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| Joined: | Fri Apr 10th, 2009 |
| Location: | Paris, France |
| Posts: | 5 |
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A word on my predicament: I got my two MOrays 10 days ago, and it was love at first sight. First thing I wanted to do was take off the bracelets - I am a strap man, and having built about 50 myself, I couldn't wait to try some on.
Well, on the Seafoam Blue #15, the screws were dangerously tight, but got unscrewed after much careful efforts. Taking the bars themselves off, as was recounted by several, was even harder: Even using the right Bergeon tool and WD40, I hard to do much more than tap, i.e. really knock to get them out, at the risk of bending them. Off they came, with a minimum of scratches.
On the Stealth #16, the first screw unscrewed like a dream - lucky me! But for the fourth and final screw…
Here, I believe that some comment is needed. Reading the forum answers to the poor guys "stuck" like me, you get the feeling that these poor souls are doing it wrong ("just use hot water, WD40, a hair dryer, the right tools…"). Well, guys, I can tell you I tried all of them, and this is not exactly the first bracelet I change (again, I built about 50 straps, so I litterally play with screw bars, spring bars, Pam bars… daily). The only result I got, after 10 days of trying every method with extreme care was, like what happened to two other forum members, that the screw head snapped off.
So, some conclusions:
- If your bar is stuck, it's just bad luck, and this is pure lottery, but it's STUCK
I don't believe it's about doing it wrong, it's about drawing the wrong number
- if the screw head snapped, this means that no amount of torque of probing could have unscrewed it: the weakest part went first
- the loctite was a bad bad idea : Who thought of that?!! WHY ?!! I have yet to hear of a Pam screw coming unscrewed!
- these beautiful watches and the wealth of strap options generously provided (Thanks, Ralf) scream for SPRING BARS: It's a much faster, simpler way of changing straps (no scratching risk), and in my experience just as strong. Seiko divers, for instance, which are a reference in sturdiness, use spring bars. Pam replacement spring bars work just as fine
What's next? Well, now I have to ask my watchmaker friend to try and take off the broken bar (drill? it will be a pain in any case). Then I have to ask Ralf for replacement PVD bars - or, even better, if he could provide the unlucky ones like me with PDV spring bars
Don't get me wrong: My Moray (the one not broken!) has not left my wrist since I got it. I LOVE this thing. But these bars…