OT: Replacing rubber strap on (cheap) wristwatch with SS band

[PStechPaul]

I have a cheap ($10) wristwatch I bought about two years ago, and the rubber strap cracked and broke. A previous watch had the same problem, and I replaced its strap with a stainless steel one from an even older watch.



Note that the watch has a non-standard watchband with a 12 mm space between two protrusions, while the usual watchbands are made for 16-20 mm width. So I had to do some modification. Here is the old watch with the watchband I intended to use.





The screws that appear to hold the watchbands are fake. They appear to be threaded, but they just have grooves and were probably heat-pressed into the plastic. I also was able to remove two links so it would fit better. This watch is longer than the original that had the SS band so it needed to be shortened. I was able to bend the metal tabs to remove the two links and then squeeze them back in place.



All this took a couple of hours, and really wasn't worth it for a cheap watch, but I got some satisfaction from being able to fix it, and I like the watch. It is solar powered but that might be fake. It uses a button cell, and they usually last as long as 5 years. The older watch (from 2013) is still going strong.

[boslab]

Nice to see you're getting some life out of it, it has to be said I had to clean my iPad just now when I read the title I only read "replacing rubber strap on" before I spat my tea out, my mind is turned to a gutter as my mother would say.
Nice job, who needs on of them Rolex (ok they are nice) contraptions
Mark

[PStechPaul]

I'm probably going to order one of these:

http://www.banggood.com/WEIDE-WH-1104G-Sport-Men-Analog-Digital-Waterproof-Back-Light-Watch-p-80581.html

I may also get one of these stainless steel watchbands:

http://www.banggood.com/18mm-20mm-22mm-Unisex-Stainless-Steel-Chainmail-Watch-Strap-Band-p-943529.html

One of these assortments might be useful as well:

http://www.banggood.com/360pcs-8-25mm-Watch-Band-Strap-Link-Pin-Spring-Bars-Remover-Removal-Repair-Tools-p-1040142.html

Also while looking I found this watch with a guitar tuning function:

http://www.banggood.com/Musedo-T-1S-Portable-Mini-Digital-Watchband-Strap-Tuner-for-Guitar-Bass-Ukulele-p-1085265.html

[Circlip]

Just as a word of warning, the strap you've shown as an accessory http://www.banggood.com/18mm-20mm-22...-p-943529.html is absolutely fantastic at knackering your shirt cuffs. Gives them a warm fuzzy finish.

Regards Ian.

[PStechPaul]

I have one of those metal mesh (or chain mail) watchstraps from many years ago. I probably still have it somewhere. I have found that these metal straps sometimes catch a hair or two on my wrist, acting as a depilatory device.

[Seastar]

Glad to see you are repurposing old watches and bands.
Many years ago I was in Naussau and bought a battery powered stainless sealed dive watch for Just over a hundred dollars. It had a cheap black plastic band.
Not a cheap watch but not expensive either.
I wore it for a few years untill the battery died and then threw it in a drawer.
I dug it out a few years ago and took it to a local jeweler to have the battery replaced.
The jeweler said the watch was one of the best electric movements ever made and offered me $2,000 for it. The watch is a Heuer. That's before Tag-Heuer.
I was floored by his offer.
I kept the watch and put a stainless band on it.
It is now the watch I wear every day. The batteries last for about 3 years. It stays within a few seconds a year without resetting so I guess the jeweler was correct about the quality.
Bill

[CCWKen]

Gee, I wonder what a 1st generation LED watch is worth? I still have one and it still works and it still eats batteries monthly. Or weekly if you're a clock watcher. I also have a nice dress watch I used to wear back in my "suit" days. I quit wearing watches around 1995. No point in it. Everything has a clock now days.

[PStechPaul]

"Does anybody really care what time it is?"

http://www.banggood.com/Fashion-Casual-Who-Cares-PU-Leather-Band-Wrist-Watch-p-1021749.html?rmmds=mywishlist

[Paul Alciatore]

Quit wearing watches. So did I. I find that I am rarely without my cell phone which always has the time. And even when I do not have it on my person or am too lazy to dig it out to look at it, I am rarely more than a few feet from one or more clocks. Right now I have the cell phone, two computers on the desk, a desk phone with a clock display, and a small alarm clock just behind me that synchronizes with WWV. Every vehicle I own has a clock. I am totally surrounded by time pieces. Oh, I forgot the wall clock where I only have to glance up. There's probably more of them in the room.

About the only rooms in my house that do not have clocks are the closets and the lawn shed. And I am not really sure about that. There may be one hiding in something out there.

I just thought, I never reset that one on the phone, but it is always right on both the time and the date. I wonder where it gets it's updates from.

I suspect that most of us have quit wearing watches.

I don't know what a first generation LED watch is worth, but I sure wish I still had my first, Mickey Mouse watch (1950s). I bet that would fetch a good price. Even more if it was working.

Gee, I wonder what a 1st generation LED watch is worth? I still have one and it still works and it still eats batteries monthly. Or weekly if you're a clock watcher. I also have a nice dress watch I used to wear back in my "suit" days. I quit wearing watches around 1995. No point in it. Everything has a clock now days.

[Seastar]

I fall into the category of " can't live without a watch on my wrist".
I have worn a watch for 70 years since I was 14 years old.
I am not about to stop now even though I carry a cell phone that I never look at.
It's just an unbreakable habit.
In fact, my son gave me a new watch for my 84 birthday a few weeks ago.
It's a Ball wristwatch.
Bill