Rolex Jubilee bracelet tightening and repair !

[Watchcollectables]

Well I had an interesting project this week which I thought would be of interest to you guys here ;-) . This watch had come into contact with an Arc welder which had basically melted an end of one of the end pieces in the bracelet , fused one link , melted the mid link and disintegrated most of the connecting pin ! Most bizarre what people wear doing these welding jobs !
Still my task , to repair the melted pieces , make a new 18k centre link and replace the disintegrated pin and tighten and refinish the whole bracelet . Fortunately no first aid was needed:-)
First a few before pics.

[Watchcollectables]

Another

[Watchcollectables]

Here you can see the 18 k link we made to replace the melted piece in the top right corner of the pic unpolished !

[Watchcollectables]

The bracelet was in bad shape

[Watchcollectables]

18k centre piece in and on to the next part.

[Watchcollectables]

All back together and just to replace the damaged end piece;-)

[Watchcollectables]

And same as before , now just to refinish and we are done , excuse the poorly lit photos !

[Watchcollectables]

The end result ! We made the 18k link slightly thicker which you can see in the close up . Can you spot it?!

[Watchcollectables]

The stretch all gone and back to the owner very happy I hope !!

Thanks for watching .

WC

[rmfnla]

Terrific post; thanks for taking the time to shoot the photos during the repair process!

FWIW, I worked my way through college as a welder (Aerospace certification, lots of time at Turkey Point nuclear power in Homestead, FL) and I would never wear any watch while working, let alone a Rolex; just too may ways to screw it up.

Guess you pre-empted any "Is it safe to weld wearing my Rolex?" threads; thanks for that as well...

[Scotswierdo]

Clever stuff!!!

[Furbo]

Good job, I wonder who repaired the hand that wore that Rolex. :)

[nickb732]

Wow, that is amazing. Love the knowledge on this forum.

[Watchcollectables]

Originally Posted by rmfnla

Terrific post; thanks for taking the time to shoot the photos during the repair process!

FWIW, I worked my way through college as a welder (Aerospace certification, lots of time at Turkey Point nuclear power in Homestead, FL) and I would never wear any watch while working, let alone a Rolex; just too may ways to screw it up.

Guess you pre-empted any "Is it safe to weld wearing my Rolex?" threads; thanks for that as well...

I think this welder is currently pursuing alternative DIY projects .

Although it does amaze me the degree of ` abuse ` some watches go through and still manage to come out relatively unscathed. I suppose its a testament to the design .
WC

[never2late]

Excellent job on the repair.

[Floorguy]

Originally Posted by never2late

Excellent job on the repair.

X2

[rmfnla]

Originally Posted by Watchcollectables

I think this welder is currently pursuing alternative DIY projects .

Although it does amaze me the degree of ` abuse ` some watches go through and still manage to come out relatively unscathed. I suppose its a testament to the design .
WC

It's been many years since I held a "stinger" but I seem to remember one of the guys flashing his watch (don't recall the brand) and fusing lots of the parts inside.