16014 Clasp Education Help

[Gregghia]

Hello. First-time Rolex purchaser here of a mid-80s 16014. Struggling to get the clasp to sit properly on my 6.75" wrist. Is this is normal, or am I not adjusting it right...

Got the watch yesterday. The first thing I noticed is that the clasp mechanism is fairly flat and not as rounded (to fit the wrist) as I would hope - couple that with a small wrist, and it's just not sitting properly. I tried to size it down, but the smaller I sized it, the worse it looked. The top of the clasp pushes up, and the lower part doesn't wrap around the wrist forcing the band out at a hard angle.

Must have been the same issue with its previous owner(s) as the jubilee has permanent indentations from the pressure of the clasp joint pressing in over time

Normal?

[Dan S]

Everyone's wrist is different, but I'm not seeing anything that looks particularly bad. It's a vintage bracelet. Try removing links from either side and see if that helps.

[Gregghia]

Dan I did remove one from each side. Of course when I remove them the fit is perfect however it really accentuates the angle on both sides. Really seems to come down to how long that folding clasp is. Wish it had a little more curve to it.

[CTech]

Originally Posted by Gregghia

Wish it had a little more curve to it.

Then put more curve to it!

Seriously, the blades of the clasp are very easy to bend to fit the shape of your wrist.

In one of your photos it seems that end of the blade that is nearest the wrist is bent outwards near where the clasp closes, so you'll have to correct that first.

Then start by bending the blade that touches your wrist to a smaller radius to get it to fit the profile of your wrist. When that fits well, bend the outer blade to a slightly smaller radius so that the clasp clicks into place well and the bracelet feels secure.

When that is done and the fit is good, adjust the length of the bracelet if necessary.

If you look at a few bracelet clasps on watches for sale on Chrono24 or ebay you'll see the typical radius of the clasp blades, and the majority are bent to a lot smaller radius than your relatively flat example.

[Dan S]

Originally Posted by CTech

Then put more curve to it!

Seriously, the blades of the clasp are very easy to bend to fit the shape of your wrist.

In one of your photos it seems that end of the blade that is nearest the wrist is bent outwards near where the clasp closes, so you'll have to correct that first.

Then start by bending the blade that touches your wrist to a smaller radius to get it to fit the profile of your wrist. When that fits well, bend the outer blade to a slightly smaller radius so that the clasp clicks into place well and the bracelet feels secure.

When that is done and the fit is good, adjust the length of the bracelet if necessary.

If you look at a few bracelet clasps on watches for sale on Chrono24 or ebay you'll see the typical radius of the clasp blades, and the majority are bent to a lot smaller radius than your relatively flat example.

Absolutely, you can do this, very good idea. Keep in mind that as you start bending the blades, it will affect the way the clasp closes, so you will need to make fine adjustments to compensate.

[Filipão]

Careful not to bend just the in the middle...

As above, the blade closer to the wrist has to have bigger radius (less bent) the one tucked inside the clasp less (more bent)

[Gregghia]

Solid info right there - thanks all. Got me motivated.

[TuRo]

Yes little tip... bend the blade over your thumb very gently and as Felipe says not too much in the middle it will crease. Suggest you start on the outside working inwards over a couple of mins..... and always bend the blade furthest away from you wrist (the outer one) a tiny bit more than the inner one - violla a nice click snap ;-)