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Thread: New Clasp

  1. #1
    Administrator swanbourne's Avatar
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    New Clasp

    Following comments about bracelets in general and the Speedbird III in particular being difficult to get exactly the right fit, I looked around for another clasp and received a sample this week.

    It appears to be a strong clasp and has up to half an inch of adjustment in 4 ratchet clicks. I propose fitting this to most bracelets.







    Eddie
    Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

  2. #2
    Grand Master
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    Looks very robust Eddie.

  3. #3
    Grand Master seikopath's Avatar
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    What's the action like Eddie? How deep is it?
    Good luck everybody. Have a good one.

  4. #4
    Grand Master Onelasttime's Avatar
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    That looks very similar to the clasp on the Tactico Anko



    It was easy to adjust 'on the fly' but I wonder if it would be too thick for the Speedbird bracelet? It's quite long as well. Will it work on the SB bracelet as that's quite svelte?

  5. #5
    Administrator swanbourne's Avatar
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    It's 8.5mm thick and if you want variable adjustment, it has to be thicker than a standard clasp.

    Eddie
    Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

  6. #6
    Master sean's Avatar
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    If that had been on my old Speedbird, I think it would still be my Speedbird. A good move.

  7. #7
    I agree, the speedbird 3 is everything I wanted in a watch but the bracelet didn't work for me

    I am looking forward to the new one

  8. #8
    Master SeanST150's Avatar
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    I think that looks ace, and step in the right direction.

    Sent from my Pixel using Tapatalk

  9. #9
    Grand Master Dave E's Avatar
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    How long is that, end to end?

    (I, too, am one of the people who was never able to quite get the right fit on a SB3 bracelet. I really liked the bracelet as well, so a version where I could get the right fit would be awesome!)
    Dave E

    Skating away on the thin ice of a new day

  10. #10
    Craftsman Jackwibble's Avatar
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    Will the clasp be made available as a retro fit Eddie ?

  11. #11
    Administrator swanbourne's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jackwibble View Post
    Will the clasp be made available as a retro fit Eddie ?
    I don't know whether it would retro-fit, the new bracelets are being manufactured with the new clasp.

    Eddie
    Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

  12. #12
    Master Tim63's Avatar
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    Hope it isnt a daft question, but would it be feasible to fit rubber strap to these? If made available in isolation?

  13. #13
    Administrator swanbourne's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tim63 View Post
    Hope it isnt a daft question, but would it be feasible to fit rubber strap to these? If made available in isolation?
    I'm pretty sure it's possible.

    Eddie
    Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

  14. #14
    Craftsman Jackwibble's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by swanbourne View Post
    I don't know whether it would retro-fit, the new bracelets are being manufactured with the new clasp.

    Eddie
    Cheers Eddie

  15. #15
    Master Tim63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by swanbourne View Post
    I'm pretty sure it's possible.

    Eddie
    ...great. Follow up question is - what is the clasp width and if you make them available as 'standalone' items what sort of ball park price? Cheers Eddie.

  16. #16
    Administrator swanbourne's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tim63 View Post
    ...great. Follow up question is - what is the clasp width and if you make them available as 'standalone' items what sort of ball park price? Cheers Eddie.
    I know they're definitely available to fit 20 & 22mm bracelets and the price wold be about £25 but I don't know how many I would have to buy.

    Eddie
    Whole chunks of my life come under the heading "it seemed like a good idea at the time".

  17. #17
    Master PreacherCain's Avatar
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    I like the look of that, Eddie - like others, I could never get the (beautiful) bracelet to fit just-so, so my SBIII lived exclusively on its NATO.

  18. #18
    Apprentice
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    Quote Originally Posted by PreacherCain View Post
    I like the look of that, Eddie - like others, I could never get the (beautiful) bracelet to fit just-so, so my SBIII lived exclusively on its NATO.
    I'm glad i'm not the only one with this problem, only bracelet that was truly comfortable for me was Rolex's Glidelock

  19. #19
    Craftsman
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    These look great...I'd definitely buy one as a stand alone item.

  20. #20
    Master sweets's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tim63 View Post
    Hope it isnt a daft question, but would it be feasible to fit rubber strap to these? If made available in isolation?
    Thing is Tim that very few rubber straps have the required cut-able ends with holes through for the springbars.
    And that is exactly is what is required to fit a rubber strap to this clasp.
    A normal buckle-fastening rubber will fit on the buckle end, but the slip-through end will not.
    Dave

  21. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by sweets View Post
    Thing is Tim that very few rubber straps have the required cut-able ends with holes through for the springbars.
    And that is exactly is what is required to fit a rubber strap to this clasp.
    A normal buckle-fastening rubber will fit on the buckle end, but the slip-through end will not.
    Dave
    I believe Sinn’s rubbers meet the requirement.


    Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app

  22. #22
    Master sweets's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by lughugger View Post
    I believe Sinn’s rubbers meet the requirement.


    Sent from my iPhone using TZ-UK mobile app
    Maybe, but not necessarily as the Sinn cut rubber is quite thick. The Sinn clasp that takes it is really thick. At least the single fold clasp (non-butterfly type) is quite a unit, i have one for my EZM1

  23. #23
    Grand Master Dave E's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sweets View Post
    Thing is Tim that very few rubber straps have the required cut-able ends with holes through for the springbars.
    And that is exactly is what is required to fit a rubber strap to this clasp.
    A normal buckle-fastening rubber will fit on the buckle end, but the slip-through end will not.
    Dave
    There are a couple of examples of suitable rubber straps on the Timefactors site, just for a start. They're not as common as the buckle style, but they are out there.
    Dave E

    Skating away on the thin ice of a new day

  24. #24
    Master Tim63's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by sweets View Post
    Thing is Tim that very few rubber straps have the required cut-able ends with holes through for the springbars.
    And that is exactly is what is required to fit a rubber strap to this clasp.
    A normal buckle-fastening rubber will fit on the buckle end, but the slip-through end will not.
    Dave
    Thanks Dave, I would quite probably have overlooked that key issue. Thanks to others for suggesting options. Ta Tim

  25. #25
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by swanbourne View Post
    Following comments about bracelets in general and the Speedbird III in particular being difficult to get exactly the right fit, I looked around for another clasp and received a sample this week.

    It appears to be a strong clasp and has up to half an inch of adjustment in 4 ratchet clicks. I propose fitting this to most bracelets.







    Eddie
    Quote Originally Posted by Tim63 View Post
    Hope it isnt a daft question, but would it be feasible to fit rubber strap to these? If made available in isolation?
    Quote Originally Posted by swanbourne View Post
    I'm pretty sure it's possible.

    Eddie
    Quote Originally Posted by Tim63 View Post
    ...great. Follow up question is - what is the clasp width and if you make them available as 'standalone' items what sort of ball park price? Cheers Eddie.
    Quote Originally Posted by swanbourne View Post
    I know they're definitely available to fit 20 & 22mm bracelets and the price wold be about £25 but I don't know how many I would have to buy.

    Eddie
    Quote Originally Posted by sweets View Post
    Thing is Tim that very few rubber straps have the required cut-able ends with holes through for the springbars.
    And that is exactly is what is required to fit a rubber strap to this clasp.
    A normal buckle-fastening rubber will fit on the buckle end, but the slip-through end will not.
    Dave

    It's a beautiful clasp, and appears to me built like a critical part in the locking mechanism of a bank vault. I'm not personally a big fan of metal bracelets myself and haven't worn them for years, but I can still certainly understand why some do love metal (and I'd like to try Omega style Shark Mesh and maybe BonClip style vintage someday).

    What I do have a bit of a real soft spot for, though, are deployant clasps for regular buckle type leather or nylon 2-piece watch straps like TF already has here > https://www.timefactors.com/tftwopcnylonstrap.htm

    I sometimes wear my own watches on such leather/nylon strap deployants, though mine, opposite to the TF version in the link above, are of the ("non-butterfly") single-fold type that also put the long side of the strap under the "buckle" side of the strap instead of over it (but, TBH, I don't know which is the better way to do it).*

    Either way though, I'd be extremely interested if TF made available a version of this new SB3 bank vault class clasp modified in design for use as a deployant with regular 2-piece leather or nylon straps up to 4mm or so in thickness like Eddie's great and superlative VFM "Aviator" series or the neat TF Rallys or the myriad of other such type regular format straps out there in the world
    Last edited by Rollon; 3rd December 2018 at 10:35.

  26. #26
    Master
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    ^^ BTW, as a supplement to my post above (I know, you were wracked with concern it might not be long enough, right?), I'll add the following as a footnote:

    *As far as evaluating for yourself which is the better strap deployant design format --- "long strap side over" or "long strap side under" --- you might consider that the latter has the advantage of needing no supplemental strap "keepers", but has the disadvantage of requiring a limit to the length of the long side strapping lest it crowd up and lay under the watch head itself during wear, which is no good. The former "long strap side over" type like Eddie's in the link above may need the strap's original stock keeper(s), but you'll never have to worry just how long the long side of the strap is, nor, if you're smaller of wrist circumference, ever need to perform surgery on a favorite strap that you might also like to sometimes wear with its original stock keepers and "horseshoe & hasp" type buckle.

    As far as "twin-fold butterfly" strap deployant type like Eddie's in the TF link above versus the "single-fold" strap deployant type like the ones I happen to use (and I assume is probably required to incorporate the alternative "long strap side under" format), I think it must be mostly just a matter of which best keeps all the metal of the deployant's undercarriage more under your wrist than to the side of it, and that can be regulated by the actual length of the short (i.e. "buckle") side of the leather or nylon strap you're using the deployant with.

  27. #27
    Grand Master Raffe's Avatar
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    I have been looking for something like this; very interested and if it fits, could be mounted to a number of my watches.
    Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.

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