14 replies to this topic

[colinryan]

How in god's name do you remove links from a Seiko bracelet? On this one I have there are no screws, just some arrows on the inner surface seemingly indicating that the links can be removed, but no amount of poking or levering with watchmakers' screwdrivers will make them release.

Any ideas?

[StevenJJ]

Seconded... Just taken delivery of an SKX033K2 and want to have a go at this myself. Do the links push out from the arrow side or 'pull' out using the hole giving access to the pin(?) on the other side?

Techniques and tools needed appreciated!

[r1ch]

Morning Gents..

Most Seiko bracelets are secured with push pins, the examples you describe being pretty typical of the breed. The pins that hold the links of the bracelet in place are of the "split pin" design and a few have very small collars inside the links as well. Essentially the pins will push out of the bracelet in the direction indicated by the arrows. If fitted with collars, they are *very* small and easily lost - without them the pins won't fit back into the link and so its important to hang onto them. A good tip would be to do the job inside a large-ish clear plastic bag, that way none on the bits will disappear across the room anywhere!..

As for tools, our host Roy, sells a very decent bracelet adjustment tool, see the "watch tools" section on RLT WATCHES and his service is great. That said, it is possible to push the pins out with a strong short length of metal, I have heard of "someone" <ahem!> using a paper clip and small hammer. The tool itself is much safer though!!..

I wouldn't have said it was a "difficult" job, its a bit fiddly and requires some patience - but if you've a little bit of mechanical sympathy and are half decent with your hands its a 15 minute job.

Hope this has helped, best of luck!

Rich

[strange_too]

If haven't got my bracelet pin remover available, I use the pin end of my strap tool. However, I would recommend getting the correct tool for the job. Roy sells them for £12.

[pugster]

yup i also recommend keeping an eye out for the collars if it has any

[StevenJJ]

Hi guys,

Just off the phone from RLT. Don't know which bracelet the OP has but the pin-pusher isn't the suitable tool for mine:




The pin (L-shaped so I'm told) is 'pulled' out with a small tool rather than 'pushed' out from the arrow side as per the pin-pusher. I have ordered the 'Standard' spring bar tool as I'm going to have a crack at this with the watch laid flat for better access (plus I can fine tune the spring bar position too). Should be delivered on Wednesday!

[ETCHY]

If the bracelet looks like the one in the photo, the tool you can use looks like a pair of pliers but one of the jaws is pointed & goes into the recess in the back of the link at the opposite end from the arrow, the other rests on the top side edge & you just squeeze, the L shaped pin thing will come out in the direction of the arrow.

You might then need a regular pair of pliers to pull it the rest of the way out.

To put it back just line it up carefully & tap it back with a preferably softish faced hammer (I use a brass headed one).

It's really quite easy, you just need the right tools.

Good luck

Dave

Edited by ETCHY, 23 July 2007 - 05:52 PM.

[Stanford]

I found the type with U shaped slides to be amongst the worst to work on (might be easier with the right tool/s, if there is such a thing).

This link may help.

[strange_too]

The link may be removed by the mods, because the site has sales too. I've cleaned the image up for the shown bracelet.



"Folded link bracelets without pins come in a huge variety of forms. Yet I have seen many of those bracelets being 20 years or older without too much bracelet tear. It would go beyond the scope of this article to describe many different types of those bracelets because all of them work in a similar way. There the metal sheet that needs to pushed out is normally showing a spherical elevation and a recessed or cut out area where to place the marker. Then simply push in ARROW direction. I found that pushing with the pusher slightly tilted to the back helps to apply more force."

Edited by strange_too, 23 July 2007 - 07:43 PM.

[StevenJJ]

Hi guys. Right, even though my spring bar tool is on order the ye olde Bollocks Tit (bollocks to it) mentality came into play and I decided to just get on with it.

Tools used:
- High quality adjustable spanner - also has soft coating for 'hammer' usage.
- High quality small/nail scissors - straight blades not curved.




1)
Open the bracelet by removing the spring bar from the clasp. Note: buy the proper tool for this! I used the scissor-tip to push the bar in and 'smothered' it with my hand so it wouldn't go flying off. This isn't 100% necessary but it seems easier to work on an open bracelet than a closed one and it will be open in the near future anyway when you remove a link... so may as well open it now? Retain the spring bar in a safe place - put it in a dish etc.


2)
Using the nail scissors (or any apppropriate driver) push the link pin down in the direction of the arrow. The link pin on this Oyster folded metal bracelet has a hole all the way through it. Get the driver point seated nicely into this hole and apply pressure. I managed to just push the pin out but it may be necessary to tap your driver in order to get it to move from what I've observed:




3)
The pin should be proud of the bracelet. Using appropriate pliers or gripping tool (I used a high quality adjustable spanner) continue to pull the pin all the way out. To remove a link you will need to repeat this procedure again:




4)
Reconstruct the bracelet. Line up the bracelet links and merely push one of your pins back in. Hammers and the like are advertised for traditional pins but for this type of 'pin' I managed to push it all the way home using only my thumb. If you do have to tap yours home make sure you're striking it with a soft tool or covering to avoid damage. You are now left with the spring bar, one pin and one link:




5)
Re-fit the spring bar in the appropriate place, remember you have some adjustment here as well for fine-tuning the fit.


6)
Put the watch on:





Tip
When working with the spring bar do not face directly over it! If it 'goes off' it could easily fly up and embed itself in one of your eyes.

[StevenJJ]

Edited to add:

Tip 2
Make sure you remove the link(s) from the correct side of the clasp I removed mine from the 'wrong' side and the watch didn't quite have the perfect fit... so I put one back in on that side and remove one from the other side for a better fit and 'hang' on the wrist

[rondeco]

Great post mate and a nice pic tutorial

Thanks for taking the time , I'm sure a lot of people will find that very useful .

[StevenJJ]

No probs. There are so many types of bracelet/pins I decided the only option was to just open her up and take some pics. Not sure if this is applicable to any other bracelets besides Seiko 'Oyster' with folded links. Would suspect other Seiko folded link bracelets that don't have actual pins would be the same though?

[PhilM]

I second Ron's post above, thanks for posting this up very usefull information to have especially with pictures

[colinryan]

Thanks very much!