How To Change A Watch Strap: A 101 Quick & Easy Guide

How to change a watch strap? At some point, you might eventually feel bored with your old watch and have the desire to change without buying the new one. If it happened, changing the watch strap could be a very brilliant idea to do. It is a simple process but can give an entirely new personality to your old timepiece.

However, for those who are new to collecting watches, installing or changing a watch band might cause some trouble for them. Therefore, in this article, we will give an easy and quick step-to-step tutorial for replacing a watch strap. So, check this out!

How To Change a Watch Strap: A 101 Quick & Easy Guide

To introduce, changing a watch strap is a process of removing the old strap and replacing them with the new one. This process could be a quick getaway for anyone who wants to upgrade their old timepieces or make them versatile for certain occasions. 

Just like watches, straps are also divided into many types and made of various materials. That’s why each of them has its own way of treatment.  

Accordingly, this tutorial is going to specifically discuss the tutorial of changing a watch strap made of flexible materials such as leather, fabric, and rubber. So, without any further ado, let’s just dive right in.

1. Prepare the Equipment

Before removing the strap, the first thing you need to do is prepare the equipment. Some of them are replacement straps, spring bar tools, and soft pads. Optional requirement, you can also use a barrier. This barrier could be anything with a flat-bottomed desktop object such as a piece of paper. 

2. Set Up Your Workspace

The next foundation step in “how to change a watch strap” tutorial is setting up the workspace. Make sure you place your watch on a sturdy level surface to ensure its stability. Don’t forget to lay out the soft pad under the watch to prevent any scratches. This position allows us to get easier access to the strap and spring bars when it’s removed. 

Read more: A Guide to Removing Scratches from Stainless Steel Watches 

3. Start Removing the Strap

Now we’re in the main step of the “how to change a watch strap” tutorial. Releasing the strap from the watch case also involves removing the spring bars either. A spring bar is a small piece of metal that is used to hold a watch strap in place. 

Normally, a watch has two of them, but occasionally a strap also may have four or even six spring bars on it. Bear in mind that spring bars can easily fly off the watch. That’s why it’s very easy to lose. So, to prevent it from happening, place a barrier from any wide and flat desktop object. 

To start removing the spring bars, firmly grip the watch case with your non-dominant hand. After that, hold the spring bar tool with another dominant hand like a pencil. For your information, the spring bar tool is a thin, forked-shaped end tool that can be used to apply pressure to the flanges of the spring bar. 

Pry out one end of the spring bar gently and move it out from between the lugs. Do the same to the other strap. Now, your strap piece is free from the watch case.

4. Installing the Replacement Strap

The next step of this “how to change a watch strap” tutorial is installing the replacement strap. For the detailed instruction, you can start by inserting the spring bar into one of the replacement strap pieces. Carefully place them because the spring bar ought to protrude equally from both sides of the strap.

After inserting the spring bar into the replacement strap piece, loosely insert one protruding end of the spring bar into one of the lug holes and rest the other spring bar on the top of the opposite lug. Use the spring bar tool to help you compress it easier. 

In case the spring bar doesn’t snap into the lug hole and doesn’t fly off, try to put it down and carefully move the strap around. Find the lug hole and listen for a “click” signal to make sure it has snapped into the lug hole.

When you’re done with it, don’t forget to do the same to the other side. As a final touch, you can also rotate the watch to 180 degrees to make sure that the strapping piece is in the same orientation during installation as the last one. 

Well, those are some easy steps in “how to change a watch strap” tutorial. In conclusion, changing a watch strap could be a good solution to have a new look for your timepieces. As long as you follow the instructions correctly, use the proper tools, and have a steady hand, these instructions will help you to bring a “renewed look” to your watch. 

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