Bracelet removal easy with correct removal pliers?

[Tseg]

I have no lug holes, I have a nice ultrasonic cleaner, should I buy this this tool to regularly remove my bracelet for cleaning? Does this tool help keep the case back pristine or should I expect scratches to to accumulate over time even if the tool is used properly?

[Old Expat Beast]

Depends how careful you are and how often you use it. Some ultrasonic cleaners have a little bridge to keep the watch head out of the water; maybe you could rig up something like that if cleaning is the only reason to remove the bracelet.

[mfer]

I have that exact tool and it works well with some experience I have learned.

Put the watch face down on a padded, but firm, surface. I use my table with a thick piece of felt. Put the prongs of the tool into the spring bar openings and give a test squeeze to make sure you are compressing both ends of the spring bars. Don't attempt to pull or push the bars, just make sure you are in there and can compress the spring bars.

Once you have a good feel, compress the spring bar and PUSH the bracelet and spring bar down (don't pull it backwards) towards the felt. I found PUSHING is much easier than trying to pull the spring bar out. Pulling requires too much friction as the Rolex tolerance is very tight. Pull the watch head away then and gently release the pliers to the spring bar doesn't fly away.

You can always use tape to protect the front and back of the lugs, but with time, you won't need the tape.

Hope that helps.

[Tseg]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

Depends how careful you are and how often you use it. Some ultrasonic cleaners have a little bridge to keep the watch head out of the water; maybe you could rig up something like that if cleaning is the only reason to remove the bracelet.

I actually bought a bridge for $10 to keep the watch head up out of the water but someone mentioned the vibrations still carry up through the watch and could mess with the regulation. Curious if anyone has any real world experience here because the bridge solution is much easier all the way around.

[Tseg]

Originally Posted by mfer

I have that exact tool and it works well with some experience I have learned.

Put the watch face down on a padded, but firm, surface. I use my table with a thick piece of felt. Put the prongs of the tool into the spring bar openings and give a test squeeze to make sure you are compressing both ends of the spring bars. Don't attempt to pull or push the bars, just make sure you are in there and can compress the spring bars.

Once you have a good feel, compress the spring bar and PUSH the bracelet and spring bar down (don't pull it backwards) towards the felt. I found PUSHING is much easier than trying to pull the spring bar out. Pulling requires too much friction as the Rolex tolerance is very tight. Pull the watch head away then and gently release the pliers to the spring bar doesn't fly away.

You can always use tape to protect the front and back of the lugs, but with time, you won't need the tape.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for the detailed description. I'm assuming the GMT space is within the 1.4mm tolerance the fine fork requires? It does not sound like too harrowing an experience.

[mfer]

Originally Posted by Tseg

Thanks for the detailed description. I'm assuming the GMT space is within the 1.4mm tolerance the fine fork requires? It does not sound like too harrowing an experience.

I ordered the fine forks as well, they BARELY fit. I have a sharpening stone and gave about 2 strokes to each side (about 3" stroke) of the forks and it is perfect now. I wear all my Rolex on straps and it works on my daytona, sub and expy.

[Old Expat Beast]

Originally Posted by Tseg

I actually bought a bridge for $10 to keep the watch head up out of the water but someone mentioned the vibrations still carry up through the watch and could mess with the regulation. Curious if anyone has any real world experience here because the bridge solution is much easier all the way around.

I'm not sure, as I never used one. Just read about it. Do you live close to an RSC? The one in Hong Kong does free cleaning...not sure if that's a worldwide policy, but I think even most folks in Hong Kong don't know it's an option, as they don't exactly advertise it.

[Andad]

No need to take off the watch head.

Just immerse the bracelet.

There is no vibration transferred to the watch head.

Ensure that items in the bath are suspended in the solution and are not touching the walls or floor of the bath.

[thomaspp]

Originally Posted by Old Expat Beast

Depends how careful you are and how often you use it. Some ultrasonic cleaners have a little bridge to keep the watch head out of the water; maybe you could rig up something like that if cleaning is the only reason to remove the bracelet.

This wise man!

I just use the bridge and don't remove the watch head when cleaning (including my DDII and 718). I also use a toothbrush and soap.

[Tseg]

Thanks all. I may just roll my dice with the ultrasonic cleaner with bridge because I am not looking forward to removing the bracelet every week or two. Somehow I think I could cause more damage going that route. All this to prevent damage to the bracelet.

BTW, I've been doing lots of googling about solid link bracelet stretch and there seems to be a large camp of watch owners that feel the Rolex bracelets of the last 10 years will experience very limited stretch due to their design, even across decades. Not sure if I've ever seen a solid link bracelet with significant stretch, but would love to see one posted, if it exists.

[Old Expat Beast]

No need to use an ultrasonic that often. I use mine about twice a year. Warm water, baby shampoo or soap, and a soft toothbrush is fine for more regular cleaning.

[Rags]

I clean all my SS Steel bracelets once a month with warm water a little dish washing soap & a soft toothbrush. Regular cleaning along with wearing the bracelet correctly (not too loose) will ensure a long life with minimal stretch.

[Tseg]

Here is a follow-up on using the plastic 'bridge' with my ultrasonic cleaner to suspend the head of my watch out of the water with the bracelet in the water. I knew one benefit using the bridge is water would not be able to wiggle its way through the seals while being ultrasonically cleaned, but still had the concerns that the vibrations would make their way into the movement and possibly impact settings. Ultimately I figured removing the bracelet on a weekly basis for cleaning would be a real pain, the movement is known to be 'bullet-proof' so I moved forward with my test.

I had been using the Watch Tracker App for some time to know my watch averages in a given day between a +1.6 - +1.9 spd pace... and was at +1.8 spd average over 3 weeks continuous tracking. Since cleaning my Rolex in the ultrasonic with the head suspended out of the water the Watch Tracker App is now indicating +2.5 spd after ~36 hours. Obviously this is too soon to confirm any thing but certainly is enough to grab my attention to see if things settle back to normal before trying the ultrasonic cleaner again. Will keep you posted of developments.

[cop414]

Hmmmm, that's interesting Tom, keep us posted on your accuracy. Hopefully it will settle back down to pre cleaning accuracy.

[77T]

I use steam now for bracelets. Used to do as many said - about twice a year remove head and into the ultrasonic. Steam bullet eliminates the need and does trick without chemicals. Just easier for me - and harmless since the steam stream never hits head.

But something to consider using the "head on" method with an ultrasonic: Magnetization.

Despite your best efforts to isolate the head from vibration via novel suspension methods, there is a motor at work and it is furiously rotating at a high rpm just inches from the head. This may account for accuracy impact. Just a random 2¢...

[Old Expat Beast]

Weekly use of an ultrasonic cleaner is way too often, and such frequency is unnecessary and possibly damaging in the long term. It's only meant for occasional deep cleaning.

[Scotswierdo]

There is no way anything other than the bracelet in going in my cleaner...crazy in my opinion as the vibrations and general risk of somthing getting past seals far too concerning for me.

[Tseg]

Another follow up here. To confirm, I used a plastic 'bridge' in the ultrasonic cleaner so the head was completely suspended outside of the water but the bracelet dangled in the water. Over the course of the 1st 25 days of ownership my BLNR oscillated in accuracy from 1.9ish seconds down to 1.6ish seconds and then back up, based on the Watch Tracker app... this all before the ultrasonic cleaning. The fact that it paced back to 1.9 spd tells me the watch likely had already been experiencing full days in the > +2 spd range.

The 25 day average was +1.9 spd with fastest rates seen at +9.6spd and slowest at -5.4spd (since the app was new I was taking multiple readings per day). I then cleaned the Rolex in the ultrasonic cleaner once as described above.

It seemed like the rate immediately began to increase. I started a clean cut with my tracking app. Over the next 6 days my average was +2.6 spd with the fastest rate at +7.5 spd and slowest at -5.5 spd. So while the average seems to have jumped, the variance seems somewhat similar.

I just started a clean cut again of my tracking 2 days ago... which I know means little due to the short duration, but my 2 day average is now +3.9 spd with the fastest rate at +12.9spd and slowest at +1.6spd. We'll see where this goes.

So to date, just 1 ultrasonic cleaning with watch head suspended out of the water. Over the course of the following 1 1/2 weeks my average seems to have increased at least 1 spd. I wear the watch 24/7. While a sub +4spd pace is not catastrophic (of course sub +2 was better) it is interesting that the speed may be continuing to increase. Could the one 2 minute ultrasonic cleaning with head suspended out of the water be the cause? Is this "break-in"? I hear stories of Rolexes used with everything from chainsaws to playing tennis to riding Harleys with no adverse affect on this "bulletproof" movement and would find it hard to believe a vibration moving up through the bracelet to the head could cause damage, but maybe so?

Also, I've periodically wound the watch up to 60 revs every few weeks and it has not stopped since the day I've bought it, so do not think it has to do with the reserve getting low. I'm now considering not using it for a few days to let it power down and start all over and see where that takes me.

If it were any other watch I would easily chalk it up to this is what automatic watches are all about... but I hear so many Rolex stories about them being rock solid with little to no variability so not sure if what I described above is extreme or laughable relative to my monitoring with interest?

[iclick]

Originally Posted by Tseg

I've been doing lots of googling about solid link bracelet stretch and there seems to be a large camp of watch owners that feel the Rolex bracelets of the last 10 years will experience very limited stretch due to their design, even across decades. Not sure if I've ever seen a solid link bracelet with significant stretch, but would love to see one posted, if it exists.

I think this is true. The original band for my 1675 was a riveted Oyster (7206) and it didn't last long, only a few years. The second band was a Jubilee and it also didn't last long, <10 years and was replaced with a Sub Oyster flip-lock #93150 with 580 end links. At 20 years that band was still in decent shape with only moderate stretch when I replaced it with another like it, but fortunately didn't toss the old Oyster like I did the original and Jubilee. I got that Oyster band back from Michael Young a few months ago and it now looks almost like a new one. Thus, my experience is that newer bands, if you call so categorize a 30-YO Oyster, are more durable.

[Thatguy]

From what I have read it seems the issue with ultrasonic cleaners and watch heads is the relocation of the lubricants inside the watch. I think this could affect accuracy and longevity of the movement but I am not a watchmaker.....


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