MoT's WDF

Hi everyone,

As I'm sure most members here have, I occasionally think about how the only thing securing my watches to my wrist is a thin spring-loaded piece of metal. I've finally decided to swap out the spring bars for my modest collection to something "known good" - i.e. better than the huge bundles on eBay for a couple bucks. Here are some options I've seen and some thoughts - would love to get anyone's feedback if they've been down this path before.

1) Marathon - As seen here: ($24.95 for 8 bars). These have come up a few times in some forum threads I've read and people generally claim they are very high quality, last a long time, etc. While I have no reason to think this is false, are these really better than generic stainless steel bars? Is being Swiss-made a plus for spring bars?

2) Ute Watch Co (formerly Toxic NATOs) - Here: https://www.utewatchco.com/collections/ ... /toxicbars ($3.99/pair, current 30% off coupon active). Basically same thoughts as for #1, but now they don't claim to be Swiss-made.

3) Ofrei Swiss-made - Here: http://www.ofrei.com/page1229.html ($2.50/bar). Yes, this is getting repetitive...

4) Ofrei stainless steel - Here: http://www.ofrei.com/page_203.html ($0.19/bar, shipping minimum). Finally a difference - claimed high-quality bars, much more accessible price (although I'll need to buy some other stuff to hit the shipping minimum).

5) Esslinger - Here: https://www.esslinger.com/watch-band-pi ... age-of-10/ ($2.95 for 10 bars). Similar thoughts to #4.

So, any thoughts on the above? Any reason to think that the multiple dollar spring bars are better in any measurable way? Any other suggestions? Love to hear your thoughts!

[mention]nyonya[/mention] thanks for starting this thread! Yes, spring bars of good quality are necessary!

I have next-to-zero knowledge in this area but my guess is that the quality difference between Swiss-made spring bars and those made in other places might not be that significant? The company's quality control plays a big part, I'd think, regardless of country of manufacture.

Looking forward to seeing other people's input.

Just copying my reply here.

The slim fats from Ute are absolutely worth getting for Seikos.
I don't buy the other spring bars, they're way too expensive. The absolute best quality and value I've gotten have been the high grade ones from from Ofrei.com. You have to order like $30 worth of stuff to get free shipping, but their spring bars are extremely high quality, and they're like 10-25 cents a piece when you order at least 10. That sure beats $2-$3 for two from places like Toxic.
A couple years ago I just bought about $25-$30 worth of spring bars from them and haven't had to purchase spring bars since.
edit: here's a link to the ones I buy: http://www.ofrei.com/page_201.html

I had great luck with the Holben's fatboy spring bars they sell, picked mine up from their ebay store.

https://holbensfinewatchbands.com/produ ... 2345698415

cortman wrote: ↑Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:43 pm Just copying my reply here.

The slim fats from Ute are absolutely worth getting for Seikos.
I don't buy the other spring bars, they're way too expensive. The absolute best quality and value I've gotten have been the high grade ones from from Ofrei.com. You have to order like $30 worth of stuff to get free shipping, but their spring bars are extremely high quality, and they're like 10-25 cents a piece when you order at least 10. That sure beats $2-$3 for two from places like Toxic.
A couple years ago I just bought about $25-$30 worth of spring bars from them and haven't had to purchase spring bars since.
edit: here's a link to the ones I buy: http://www.ofrei.com/page_201.html

Strongly leaning towards getting the spring bars at ofrei. I just don't know what else to order for ~$28 - any suggestions? I already have a Bergeon 6767-F so I think I'm good on spring bar tools.

304 vs 316L Stainless Steel

Article/ad by Straop Mill Canada but good info.

https://www.strapmillcanada.com/blogs/i ... mment_form

nyonya wrote: ↑Sun Aug 16, 2020 8:13 pm

cortman wrote: ↑Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:43 pm Just copying my reply here.

The slim fats from Ute are absolutely worth getting for Seikos.
I don't buy the other spring bars, they're way too expensive. The absolute best quality and value I've gotten have been the high grade ones from from Ofrei.com. You have to order like $30 worth of stuff to get free shipping, but their spring bars are extremely high quality, and they're like 10-25 cents a piece when you order at least 10. That sure beats $2-$3 for two from places like Toxic.
A couple years ago I just bought about $25-$30 worth of spring bars from them and haven't had to purchase spring bars since.
edit: here's a link to the ones I buy: http://www.ofrei.com/page_201.html

Strongly leaning towards getting the spring bars at ofrei. I just don't know what else to order for ~$28 - any suggestions? I already have a Bergeon 6767-F so I think I'm good on spring bar tools.

Yeah filling out that can be a little hard. I think in my case I just bought more spring bars and I'm actually about out of 20mm. You use them a lot faster than you'd think! Also I always like to include a set or so with a watch I'm selling- it's a little extra that costs me almost nothing but buyers are usually very appreciative, especially because they're good quality and not the cheap Amazon or ebay ones.

nyonya wrote:

cortman wrote: ↑Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:43 pm Just copying my reply here.

The slim fats from Ute are absolutely worth getting for Seikos.
I don't buy the other spring bars, they're way too expensive. The absolute best quality and value I've gotten have been the high grade ones from from Ofrei.com. You have to order like $30 worth of stuff to get free shipping, but their spring bars are extremely high quality, and they're like 10-25 cents a piece when you order at least 10. That sure beats $2-$3 for two from places like Toxic.
A couple years ago I just bought about $25-$30 worth of spring bars from them and haven't had to purchase spring bars since.
edit: here's a link to the ones I buy: http://www.ofrei.com/page_201.html

Strongly leaning towards getting the spring bars at ofrei. I just don't know what else to order for ~$28 - any suggestions? I already have a Bergeon 6767-F so I think I'm good on spring bar tools.

There's the $2500 Bergeon screwdriver set [emoji2369]

Kidding

But I'd find something I don't need but could upgrade. Especially since I'm starting to work on ETA movements and doing more serious builds.



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I've bought bent spring bars from Ute before as an add-on when I bought some straps. Happy with the quality. I tried to order some Toxic Slim Fats yesterday, but postage to Australia for something so miniscule was outrageous. Something like $16 to Australia for no frills postal . Not sure if it was USD or AUD, but either way I pulled the pin. I'll keep hunting.

Techme wrote: ↑Tue Aug 18, 2020 3:59 am I've bought bent spring bars from Ute before as an add-on when I bought some straps. Happy with the quality. I tried to order some Toxic Slim Fats yesterday, but postage to Australia for something so miniscule was outrageous. Something like $16 to Australia for no frills postal . Not sure if it was USD or AUD, but either way I pulled the pin. I'll keep hunting.

Watch Gecko also sells the "slim fat" bars - hopefully their shipping is more reasonable. There's usually a 10% coupon floating around too - I think "newsletter" works.

Can anyone suggest somewhere that sells SLIM 18mm quick release spring bars?

I bought some from Barton, but they were too fat to fit into my wife's mesh bracelet.

Cheers.

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I get some decent quality springbars froM AliExpress. ~$4/100, 1.78mm. I just ordered some more in 20 and 22mm. Take a while to get, but that is fine. I have a little care pack of springbars that I made a while back. If the OP wants to try them out to compare, I am happy to send some.

These are a step up from the huge variety pack springbars.

US $3.12 | Diameter 1.78mm 100pcs full Stainless Steel Watch Band Spring Bars Strap Pin Repair Tools Link Pins Repair Watchmaker 20mm 22mm
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mKDB5MX

Not specific about spring bar but related. Is the difference between Strapcode Miltat 22mm bracelet for SKX vs the one for SRPD/5KX in their spring bar?

I’m asking because I bought that bracelet for SKX to be used for my SRPD but it didn’t fit because I found that I’d need a curved fat boy spring bar to make it fit an SRPD.


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Sporkboy wrote: ↑Wed Aug 19, 2020 8:41 am I get some decent quality springbars froM AliExpress. ~$4/100, 1.78mm. I just ordered some more in 20 and 22mm. Take a while to get, but that is fine. I have a little care pack of springbars that I made a while back. If the OP wants to try them out to compare, I am happy to send some.

These are a step up from the huge variety pack springbars.

US $3.12 | Diameter 1.78mm 100pcs full Stainless Steel Watch Band Spring Bars Strap Pin Repair Tools Link Pins Repair Watchmaker 20mm 22mm
https://a.aliexpress.com/_mKDB5MX

Those look good, thanks for the link! The only issue I could see is that they are 304L steel, so a little less resistant to corrosion than 316L. But certainly must be great especially for the price. Very generous offer to send me some but I don't think I'm really equipped to provide useful info - I may just order some though!

I reached out to both Esslinger and Ofrei to confirm the exact steel that's used for their bars. Esslinger is 304L, Ofrei is 316L. So as soon as I figure out what else I need on the site I'm ordering the Ofrei bars unless there's a cheaper source of 316L bars!