Hi folks!

First off, let me start by saying that I’m pretty new to vintage watches or bracelet adjustments so please bear with me for any questions that seem trivial!

Story time but I’ll try to make it quick:

I recently bought a nice Omega Flighmaster ref. 145.036 at auction (first auction purchase I ever made!). The watch came naked with only what I assume is the original bracelet, no specific reference number on it other than No.12 as you can see from the picture here.


The lug width for this beast is 22mm and the endlinks are labeled 311.


Now, I have to mention I have pretty skinny wrists so, as with most watches I purchase, the bracelet was too large when I got it and the watch looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in quite a while. My plan was to remove the bracelet, do some cleaning around the case and lugs and then attempt to resize the bracelet to my wrist size.

Troubles started when I tried to remove the bracelet, one end came out without too much trouble, on the other though the springbar simply would not budge. I tried and tried, getting more and more frustrated when finally, the link on the bracelet closest to the end-link on this side separated itself and only the endlink and the springbar remained on the watch. I don't think this link was supposed to be separated so I am wondering if it might separated again if I put it back together.



After that I went to several jewelries and even my local Swatch Group to try to have pros take the springbar out but no one managed and the end link got damaged and bent during this process, I learned that the springbar was most likely rusted on the inside and probably had been there for years if not decades. I finally managed to remove the springbar by bending it with a lot of pressure.

Here is how my end link looks like now compared to what it should look like on the other side


Here comes the questions, do you believe this is salvageable? If so, what would be the best course of action? Is this something a watchmaker does or would I have better luck attempting it myself?

I believe that the end link possibly could be bent back into a shape close to its original one using pliers for instance, enough to make it work, I don’t mind if it doesn’t look perfect because in any way, they will be hidden behind the case that goes over the lugs.

Thanks for reading this far, here’s a pic of the watch that I’m currently wearing on a leather strap in the meantime.


Any advice appreciated!

 

It sounds to me like you might want to leave the job to someone with more experience. There are people who specialize in bracelet repair and restoration, such as Michael Young in HK, his website is classicwatchrepair. I wonder if Tanner Morehouse might do it, he specializes in Omega repairs and also restores cases. You might also want to contact Omega specialists like Tim Mackrain, he might have connections.

 

If the link that has come apart is cleaned properly, epoxy could be used to put it back together and it would be fine - the parts need to be really clean though.

The end link could be bent back - I've seen worse! If it cracks though, best bet is to get someone to laser weld the crack.

Too bad someone didn't drill pout the spring bar through the gap in the end link - that would have avoided this.