How to Replace a Watch Strap on Your Watch
Tips on Changing your Watch's Strap
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Fitting a Closed Ended Watch Strap
(used on the majority of watches)
Nearly all watch straps are held to the watch with spring loaded bars called, funnily enough,
spring bars. These are the bars that spring into tiny holes in the watch case securing the strap to the watch's body.
1. To remove the old watch strap you will need to compress one end of the spring bar so that it can be freed from the hole in the watch case in which it
usually sits. You can buy a special spring bar removal tool to do this (available, of course, from us at
a very competitive price) which has a special shaped forked end, or you can improvise by using a small screw driver, to compress the bar enough to free
it from the watch case.
2. Once one end of the spring bar is free, the other should just come out too, freeing the watch strap. Before you completely remove both parts of the watch strap,
make a note of which of the two pieces of watch strap goes on which side of the watch. Usually, with the watch upright in front of you, the part of the watch strap
with the buckle goes at the top.
3. Repeat the same procedure for the second part of the watch strap which will also be held with a spring bar. It may be a good idea to clean the gunge you are likely
to find around the watch at this point, prior to fitting the new watch strap. You now have your watch strap removed ready for the replacement watch strap to be fitted.
4. Fitting the new watch strap is merely a reverse of the procedure above and is in fact easier than removing the watch strap. Making sure the correct part of
the watch strap is going on the right end of the watch (and is the right way up!), locate one end of the spring bar into one of the small holes in the watch
case. Then, using a finger nail, a small jeweller's screw driver (or one of our reasonably priced spring
bar tools), compress the other end of the spring bar and slide it between the shoulders of the watch and move it until it locates in the other hole in the
watch case.
5. Repeat this with the other part of the watch strap.
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Replacing an Open Ended Watch Strap (used on a Fixed Bar Watches)
1. Some watches have fixed bars to which the strap connects, and in this case either an open-ended strap or thread through band is required.
As the spring bars cannot be removed in order to take the old watch strap off you may need to cut the strap off or prise it apart so that it can
be removed. Once the old strap is removed, fitting the replacement open-ended watch strap is very straight forward.
2. Take the open ended watch strap and unfold the metal clips using a flat blade such as the snap back removal tool or a pen-knife blade. Once the clips are unfolded open up the end of the strap.
3. Thread the end of the strap over the spring bar so that the top of the new strap is on the same side as the face of the watch. Make sure that you
connect the correct end of the strap to the each side of the watch head. Usually the buckle end is connected to the 12 o'clock side of the watch
head and the strap end with the holes is connected to the 6 o'clock side of the watch.
4. Once the strap is wrapped around the watch bar push the metal clips back through the open end of the strap and press the ends down towards each
other so that the clip holds the strap end together.
The strap is now fitted.
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Fitting a Cordette Watch Strap
There are three options when fitting a cordette watch strap:
Open Ended Cordmaster Watch Strap
1. The Leather Cordmaster straps have an open ended strap fitting with a metal clip similar to the
open ended watch straps above, but in addition
to the metal retaining clip the strap is also attached to a metal spike inside the clip to stop it from pulling loose.
2. To fit a cordmaster watch strap to your watch you need to release the leather strap cord from the retaining spike inside the metal clip, then thread the cord
through the ring on the watch head. Remember to check that you have attached the correct part of the strap to each side of the watch. Usually the buckle
end of the strap is attached to the watch head at the 12 o'clock position and the strap end with the holes is attached to at the 6 o'clock position.
3. Once the cord has been looped through the watch head ring reattach the strap to the metal spike and close the metal clip with a pair of pliers.
The strap is now attached.
Ring Ended Cordette Watch Strap
The Cordette Watch Strap with ring
end fitting is fitted to the watch head using the ring provided with the watch strap.
1. To fit this type of cordette watch strap you will need to use pliers to open the ring. Slip this through the watch lugs, ensuring that you connect the
correct end of the strap to the watch. Usually the buckle
end of the strap is attached to the watch head at the 12 o'clock position and the strap end with the holes is attached to at the 6 o'clock position.
2. Once connected to the watch head use the pliers to close the ring. The strap is now fitted.
3. Alternatively this Cordette strap can also be connected to a watch by removing the metal ring that sits around the strap and clips the two pices of the cord strap
together and then looping the end of the strap through the watch lugs and pushing the strap through the loop to hold the strap in place - effectively using a slip
knot to secure the strap to the watch.
Joint Ended Cordette Watch Strap
The Cordette Watch Strap with joint
end fitting is fitted to the watch head using the ring that is connected to the end of the watch strap. The ring has connected to it a separate ring with
a very fine hole through it. This is used to connect to the fitting on the watch head.
Both of the Cordette straps can also be connected to a watch by removing the metal ring that sits around the strap and clips the two pices of the cord strap together
and then looping the end of the strap through the watch lugs and pushing the strap through the loop to hold the strap in place - effectively using a slip knot to
secure the strap to the watch.
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Replacing a Swatch watch Strap on a Swatch watch
If, having read the above procedure, you are looking perplexed, then it is probably because you have a
Swatch watch which needs a replacement Swatch watch strap. Swatch watches do not use spring bars and their
notched Swatch watch straps are held in place with a
metal pin. In most cases this pin can be carefully driven out from one side to free the Swatch watch strap so that it can be
replaced (with one of our reasonably priced quality replacement
Swatch type watch straps of course).
Be very careful if your Swatch watch is plastic and old. Sometimes the plastic becomes very brittle and while driving out the metal
pin it is possible to snap the watch case.
Use a drift (a small metal pin or nail will do, or if you have one of
our reasonably priced spring bar tools, there is a drift on the other end of this tool) which is smaller than the
pin you are removing and ensure the other side of the watch is supported as you drive it out.
We clearly don't recommend the use of large hammers from a lorry mechanic's tool kit to carry this out,
but the pin may need some gentle persuasion. A gentle tap with a small pair of pliers on the drift may be enough
to get the end protruding so that enough of the pin can be seen to remove it with a pair of pliers.
You could also remove the pin using a watch bracelet removal
tool which allows the pin to be gradually pushed out just enough to get a pair of pliers on the other side.
To fit the new Swatch watch strap just follow the reversal of the removal procedure.