Horological Meandering

So the simple question is how do we keep a stainless steel, or stainless/gold bracelet from falling apart from use? Although most of us who visit this forum will not wear our watches like our parents did (which is, wearing a watch 24x7 for 40 years straig...  

Loose or snug, that's what I learned with old collectors, do not imposes more or less damage to a good bracelet. What extends the life of a bracelet is to clean it from time to time, avoiding the body grease to mix with dust. This mixture is abrasive and ... 

So indeed it appears that the 'crud' that gets in between the links is the worst. Just like particles inside the movement kiling the pivots over time.... Thanks for this! S

I've seen a couple very sloppy older 18kt Rolex bracelets from watches that had been worn loose. One watchmaker definitively attributed the link wear (not pins) to the constant stretching.

You're totally right. In my dad's rolex, the gold links are the ones that are totally wasted, vs. the stell ones that look comparatively good. This I think is the same principle at play in the movement's use of rubies for the holes and the use of steel fo... 

Wearing it is one thing, stocking your RO is another thing you should pay attention. I put it delicately on a cushion, in a pouch. Just to avoid any torsion... Best, Nicolas

I hadn't thought about how we store the watch affecting the life of the bracelet. I usually place it on its side,... and that also puts side pressure on the links... if theoretically we do this 365 days over 10 years, I can see how this affects the bracel... 

:-) But seriously, the advice from Nilo and Nico are correct. Clean occasionally but be careful that normal bar of bath soap contains fine abrasive powder that becomes abrasive paste much like the (body grease and dust) that Nilo mentioned. I t should NOT... 

So you liked how I staked my dad's thunderbird :) I had a good laugh at the title of your post! his bracelet is like spaghetti... I have invited him to a new one, but he refuses! Each part of his watch is related to important moments in his life (the brac... 

(It's a good way to live your life in general!) A loose bracelet watch on the wrist allows it to slide down so that when you flex your wrist it puts strain across the bracelet an pins. So I wear watches tight enough to keep them above the ulnar styloid pr... 

Thanks for chiming in That was my general intuition, that minimizing the amount of play on the wrist would keep the links from moving around all the time (both in moving around the wrist and getting strain when the watch pushes up againts the top of the h... 

One other thing that no one has mentioned is that the older Rolex designs had hollow center links which would stretch over time. The gold especially being softer than steel were more prone to this. In recent years the switch to solid center links should h... 

Yes you're right! Most of the rolex bracelets I've seen that follow that design of open links (I.e. made by a sheet of metal... sorry I don't know too much about rolexes, alas..) but yes, that the hollow links get 'eaten' in by the solid ones. But then ag... 

It's ok since I don't know much about Audemars watches so I'm not sure when you say the "A Series." One thing to mention though is the last 3 pics of yours that show the Rolex where you have the bracelet "folded" on top of itself is not from age, they do ... 

I wear all my watches tight. I have to: I'm shaped like a walking skeleton so any loose watch (especially one of the heavy, slippery kind, which means almost all watches fitted with bracelets) would end up with the crown and pushbuttons pressed against th...