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Do you have a
large wrist???
(Posted By: Bill Sohne
(DC- USA) in the Time Zone Zenith Forum Date: 9/22/01
22:19)
Hi all
One of the biggest
handicaps I have when I buy a watch is my wrist size. I
am always looking for either long straps or additional
links for bracelets that were made 20 or 30 years ago...
My wrist is just over 8.25 inches around...
How do you cope with
it??
Hi Bill, as we have met on a
couple of occasions you know that I too have large
wrists. Mine vary from 73/4"
to 81/4"
depending on: my weight, the season, temperature, my
activites, my conditioning, etc. As a matter of fact my
TZ
Classic (1268) on the Hirsch-EOT Deployant
combination was
one means of addressing the issue of wearing vintage
watches when you have "Bubba" sized wrists, namely the
use of long
length straps... At
some point I'll do a "tour" of inexpensive long length
straps and bracelets that I have located on my more
recent travels to K-Mart, Wal-Mart, Target, and Meijer
discount stores.
But I have since worked on a
similar solution for many bracelets which use the common
"Z" shaped type of bracelet... The solution? Japanese
parts! JAPANESE
PARTS!!!
I had known for a number of
years that Citizen watch equiped many of their watches
with a bracelet clasp with an extension so that larger
sized and thicker wristed folks could wear their watches
with the original bracelets without having to purchase
additional links.
So I took one of these
bracelets to my local Jared Fine Jeweler's and talked to
my watch guy there, John Christensen and he researched
what Citizen had available and we came up with
this:
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This
is a Tourneau 5100 Olive Drab
cased/dialed/bracelet watch that I couldn't
wear due to the length of the bracelet. This
was one of the first watches that I was able
to adapt with my new Japanese parts.. I
choose to use this picture as you can clearly
see what parts of the bracelet are original,
and what is added...
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Dimensions
of extention: 16mm wide by 30mm
long
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Of course some
bracelets present unique problems... One of
these was my Zenith Pilot-Diver's that I
wished to use the original bracelet on but
was unable to because of the length of the
bracelet.
At left is a
picture of the bracelet from the side with
the extention.
The end result
does not look too bad eh? Because of the
shape of this bracelet I had to have John
custom make two little spacers for me to
prevent the link from sliding around. Below
is a picture of the underside with the
particular pieces annotated where you can see
the work that John did with these
spacers.
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- Actually the parts for
these spacers came from part of the Z-Clasp, the
Citizen Signed outer clasp part went on a Citizen
watch which had a shorter clasp, and the extender went
on the Zenith... So in this case I was able to upgrade
the bracelet's on two watches for a total cost of
about $24 (including John's labor for making the
spacers).
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- Pretty cool,
eh?
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- The nice thing about
this method is that it's completely reversible should
you wish to sell the watch or are later able to locate
additional links for the bracelet. Indeed you can even
switch the parts from watch to watch if you choose to
do so.
So, if you are interested
in purchasing these parts and trying out a similar
project all you should need to do is print out this
document and take it to a Citizen dealer and they
should be able to order the part for you.
I hope you all find this to
be interesting and/or useful...
Good
Hunting!
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- -- Chuck
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Statement
of rights retained and permissions
granted...
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- All of the pictures
included in this article are my own. I'd like to thank
TZ Zenith Forum contributor "k" for his insight on the
phone number for Citizen Parts and the direct purchase
costs.
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- Permission is granted
for Damon, RJ, Derek and/or Frank N. to include within
the FAQ's they are writing as long as a link to this
article is included and is accredited. Permission for
personal, educational or non-commercial use is
granted. The author retains all other rights not
specifically mentioned here.
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- For all other use please
contact
the author.
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- I hope you find this
article useful, informational and entertaining. Please
feel free to contact me if you have corrections,
additions or other comments.
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- -- Chuck
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