About five weeks ago, I decided to have my 32 year old Rolex jubilee bracelet de-stretched. The jubilee bracelets are notorious for "stretch" and over the years, they can look pretty sad and droopy. Such was the case with mine, and I sent it off to Michael Young at Classic Watch Repair in Hong Kong. This is a far distance from the northern Chicago suburbs where I hang my Sox hat.
Michael quoted me $180 plus shipping for the service (for TT. SS is cheaper, all gold is more), and said it would be about 8 - 10 weeks. It was actually a bit more than 4 weeks, including shipping. His communication was excellent.
I think he did a very nice job. The watch is a pleasure to wear again, and the bracelet looks new and tight. I estimate that over the years it had stretched about 2/3", so when the stretch was removed, I had to set the clasp as wide as it would go to accommodate my wrist. It fits great, but if my wrist starts to grow, I'm in trouble, having lost the extra links some time in the past generation.
It looks like he did a great job! It looks way better than before! Escaping for $180 with anything involving a Rolex sounds like a blessing... Well done!
I've only become aware of this lately being someone that normally has watches on a strap. How long does it take for bracelets to stretch and what causes it (mis-use, getting fatter! or just every day wear?)
Well, this watch is about 32 years old, and I wore it as my daily for about 30 of those years. My understanding is that is is not so much that the links on the bracelet actually stretch or even deform, but that the pins inside wear and get thinner, leaving visible gaps between the links. The bracelet is disassembled and new pins replace the worn ones.
My guess would be that it could be done for other bracelets if someone were to offer that service, but that it is more of a problem with the older Jubilee bracelets due to their construction (hollow gold links) than more modern solid link bracelets. When I was looking into addressing this issue, I heard of someone in the UK and somebody in Florida, both at substantially higher prices. So it's probably not a very common service. It does seem though, that a brand service center should be able to refurbish their product.
The midlinks on the older Rolex bracelets are hollow, and accumulated dirt abrade away the links around the screw holes, and the screws, resulting in bracelet stretch. The spring bars attaching the bracelet to the watch can also abrade away, so it's important to check these occasionally as well.
So, combination of worn links and worn pins. Thanks for the additional information.
I would like to say that I am very pleased with the result, that Michael's communication was perfect. His response to my initial inquiry was within hours, and there was prompt response to my email advising him of shipment, and emails upon his receipt of the item, completion of service, and confirmation of shipment with tracking. Although he quoted 8 - 10 weeks, I got it back a bit more than 4 weeks later.
Very nice. Well worth the money. I owned that watch over 20 years ago. Only watch I ever sold. I have always regretted it. Your post has doubled that regret!
I just hope that the bracelet from the WUS TOURBILLON will be of good quality.
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