Introduction: Movado Amorosa Womens Watch Band Adjustment
About: Nerdy by nature
**DISCLAIMER** I am not a professional and have limited experience with jewelry. These are just the steps I used. DIY at your own risk.
The process of making modifications to something you spent lots of money on can cause some anxiety. But for many who accept the challenge it is nice to have some information before diving in. I recently bought a Movado Amorosa that needed to be re-sized. The local watch shop charges $30 plus tax, so I figure I would give it a go. To my dismay there wasn't much easily available information on the process. But fear not, its actually pretty easy and hopefully this writeup will give others what they need to do this as well. My method is kind of brutish, but I was able to accomplish this with things I had around the house and did not damage the watch. Though we did manage to bend one of the pins on accident.
1. The first step is to attempt to determine if, and how much adjustment is needed. You can do this by placing the watch on the wearers wrist and pinching the links together to see how many need to be removed for a comfortable fit.
2. Acquire tools and a place to work that will not damage the finish. I just placed a hand towel on a coffee table for this.
a. small but tough object that will fit through the bands pin holes. I snipped the end off a safety pin and filed it smooth.
b. pliers that you can get a solid grip on the tool and the pin once it has been pushed through.
c. striking tool - preferably something smaller and lighter than a standard hammer
d. a friend if possible
3. Place the watch in a position where you can apply pressure to the bracelet pins without mashing the dial housing into anything. I just had my girlfriend hold the watch off the end of the table with the bracelet laying on a folded hand towel on the table. You can remove the pins from either direction on the Amorosa. Other models of Movado sometimes have arrows on the bracelet that point in the direction you need to remove them in.
4. Use the pliers to hold the pin pushing tool and align the pin tool onto the first bracelet pin. I positioned the pin tool so that there was about 1/4 inch of tool under the pliers to be pushed into the bracelet. I recommend using locking needle nose because it takes the task of holding the pin off of you and provides a good sized striking surface.
5. Once everything is in place take your striking instrument and give the nose of the pliers (not the pin) a few taps until the tool has pushed itself into the bracelet hole and the pin has started to come out the other end. Depending on what tools you are using you may need to hit it kind of hard. Just use your judgement to make sure you don't strike the watch or use enough force to damage anything. Also, remember that as you are pushing the pin through it will need somewhere to go on the other end. A 2 fold towel worked for me, giving enough towel space for the pin to go into and providing a firm enough surface for striking. If your pin pushing tool bends just take a regular pair of pliers and straighten it out before continuing.
6. Once the pin has moved about 1/4 inch out the opposite end of the bracelet you can gently grab it with the pliers. Try to grab it with enough strength to hold it while pulling it out, but not so much that it crushes or damages the pin. This part is where having a friend is really handy. Have one person hold the bracelet firmly down and the other pull out the pin keeping in mind to pull it straight out so it doesn't bend. I did a 1-2-3 pull - like removing a bandaid which worked pretty well. Once the pin is removed the links will separate and a tiny pin sleeve will fall out so make sure to keep track of it.
7. To re-assemble the links place a sleeve inside the link and push a pin back into the hole enough to keep the link from falling out. Also check to make sure the link can articulate before you push the pin with your striking tool. Lay the watch back on the towel and lightly tap the pin while making sure the holes on both ends stay in alignment. Once the pin is most of the way in you may want to place something protective on the watch (depending on what you are using to strike the pin). I just put a thin t-shirt over the watch and gently tapped the pin down with a hammer, checking it every few taps. Repeat this for the other side.
8. Once the pins are back in you can use your pin pushing tool to pop the pins the rest of the way to make sure they are all the way in. For this I just hand pushed a small nail into the pin until it seated. You might feel a pop.
That's it!
The process of making modifications to something you spent lots of money on can cause some anxiety. But for many who accept the challenge it is nice to have some information before diving in. I recently bought a Movado Amorosa that needed to be re-sized. The local watch shop charges $30 plus tax, so I figure I would give it a go. To my dismay there wasn't much easily available information on the process. But fear not, its actually pretty easy and hopefully this writeup will give others what they need to do this as well. My method is kind of brutish, but I was able to accomplish this with things I had around the house and did not damage the watch. Though we did manage to bend one of the pins on accident.
1. The first step is to attempt to determine if, and how much adjustment is needed. You can do this by placing the watch on the wearers wrist and pinching the links together to see how many need to be removed for a comfortable fit.
2. Acquire tools and a place to work that will not damage the finish. I just placed a hand towel on a coffee table for this.
a. small but tough object that will fit through the bands pin holes. I snipped the end off a safety pin and filed it smooth.
b. pliers that you can get a solid grip on the tool and the pin once it has been pushed through.
c. striking tool - preferably something smaller and lighter than a standard hammer
d. a friend if possible
3. Place the watch in a position where you can apply pressure to the bracelet pins without mashing the dial housing into anything. I just had my girlfriend hold the watch off the end of the table with the bracelet laying on a folded hand towel on the table. You can remove the pins from either direction on the Amorosa. Other models of Movado sometimes have arrows on the bracelet that point in the direction you need to remove them in.
4. Use the pliers to hold the pin pushing tool and align the pin tool onto the first bracelet pin. I positioned the pin tool so that there was about 1/4 inch of tool under the pliers to be pushed into the bracelet. I recommend using locking needle nose because it takes the task of holding the pin off of you and provides a good sized striking surface.
5. Once everything is in place take your striking instrument and give the nose of the pliers (not the pin) a few taps until the tool has pushed itself into the bracelet hole and the pin has started to come out the other end. Depending on what tools you are using you may need to hit it kind of hard. Just use your judgement to make sure you don't strike the watch or use enough force to damage anything. Also, remember that as you are pushing the pin through it will need somewhere to go on the other end. A 2 fold towel worked for me, giving enough towel space for the pin to go into and providing a firm enough surface for striking. If your pin pushing tool bends just take a regular pair of pliers and straighten it out before continuing.
6. Once the pin has moved about 1/4 inch out the opposite end of the bracelet you can gently grab it with the pliers. Try to grab it with enough strength to hold it while pulling it out, but not so much that it crushes or damages the pin. This part is where having a friend is really handy. Have one person hold the bracelet firmly down and the other pull out the pin keeping in mind to pull it straight out so it doesn't bend. I did a 1-2-3 pull - like removing a bandaid which worked pretty well. Once the pin is removed the links will separate and a tiny pin sleeve will fall out so make sure to keep track of it.
7. To re-assemble the links place a sleeve inside the link and push a pin back into the hole enough to keep the link from falling out. Also check to make sure the link can articulate before you push the pin with your striking tool. Lay the watch back on the towel and lightly tap the pin while making sure the holes on both ends stay in alignment. Once the pin is most of the way in you may want to place something protective on the watch (depending on what you are using to strike the pin). I just put a thin t-shirt over the watch and gently tapped the pin down with a hammer, checking it every few taps. Repeat this for the other side.
8. Once the pins are back in you can use your pin pushing tool to pop the pins the rest of the way to make sure they are all the way in. For this I just hand pushed a small nail into the pin until it seated. You might feel a pop.
That's it!