Reference 1002 Oyster Perpetual - replacement spring bars

[12dart14]

Hello,

I have been reading the forum for a good part of the day in an effort of finding suitable spring bar replacements for my mid-1960's Oyster Perpetual.

I purchased a 19mm leather strap which came with spring bars that do not go all the way through the drilled lug holes. They appear to have flanges which preclude the bar from going all the way through the holes.

The original spring bars, which appear to be double shoulder without flanges, do not fit through the pipes on the leather strap that I bought. The bar diameter appears to be too wide.

Forgive me if my description uses the wrong words, or is vague, as I have just come to learn a lot about spring bars today.

I have read that many of the forum members recommend Ofrei or Marathon spring bars. However, I am not really sure which ones would work after checking their respective websites.

I contacted Ofrei but they could not give me a definite answer as to compatibility.

For those who have first hand experience with replacement of the band/ spring bars, I would appreciate any input/ direction that you are able to provide.

Thank you.

[joe100]

You're in LA so you can go to the closest rolex dealer with a watchmaker and they'll set you up. Also the RSC in BH

[Tools]

Originally Posted by darrick

. .
I purchased a 19mm leather strap which came with spring bars that do not go all the way through the drilled lug holes. They appear to have flanges which preclude the bar from going all the way through the holes.

The original spring bars, which appear to be double shoulder without flanges, do not fit through the pipes on the leather strap that I bought. The bar diameter appears to be too wide.

. . .

The issue is likely that the generic spring-bars that came with the strap are not compatible with your Rolex, as you saw visually.

The strap is made to fit those smaller diameter spring-bars, not the heavy duty spring-bars that Rolex uses. Standard spring-bars are usually 1.8mm and most of Rolex pierced lug spring-bars are 2mm, but you should measure.

You either need to get a strap that allows the larger bars to fit or drill/ream out the strap to fit.

[12dart14]

Originally Posted by Tools

The issue is likely that the generic spring-bars that came with the strap are not compatible with your Rolex, as you saw visually.

The strap is made to fit those smaller diameter spring-bars, not the heavy duty spring-bars that Rolex uses. Standard spring-bars are usually 1.8mm and most of Rolex pierced lug spring-bars are 2mm, but you should measure.

You either need to get a strap that allows the larger bars to fit or drill/ream out the strap to fit.

Thanks for the info. I actually managed to fit the OEM spring bar into the watch strap after trying a second time.

I measure the OEM spring bar and it appears to be a double barrel with the main barrel being 18mm, the pivot diameter around .8, and 2mm long. The closest one spec wise that I was able to find is off the Otto Frei site:



Based on the info, do you think this spring bar would be compatible? Thanks.

[12dart14]

Originally Posted by joe100

You're in LA so you can go to the closest rolex dealer with a watchmaker and they'll set you up. Also the RSC in BH

Thanks...maybe I will head to the RSC since it's not too far. I don't know how accommodating they would be/ how much it would cost though for a couple of spring bars.