Adventures in shortening a vintage Japanese 'President' bracelet

NT931 · Oct 2, 2023

When I bought a vintage WG 1803 from a HK seller, it was advertised as coming with a uncommon WG Japanese bracelet. Which I thought was cool, til it came with all 20 links, and I realized it was too big for me. And there were no screws to remove links.

I googled and found quite a few Japanese President bracelets with similar designs (ie. no screws), so ok ... let's see how we could get this sorted. I first tried the Rolex Service Centre in Singapore. No dice. They do not touch vintage bracelets. I then asked my watchmaker, and he was also stumped. He asked a colleague. Also stumped! I was stuck!

Fortunately, a friend recommended Michael Young in Hong Kong, and they managed to remove 2 links from each side, and it fit my wrist nicely after that. They apparently have some way to do this, and also to reverse the process to reattach the links if my wrist ever becomes bigger. It wasn't all that cheap (about USD280 per side), and it took 3 months, but I'm glad I was patient.

Overall, quite pleased with how it turned out! A Day-date looks so much better with a President bracelet.

dsio · Oct 2, 2023

I’m guessing it works the same way that removing fixed links from a regular Rolex bracelet does, you basically grip both sides with tools and pull hard until the steel pins come apart. I had to have my watchmaker do it to a Daytona once to help a lady owner with a small wrist fit it.

NT931 · Oct 3, 2023

dsio
I’m guessing it works the same way that removing fixed links from a regular Rolex bracelet does, you basically grip both sides with tools and pull hard until the steel pins come apart. I had to have my watchmaker do it to a Daytona once to help a lady owner with a small wrist fit it.

Yeah that's what I think they do. Probably needs some skill (or specific tools?) to do it in such a way that the link can be put back in future.

That said, while I am quite happy with the outcome, the wait time is significant, and they can sometimes get a bit disorganized, so they might need some chivvying to ensure your order is on time. That said, they were generally polite and helpful.

I'm wondering though, how these watches were sold in the past to the Japanese - probably had a one-time adjustment of the bracelet in Japan by Rolex once the sale was made, customized to the individual buyer's wrist?

thewornwatch · Oct 17, 2023

NT931
I'm wondering though, how these watches were sold in the past to the Japanese - probably had a one-time adjustment of the bracelet in Japan by Rolex once the sale was made, customized to the individual buyer's wrist?

No they just had to fit or you are out of luck.

Hence why the “box” clasp style bracelets are not very popular in the world of day dates.

unfortunately putting the links back is not as easy as described above. A presidential bracelet has a different construction than that of a oyster bracelet.

Putting the links back requires a skilled goldsmith and lots of experience.

rcs914 · Oct 17, 2023

The idea of Rolex making a non-adjustable bracelet seems very in line with Rolex as a company :-D (and I do realize they weren't the only ones, but the whole idea seems asinine)

southtexas · Oct 22, 2023

NT931
When I bought a vintage WG 1803 from a HK seller, it was advertised as coming with a uncommon WG Japanese bracelet. Which I thought was cool, til it came with all 20 links, and I realized it was too big for me. And there were no screws to remove links.

I googled and found quite a few Japanese President bracelets with similar designs (ie. no screws), so ok ... let's see how we could get this sorted. I first tried the Rolex Service Centre in Singapore. No dice. They do not touch vintage bracelets. I then asked my watchmaker, and he was also stumped. He asked a colleague. Also stumped! I was stuck!

Fortunately, a friend recommended Michael Young in Hong Kong, and they managed to remove 2 links from each side, and it fit my wrist nicely after that. They apparently have some way to do this, and also to reverse the process to reattach the links if my wrist ever becomes bigger. It wasn't all that cheap (about USD280 per side), and it took 3 months, but I'm glad I was patient.

Overall, quite pleased with how it turned out! A Day-date looks so much better with a President bracelet.

Wow! That is a beauty.

And Michael young was my introduction into vintage Rolex. He restored my granddad’s 1501 USA jubilee bracelet, came back like new. It was my first vintage and I was hooked.

mk2rick · Nov 16, 2023

Thx for sharing this! I have my grandfather's 1803 from 1972 and it also came with a non-adjustable president bracelet. Unfortunately, my grandfather's hands are a bit small and i have to do the opposite, which is to add back links. Thus far I have just been enjoying the 1803 on a leather strap. Fine with me for now as I'm too young to pull off a full gold bracelet anyways!

mikeo1 · Nov 16, 2023

NT931-a White Gold 1803 is certainly a nice, collectable piece--enjoy

Adventures in shortening a vintage Japanese 'President' bracelet

NT931

dsio

NT931

thewornwatch

rcs914

southtexas

mk2rick

mikeo1

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