How much bracelet stretch is too much?

[jpcwon]

Hey everyone,

I've had my new to me 16710 Coke for about a month now. I am new to older Rolex's and I absolutely love the watch, but one thing has me curious.

Bracelet stretch. This GMT Master II is running a 78360 bracelet with hollow end links. You can see that there's a little bit of stretch in the links. Honestly it doesn't bother me much at all, because I still think it looks pretty good when on the wrist.

What I wanted to find out is whether it's structurally "bad" for the bracelet to continue wearing it after it's been stretched? How would I know when it's too much and I'll have to retire the bracelet? Or is it all personal preference?

Thanks a lot for any info you can give me! Just trying to learn.

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[Brian Page]

That's a fair amount. One thing to remember if you are concerned about it getting worse is how loose or tight you wear it. Looser = more stretch over time.

Beautiful watch!

[Brian Page]

One other thing to mention - keep it clean! Buildup inside the links promotes stretch as well.

[j-watch]

I have a friend who has a P serial Subdate I sourced for him used back in about 2005 or so. He's worn it every day since, for work, pleasure, etc. He showed it to me a few weeks ago. The bracelet nearly bends in half from horizontal to vertical like your pic (but much more pronounced). He asked if I thought he should have it replaced at the next service. I told him to let Rolex let him know if it needs to be replaced.

He did say it's damn comfortable to wear. BTW, he's in environmental engineer / consultant. He wears that watch while mucking around the mud / field / mold infested flooded buildings / crawl spaces, etc. I told him to clean it more often! He just looked at me and said, "I wear it in the shower every day, does that count"?

[datejust24]

You guys are kidding right? That bracelet has a good 85% or better life left I’d say. I think it looks damn good how it sits right now. In fact, on your wrist it doesn’t look like it has any stretch at all.

[joli160]

I'd send it to Rolliworks.
If you wait too long the links get worn out as well and need welding. A new bracelet is costly

[Tools]

Looks fine for a decades old watch.

Stretch isn't really stretch, it is wear. You can look at the connecting rods in the links, and at the link corners where the rods rub, to see if any of them are in danger of wearing through.

There are a number of places that can replace the connecting rods and make a very much worn bracelet, appear years younger.

[Dr.Smellody]

Looks nearly brand new to me. I see 20 more years of service life there.

[Jmbarrack]

I can't tell if people are being serious or sarcastic.

I've passed on watches because they had much less stretch than this one does ...

But I'm really interested in this topic.

[Speed]

Originally Posted by Jmbarrack

I can't tell if people are being serious or sarcastic.

I've passed on watches because they had much less stretch than this one does ...

But I'm really interested in this topic.

I think folks are quite serious on either side.

It's personal preference re: what one considers as acceptable condition.

[Dr.Smellody]

Originally Posted by Dr.Smellody

Looks nearly brand new to me. I see 20 more years of service life there.

I am being VERY serious.

[Jmbarrack]

Originally Posted by Speed

I think folks are quite serious on either side.

It's personal preference re: what one considers as acceptable condition.

It's interesting to see what people say here. I'd personally be concerned about purchasing something with this much stretch, mainly due to fear of having it becoming worse with daily wear.

But if the consensus is that it's fine to wear in this condition, then it may change slightly how I look at bracelet stretch.

[Jmbarrack]

Originally Posted by Dr.Smellody

I am being VERY serious.

Now if you tell me you're an ophthalmologist I'll believe you.

[jpcwon]

Thanks so much guys, for the input! It can definitely be deceiving when you see an old bracelet such as the 78360 on this Coke held up like that. Especially when you are used to trying on or wearing newer SEL bracelets.

I too have had collector friends say it looks fine. Others say it's stretched. Since this is my third Rolex but my first "non- modern" one so to speak, I wanted to get everyone's take, as well as confirm that I'm not making it any worse. It's super comfy!! Moreso than my 114060 sub was actually

I really lucked out on this one. Got a great deal on it and it's in stellar shape.

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[joli160]

The watch head is tilted backwards on the picture. If you align it vertically you see how much it really sags.

It's easiest to check on the centre links looking at the inside how much damage is done over time. If these links begin to wear than it's definitely time to do something about it imo.

Personally I would not wait 20 years, you would have lost your watch by that time

Indeed very comfortable. Just as this Jubilee.

jubilee-bracelet-stretch.jpg

[jpcwon]

Originally Posted by joli160

The watch head is tilted backwards on the picture. If you align it vertically you see how much it really sags.



It's easiest to check on the centre links looking at the inside how much damage is done over time. If these links begin to wear than it's definitely time to do something about it imo.



Personally I would not wait 20 years, you would have lost your watch by that time



Indeed very comfortable. Just as this Jubilee.



Attachment 1108675

Haha yeah that's quite a stretch!!

Well yes, I will concede the point that my watch is tilted back. Wasn't on purpose. It's very comfy, so I'm going to leave well enough alone for now I think...

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[Andad]

The bracelet has some wear but its not excessive.

I would put it at 20% based on the pix?

[Dr. Robert]

Don’t worry, be happy......we all stretch a little as we age.

[Jim Smyth]

You have some stretch thats for sure. What matters is how much and how easy it is to fix. I would suggest viewing the thread below in its entirety. Now its just a pin change which is fairly easy and not that expensive. It would then last you the rest of your life. If you wait till later it starts wearing through in all different bad places and will be more involved and more expensive.

https://www.rolexforums.com/showthread.php?t=618472

[cerendigit]

Looks good to me.

(Don't get into vintage Rolex if you can't live with that).

[Alcan]

Metal bracelets don't actually stretch, components wear. Here are a couple of pix of my ref 1630 Datejust bracelet.

[jpcwon]

Originally Posted by cerendigit

Looks good to me.

(Don't get into vintage Rolex if you can't live with that).

Oh for sure. I knew some was completely normal and to be expected. This coke is an S serial (1994). I just wanted to make sure no one said "whoa, don't wear it anymore". Which I didn't think was the case but I just wanted to confirm. Thanks so much once again!

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[coffeebreak]

As Alcan mentioned, the bracelets don’t actually stretch, the metal just wears down on the pins and the oyster links themselves. Only you can be the judge of when a pin might give way, as it can cause the watch to slip off your wrist. Here’s another pic from the web showing how a pin and an oyster bracelet link are worn down.


I have an older 4-digit gmt and I was afraid to wear it on its oyster bracelet because it was very worn at a couple of bracelet points. I eventually had that oyster bracelet and a jubilee bracelet restored by Michael Young in HK. Here’s the before and after the restoration of the two bracelets



For my oyster bracelet, here’s a close up of the portion I was afraid would give way. You can see that pin could certainly snap eventually

[jpcwon]

Originally Posted by coffeebreak

As Alcan mentioned, the bracelets don’t actually stretch, the metal just wears down on the pins and the oyster links themselves. Only you can be the judge of when a pin might give way, as it can cause the watch to slip off your wrist. Here’s another pic from the web showing how a pin and an oyster bracelet link are worn down.


I have an older 4-digit gmt and I was afraid to wear it on its oyster bracelet because it was very worn at a couple of bracelet points. I eventually had that oyster bracelet and a jubilee bracelet restored by Michael Young in HK. Here’s the before and after the restoration of the two bracelets



For my oyster bracelet, here’s a close up of the portion I was afraid would give way. You can see that pin could certainly snap eventually

Wow that looks amazing!! Based on your pics, I think i have a long way to go which is encouraging. This watch has so much character which I love!

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[frank4242]

Still looks new and beautiful.

[Gazoak]

GMT Nato Strap.jpg

It looks fine to me but maybe try it on a Nato for a while to preserve the life of the bracelet.

[Reinhard in SA]

I was a bit OCD about bracelet stretch, but these watches AND bracelets will likely out live us. That bracelet to me has a lot of life left in it. I think my 16710 bracelet probably looks the same. Keep it clean and don't wear it too loose. Enjoy that beautiful watch

Check the bracelet on this one. That might be pushing it a bit

https://www.hodinkee.com/articles/op...-one-watch-guy

[jinikari01]

Looks okay to me. But if ever you feel the need for a repair, get in touch with Rolliworks.

[Harry49]

Fair price .. looks very nice to me..

[ROLLiWORKS]

Originally Posted by coffeebreak

As Alcan mentioned, the bracelets don’t actually stretch, the metal just wears down on the pins and the oyster links themselves. Only you can be the judge of when a pin might give way, as it can cause the watch to slip off your wrist. Here’s another pic from the web showing how a pin and an oyster bracelet link are worn down.


I have an older 4-digit gmt and I was afraid to wear it on its oyster bracelet because it was very worn at a couple of bracelet points. I eventually had that oyster bracelet and a jubilee bracelet restored by Michael Young in HK. Here’s the before and after the restoration of the two bracelets



For my oyster bracelet, here’s a close up of the portion I was afraid would give way. You can see that pin could certainly snap eventually

Alcan is correct the components wear down. For Oysters the lateral movement wears down the solid side pieces the hold the pins. The pins themselves have sleeves that add girth to the pins. These sleeves wear down and need replacing. In this photo the pin is exposed so friction wore through the entire sleeve and os now eating through the center link.

The pins in most cases are often undamaged. But they cant be re-used either. The knurl ends are worn after disassembly. Also we need access to the side pieces to weld and fill any worn areas so they are replaced.

Pins and sleeves are cheap. The center pieces of the oyster band are not.

Its grit and friction that causes the wear. We joke and feature arm cheese shots on our IG page but that grit is like 80 grit sandpaper grinding on high friction areas.

Clean clean clean. Ultrasonic and hot steam purge once a year.


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