During production, the bobbin containing the wire is set onto a Milanese machine, which runs the material into the apparatus like a sewing machine. The wire is turned into a leveled spiral, pushed forward, and cut off at a certain length. After this, the machine makes the next spiral, pushes it into the already existing one and cuts it off. Then another spiral follows, which is subsequently once again pushed into the previous one and cut off. Then the whole thing begins again with another spiral, and so on, and so on. In this way, a carpet is formed, consisting of many spirals which have been pushed into one other.
When this carpet has attained a certain size, the steel webbing is cut into strips. Great skill is needed to push it into a sharp-edged coil by hand, as the cut must always be led into the same, often hardly recognizable notch. The relatively short pieces that are attained in this way are manually bound into a long band – quite simply connected to another spiral of equal strength by joining both ends with no visible seam. The edges of the metal mesh band are subsequently cut, and they are still quite sharp and uneven. Therefore the material is manually passed by a grinding disk.
Then the spirals of the material are locked so that they can no longer untwist and the steel mesh cannot unwind. In addition, the edge is pressed flat and condensed. When using stainless steel, annealing is necessary after each individual step. To neutralise the tension resulting from the deformation, the steel mesh is automatically passed through a three-meter-long blazing oven of 1050 degrees Celsius. After this, the mesh passes through the constantly moving coils of a jogmachine, thereby producing a loud knocking sound. This treatment makes the steel mesh flexible. For very fragile thin or gold pieces, however, this step must be carried out by hand. In addition, the Milanese material is pulled over a round grip of synthetic material and is gently bent in one direction.
Further steps that serve to improve the visual appearance of the Milanese mesh follow. The material can be reshaped and stamped before the folding clasp and end pieces are added. A final polishing brings out the true charm of this type of bracelet. The amount of time necessary to manufacture it is one of the reasons why Milanese watch bands are usually more expensive than other types of metal bracelets.
A good mesh watch band can be recognised by its consistent and stable mesh, as well as its lack of sharp edges. It must be flexible in one direction and must softly envelop the wrist. It is also important that the mesh band is well adjustable, usually with the help of a folding clasp or removable links adjacent to it. Fine Milanese mesh gets dirty quicker than other metal watch bands, but it is easily cleaned with a small amount of water and a soft toothbrush. The same holds true for link metal watch bands.
Finally, how does one recognise the quality of a metal watch band? Solid precious-metal watch bands are naturally of the highest value. Apart from this, buyers should see that every individual metal link is round, without sharp edges, and that it has been worked perfectly. One should also check to make sure that the length of the watch band is adjustable. Hansjörg Vollmer emphasises the importance of one often overlooked aspect in judging watch bracelet quality: "The deployant clasp must be functional, solid, and stable. After all, this is the part of the watch band that gets used the most".
