Assembly & Repair
Leather Watch Bands
How to Measure
Determining the appropriate size of a replacement watch band is very easy. Simply measure the width and the length of your current watch band by using a metric ruler or a tape measure. If it's a leather watch band, you may...
Integrated Attachment
So far, owners of watches with integrated bracelet attachment were restricted to original watch bands. Leonardo, however, combines aesthetics and design with innovative technology. Now it is up to the customer to make the...
Attachment & Sizing
Leather watch straps are sold in a variety of end widths designated in inches or millimeters. Leather is flexible enough to interchange inches for millimeters. For example, you can use an 18 mm width instead of 3/4 inch. The...
The Spring Bar
The band usually is attached with a push pin called a spring bar. Each end of the bar collapses inward under pressure and then extends when placed into the holes of the watch case lugs. The lugs are the two metal "legs" that...
Leather Care
Leather is one of the noblest and at the same time most versatile materials. Man has been using it for thousands of years. As a natural product, leather is, however, subject to environmental influences and thus to an ageing...
Metal Watch Bands
Sizing Link Bracelets
The rigid link band is the mainstay bracelet for most fine watches. Sold in many textures, styles and link formats, bracelets require sizing to the owner's wrist and repair from time to time. The rigid links in these bands...
Sizing Mesh Bracelets
Unless the band is of the expansion mesh type, which is limited to a few manufacturers, chances are you'll need to trim the length of a mesh bracelet. Without links to remove, the unwanted length must be cut off...
Sizing Expansion Bands
You may want to custom-fit an expansion band that comes with a new watch. Other times the band breaks when you catch it on something, and you have to replace it or - if it's one of today's higher-priced versions - repair it...
Link Pins & Screws
The link bracelet is held together in several ways. In recent articles we've covered mesh varieties and how to fit links back onto cases. Here we cover how to use link-pin tools to quickly replace the lost or bent metal link...
The Foldover Clasp
Several areas on the buckles are most problematic: the centre hinge pin and the solid pin that holds the buckle assembly to the six o'clock side of the bracelet. If your bracelet has fallen apart, chances are the buckle...
Watch Batteries
Open & Shut the Case
Timepieces can be damaged during a routine battery change. To help you with this common but often inadequately performed task, let's examine the first steps toward changing quartz watch batteries more efficiently...
Replacing the Battery
When a quartz watch stops keeping time, the first assumption is the battery has to be replaced. That assumption is correct in most cases - very little else interferes with the accuracy and dependability of a quartz watch...