steel fill wire, argon shielding, gas, and a laser beam of light. In the photo is one of the side pieces of the oyster link. 316L fill material is added to rebuild these areas. It may not be pretty but this is exactly what is needed.

7 September 2018, 12:47 PM	#23
ROLLiWORKS "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Real Name: Michael H Posts: 964	Here is what these components look like after the excess metal is removed.

7 September 2018, 12:59 PM	#24
ROLLiWORKS "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Real Name: Michael H Posts: 964

7 September 2018, 01:00 PM	#25
ROLLiWORKS "TRF" Member Join Date: Feb 2015 Real Name: Michael H Posts: 964	More to come ....

7 September 2018, 03:27 PM	#28
SloRolexfan "TRF" Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Location: SLO Posts: 59	I LOVE it!!!!!! I want to see more of this!!!

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