'58 Seamaster and the spring bars of doom

Hey All,

After trying vainly to change the strap on this 58 Seamaster, but having no luck at all, I finally cut the strap off, revealing these spring bars that . . . apparently have no spring. I can see how they were put in (the spring must be internal to the bar cylinder), but I'm buggered if I can figure out how to get them off. So, 2 questions:
1.) Are these part of the original watch? The strap itself most certainly was not (crappy leather, hence the removal).
2.) Even if they are, is there any harm to the value by snipping them off so that a new band (and bars) can be added?

Thanks for the advice on this.

.

Yes, these are the spring bars of doom all right. They work just fine on older watches with pierced lugs, and I prefer them for that application as they are stronger. But for this particular watch you need the other kind with the double ring at the ends which you can hook your spring-bar tool onto.

These ones have got to go 👍 Use a pair of good quality side-cutters and chop 'em right through the centre!

Then pour yourself a beer . . .

Thank you, and done! Now if only that Hirsch lizard strap would arrive so I can finish the job. I poured myself two beers, btw, one for each bar. I've think I've earned it.

Nice watch BTY.

Gracias 😀 It's a GX6250 from the International Collection, cal. 500, 14kt gf. (recent purchase).

Really?! Seems like a pretty poor performance from an AD. A thin tip pair of snippers is all that's needed. (And a set of replacement spring bars, of course).