How to Remove Your Rolex Bracelet and Install an Everest Strap

The first time I took the bracelet off a Rolex, I spent far more time worrying about the lugs than doing the actual work. Once you have the right tools and a clean, soft surface, the swap takes no more than a minute or two, and the technique is the same on any watch with traditional spring bars. The video above shows the process on camera, and the steps are written out below so you can follow along at your own pace.

What You Need Before You Start

You need a spring bar tool, be it the Everest Premier Bracelet Removal Tool or Everest Spring Bar Tweezers. You'll also need a screwdriver that fits your bracelet's screws. Oyster and Jubilee bracelet screws have slightly different diameters; both aforementioned Everest tools come with the screwdriver of your choice. Grab some low-tack painter's tape or even Scotch tape to protect your lugs, and clear off a clean, soft surface like the Everest changing mat. Before you touch the watch, cover the outer faces and inner edges of each lug with tape, so a slipped tool or spring bar hits tape instead of steel.

Lay the Bracelet Flat on the Mat

Under good light, use the screwdriver to remove one link near the clasp so the bracelet lies flat in two halves on the mat, watch head face down. Rolex link screws often carry a dab of thread-locking compound from the factory, so if steady downward pressure doesn't free one, stop before you damage the slot and let a watchmaker loosen it with heat. Set the screw somewhere it can't roll away; you can even screw it back into the link so you don’t lose it.

Remove the Bracelet With Spring Bar Tweezers

A spring bar is a spring-loaded steel tube with a shoulder near each end, and compressing the shoulders pulls its tips out of the lug holes. Slide the tweezer tips into the gaps between the end link and the case and make sure both are firmly set against the spring bar’s shoulders. Holding the bracelet still, squeeze the spring bar with even pressure and draw the watch head away from it. Release slowly so the spring bar doesn't fly across the room, repeat on the other side, and store the bracelet, spring bars, and screw together.

Using the Premier Bracelet Removal Tool Instead

Any single fork spring bar tool compresses one end of the spring bar at a time, which makes the job noticeably tougher, especially on a modern Rolex with tight tolerances. You have to free one side of the end link while keeping the other from snapping back, with the watch, bracelet, and tool all held in place. Again holding the bracelet in place, depress one side of the spring bar, propping up that side of the bracelet so it doesn’t slide back into the lug hole. Still holding the bracelet up and in place, depress the other side of the spring bar. Once both ends are removed from the lug holes, the bracelet should just come right up from the watch head.

Install the Everest Strap

Everest straps ship with the correct spring bars installed, and each curved end is molded to a specific reference, so confirm the strap matches your watch and which half goes at 12 o'clock (on tang-buckle straps, it's the buckle half). With tweezers, reverse the removal: holding the strap in place, compress the spring bar and move the watch head toward it until the curved end sits flush against the case. Release, feel for the click, and tug each end to confirm it's seated before removing the tape. With a single-fork spring bar tool, insert one end of a spring bar into its lug hole, hold the strap and watch head in place, depress the other side of the spring bar, and seat it into position until you hear that click.

If a Spring Bar Won't Seat

Some resistance is normal as the curved end slides between the lugs. If the spring bar catches the lug instead of dropping into the hole, back it out and try again rather than forcing it. If you'd rather not push your luck, a jeweler can always do the job for you. Pro tip: with your bracelet still in two pieces, it’s easy to slide it into the two-slot envelope your Everest strap came in.