I was looking to the horned JB Champion, but decided I wanted a 19mm one with a slightly wider mesh, and chose this one. Love the style...



But unfortunately it's too big, possibly by about a half inch. I wanted to mod/shorten the mesh strap, and have seen a different forum thread about modding the NASA strap, but this one looks different:

In the lower left portion of the pic, you see the part that's attached to the mesh and hinges to the butterfly clasp... I want to remove that so I can cut and shorten the mesh with a dremel... but I have no idea how it's attached to the mesh. Is there teeth under there that I can pry open? I was thinking of prying from the underside, but wanted to know if anybody knew how these things are attached before I start messing with it.

On another note, I've also recently acquired a sapphire caseback without the movement ring... I don't see any 1863 spacer rings for sale, but I've heard I can buy a 28mm spacer. Anybody know the proper-fitting gasket I can buy for this? Thanks!

 

Bumping for an answer, at least for fitting the 1863 caseback... anybody confirm the dimensions of a gasket I'd need to fit on the 1861 movement ring? Would one of these work:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/movement-s...iorityFlatRateEnvelope!91436!US!-1:rk:21:pf:0Purchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network

 

I'm pretty sure there are teeth holding the bracelet. I've seen them in other Champions, though not in that location. When you pry it open, use a thin strong blade that's wider than the hinge, so as not to put dings in it.

 

That mesh looks great!

 

Update and a question--I bought a similar vintage mesh strap as a guinea pig, and I don't know how to remove the mesh that connects to the bracelet clasp bit. I can pry the tips away, but the middle portion doesn't budge... is it soldered?

 

In my experience the bracelets tend to be soldered at the edges, yes. Yours probably is too.

Also why would you try to remove the clasp and then dremel? If you say the mesh is mechanically removable because it has teeth, your aim should be to remove a portion of the mesh only and not touch the clasp connection part.