Pinning Presidents bracelet

[chrisogilvie]

Would you re-pin a 20 year old Rolex gold Day Date Presidents bracelet?
It has a bit of stretch but not too much. A jeweller with experience of re-pinning says he can do it but I'm not sure.

[zapokee]

Originally Posted by chrisogilvie

Would you re-pin a 20 year old Rolex gold Day Date Presidents bracelet?
It has a bit of stretch but not too much. A jeweller with experience of re-pinning says he can do it but I'm not sure.

Never heard the term "re-pin," which makes me wonder if the jeweller knows what he's doing in regard to vintage Rolex. I assume you're referring to having the bracelet tightened/restored.

If it's not overly stretched and it fits you, I'd leave it as it is. Also note that it might be significantly shorter if it's tightened, so you might have to get extra links. Which will probably cost more than the restoration itself.

[offrdmania]

Does re-pinning mean that he would be rebuilding the permanent links to tighten up the slack? Or do you have one of the very early bracelets that used pins on the detachable links instead of screws?

[Tools]

I shouldn't think that a 20 year old bracelet would be worn enough to need the pins replaced.

However, if it is that worn, I would seek a professional to do the job to ensure that proper materials would be used. We have a couple of shops in the US that specialize in this.

Rebuilding bracelets is fairly new. I would bet that there thousands of those old gold bracelets that have been melted down and replaced with aftermarket bracelets. A shame really. It's also a shame that Rolex charged 20 thousand bucks for a new one and forced many us to either toss it, or wear on leather.

[joli160]

I would not let somebody handle it without him having experience in this