Hey gang,

I've got a few bracelets for vintage speedies (a 1035, a 7912, and a 7077) that are in not very nice condition.. stretched links, scratches, dents and dings. I was thinking about getting them fixed up a bit.

First, is refinishing bracelets in the same category as refinishing cases?

Second, if I were to do it, would Omega repair center be the place to go, or would it be better to ship off to Michael Young? Or somewhere else?

Feedback, as always, greatly appreciated!

 

My local Rolex tech is perfectly willing and able to refinish an Omega bracelet. I would suspect that refinishing a bracelet would be less heinous than a case but I'm a user not a collector.

Tom

 

I would have no issue restoring a bracelet to match the condition of the watch its going on.

 

The only bracelet I wouldnt try myself is a riveted Oyster. That I would send to Michael Young

 

in Hong Kong, Mike Young

 

www.classicwatchrepair.com

check out

 

I've restored a few 1039's, including ultrasonic cleaning, replacing missing springs and polishing. I'd be happy to work on OF member bracelets for the price of postage. I doubt I could do much for stretch on a non-1039-style bracelet, however. I do have satin wheels, buffing wheels, and polyimide tape to mask off parts of the bracelet appropriately. My restorations are correct and light---I don't try to repair dings and deep scratches. I don't know Michael Young, and I expect he does fabulous work---but I'm free.

 

Cool

 

Mike is the go to guy in the Rolexforum, he has a huge following there even on WUS he is well respected. Last I heard he charges $180 to do a refurb.

 

Here's a before and after on a recently-acquired Joske's/Mexico Holzer jubilee. This was tough to do, as 2.5mm polyimide tape was needed to mask the small inner links while brushing the outer and middle links--and nobody makes this width. I ended up cutting a 5mm piece of tape in half. First photo is before: the bracelet is kind of uniformly finished, either a low polish or a high satin, hard to say. It's clearly been around the block a few times. Second pic is after. Not great pics, but I hope the second one shows that the brushed links are evenly finished and there's a little more contrast between the brushed and polished links. Hope to put up some after pics of 1039's (sorry, no befores) soon.

 

I've had a couple of bracelets redone by Michael Young in HK - both Rolex though not Omega. He does excellent work, but communication can be poor, and the wait long, so just be prepared for both possibilities.

 

Last time I spoke to him, he did not restore Omega bracelets.

I think STS in the UK do if on a watch.
Loose? I'm not sure.

 

Posting a couple "after" photos of 1039's I polished recently (sorry, no before). Outer edges of the links and clasp are bright, middle is satin. First one highlights what I think was a nice job on the clasp:



And the second one is currently on a 69-ST. It embodies my philosophy of light polishing to show contrast between bright and satin, as opposed to heavy metal removal chasing perfection:

 

Cracking job. Well done.

 

Just got done fixing/polishing another 1039. Here's a photo of the bracelet as it arrived---entire bracelet was heavily brushed, and there was a noticeable gap (see arrow) on one side where a spring was missing:


Fortunately Todd (toddle321) sent along some spares, so I was able to replace the bad link. After ultrasonic cleaning and a light polish, here's the result---nothing spectacular, but considerably less "tired" looking than when it arrived: