Tudor adventure

What an interesting adventure the Tudor Prince Date reference 74000N had the past one month. This is the Tudor I got preloved at a very good price. I had it serviced at TSC and now it looks like new. I made sure they (TSC) did not polish the watch, just service the movement, change the sapphire crystal and the crown and stem tube. 

The watch. 

The dial is actually blue.

Anyway, I had the intention to trade the watch with another watch (or part trade). Every time I brought the watch for a part trade, I did not have the heart to trade it. Three times I tried but all three times I could not bring myself to trade it. So in the box it stayed. 

A couple of days ago, I showed the watch to my wife. I had showed the watch to my wife when I first got it, but she was not interested in the watch. However this time, it was different. She had a look and she tried it on. I guess that was the last time I would see the watch. She like the watch. So the watch is now hers. 

Here lies the problem. The bracelet was much too long for her. So I adjusted it by putting it all the way 'in' into the clasp. 

It was still too long. We brought it to the Rolex boutique to check if they could adjust the length of the bracelet. I could not do it as the bracelet is of the old folded design.

And as you can see, there are no adjustment links or removable links. They suggested we bring it to RSC for them to remove the link as they could not do it. 

This morning I decided to check the Internet to see if there was a way to adjust the bracelet. A simple search showed many sites showing how it is done. Many advised that there will be some distortion to the links. Well I decided to try. 

The way to adjust or remove the link is to 'bend' out the central link to disconnect it. After 'bending' the central link, I mange to remove one link. The next job was to bend the central link back. 

As you can see from the photographs below, it is not perfect, but I guess it will do. It does not look as bad in real life.

The other problem, which was highlighted in the sites is that there will be a 'bend' on the outside of the central link. You can see it on the photograph below. My wife was OK with it as she said it is not really noticeable and that it adds character to the watch.

The removed link. I decided not the 'bend' the link back into shape, just in case I need to reuse the link. She is happy with the watch.