My 1039 bracelet which belongs to my '68 transitional needed bit of TLC. So, I finally had time last week to drop it off at my local watchmaker to get one of the springs fixed as well as a little cleaning.

Well, I'll let the pictures do the talking, I was extremely thrilled with the results to say the least.

 

Beautifully done!

 

Well done!! What does it look like on the watch?

 

Beautiful. How long does it take for the cleaning?

 

Wow!

 

Great job.What did that cost you?

 

Did this bracelet go into some liquid chemical bath ?

 

Great job... there is great professionals out there!

 

Thank you, took about a week. I also had him do 3 other bracelets which came out just as nice. Here is my 78360.

Runs about $35-70 per bracelet depending on the amount of work required.

Yes, he puts it in a jewelry cleaning solution to get all the grease out of the clasp and in between the links, then he polishes. Here is a shot of the 78360 clasp, looks brand new.

Thank you, haven't installed it yet, will do later today and provide pictures.

Indeed, but as we all know, it's a dying breed.

 

In Spain we have a great company as well...

Before







After







Amazing work...

 

This one is a extendable 7206 that is in my 7928

 

Outstanding!!!!!!!

 

What a mess....

 

Just wow!

 

In case it's not obvious in the first post, by cleaning you mean polishing. You will probably get a range of opinions.

 

Indeed, it was polished to it's original condition.

 

Here it is on my '68.

 

I wonder what everyone think about polishing the bracelet. IMO that looks amazing.

 

Ahhh...now it gets interesting.

1) Never polish, particularly if the wear is similar to, and original to the watch it came on.

2) Clean/polish only to the point of wear similar to the watch itself.

3) Spiff it as much as possible, regardless of the watch head condition...like the way a great pair of shoes brings up a shabby shirt and pants.

 

precisely, I went through with the project to match the bracelet to the overall condition of the watch itself. For me, it was a no-brainer.