Hi all. I wanted to share that I was able to make the Ed White bracelet fit on my Seamaster 300 Trilogy with the original Omega Ed White end links. The fit is secure with no play at all. I used 1.5mm spring bars. As you can see the fitment along the lines of the lugs matches very well.

 

looks great. How is the wearing experience?

I have still the OEM bracelet on my Seamaster but still thinking about this solution.

Best Alex

 

I think with this bracelet it becomes the perfect watch. I didn’t mind the OEM bracelet but always wished it had a taper to match the vintage aesthetic of the watch.

 

On this bracelet, a warning for the those whose hands are large relative to their wrist size

the clasp itself isn’t very long, which means that when open the bracelet aperture has expanded only 3x that clasp’s short length, which isn’t a whole lot. I have decently large hands (relative to my 7 3/4+ wrists), and so it requires a bit of a tuck and squeeze to get the open bracelet over the widest part of the hand.

if my hand-to-wrist ratio were just a bit more weighted toward the hand size, I’d probably have a hard time using this bracelet.

So, if you have smaller wrists (needing the bracelet sized down to fit) compared to your larger hand size, you might consider this slight fitment oddity of the NEW321 bracelet.

 

Absolutely brilliant!
I want one! The bracelet was the weak point in an otherwise great reinterpretation. Thanks for sharing. Did the end links require any modification?

 

No modification to the end link.

 

Very good to know. My wrist is huge, but my hands, those, those are even huger.

I'm picking up the new 40.5mm 1957 Speedmaster soon. Is this the case with that bracelet/clasp also?

 

I don’t have that one and wouldn’t know. But I have other Omega clasps that are a good bit longer than this one on the NEW321, and that as a result create a far larger aperture when in the open position. So, it seems it can really vary.

 

I called my OB to ask about buying this bracelet for my Trilogy Seamaster, but when I gave them the part number seen above (020STZ012777), they said that they couldn't order it, and only order 020STZ012773. According to this post by @mrchen, the bracelet ending in 773 will not fit the Trilogy Seamaster.

Can anyone shed some light on this? I'd like to make sure the bracelet will fit before I fork over the cash and then find out that I can't use the bracelet on the watch...

 

The endlinks that come on the 020STZ012773 bracelet will not fit the Trilogy case. I wasn't aware that there was another Ed White Bracelet that exists with the '777' parts designation. I tried very hard using different sizes of spring bars to do it but the lug holes will just not line up correctly. My resolution was to install it with Uncle Seiko end links that has had the middle portion milled down to resemble a vintage #6 endlink.

BTW, there are lots of repro #6 hollow end links in the market as well and those will NOT fit the Trilogy SM300 either.


EDIT: upon further investigation it does seem that my Ed White Bracelet is labeled 'STZ012777' on one end and 'STZ012774' on the other. So i think my bracelet and OPs are identical. I think the '773' designation is the SKU for the full bracelet with end links.
So considering we're talking about the same bracelet, perhaps you may find yourself luckier then I-- but there was no way those end links were getting onto my SM300 without very severe retooling.

 

Thanks very much for your thorough reply, @mrchen. Very confusing though -- looking at @Pinmeuphere's post above, I can see the 777 and 774 designation on his bracelet, too. So these are meant to be identical parts. Why is it that his fit but yours didn't? I would believe that they are the same endlinks.

It would just be a bummer to drop so much on the bracelet and have to use hollow end links from Forstner or Uncle Seiko -- a big part of the appeal of buying the OEM bracelet is the solid endlinks. Just want to be as sure as I can that it would fit before taking the leap.

 

It's always going to be a bit of a gamble when you're trying to fit non-original parts to a watch it wasn't intended for. The issue with the OEM Ed White end link is that the alignment for the springbar is just tenths of a millimeter away from where it should be. People have reported more success on the Trilogy Speedmaster model with these bracelets as stock, and if you notice on your OEM SM300 end links, there's a small designation noting that it's for the Seamaster, so even across the OEM Trilogy bracelet these watches were shipped with proprietary end links for each model, which leads me to believe that the spring bar holes are drilled in different places for each model. You can probably chance it on the Ed White bracelet with 1.2mm spring bars if you can find them, but those really don't inspire the most confidence keeping on your wrist for a $7k watch.

 

I've read a lot about thickness of springbars being the issue here, but I wonder if it's curvature? Looking at OP's post, the ends of the springbars look such that they are bent or curved. @Pinmeuphere -- any chance you could chime in to help those of us out who are interested in this bracelet option as well?

 

I am using 1.5mm spring bars. And yes there is a slight curvature in order to make the ends of the bars fit into the lug holes. At first I babied it a bit when I wore it, but now it’s been on for many months with no issues. I’m fully confident and wear it without a thought now. Love the look of the bracelet, omega should have released the trilogy watches with this bracelet from the beginning.

 

Personally I value the adjustability of the original bracelet over the slimness of the EW replacement. The original clasp is rather chunky but I think the trade off is acceptable. That and the high cost to purchase the EW bracelet in the first place put me right off!

 

Thanks for the response! Put in the order a couple of weeks ago, and can't wait for it to arrive. Will make sure to get some curved 1.5mm springbars to ensure a good fit.

 

@Jetguy87 How did your bracelet end up fitting? I had mine on for around 6 months and wore it casually, but then noticed that the bracelet link was beginning to chew the inside lug of the watch a bit, leaving tiny dents and marks. I've got it on a leather strap for now until I workshop and rethink how to fix this.

 

Still waiting for mine to arrive to the OB. How bad is the damage?

 

It's not horrible, but definitely noticeable. The case lug was sharp and mint prior to fitting the bracelet on. I imagine the majority of vintage watches went through this which is why the lugs today are so rounded and smooth (besides all the polishing from service). fyi these are on 1.5mm spring bars, which I think gives just enough play for the sidelink to rub against the case like it does in mine. 1.8mm springbars also fit onto the Uncle Seiko endlinks.

 

Hmm, I see it. I had always understood that the 1.5mm springbars were needed to fit the bracelet. Do you know if they would work with 1.8? Is it worth abandoning this bracelet option in your opinion?