Woke up with a bit of Nostalgia today. After seeing my Mother in Law this weekend and realizing that she is really slowing down 😢. It made me think how time waits for no one. It also got me thinking about my Partner In Crime, Bob!! My Father in Law and business partner. We worked side by side for 15yrs and even though he left us WAY too early 24yrs ago there isn't a day that goes by that I don't see a picture of us together in my office or think about all of the crazy stupid things we would do together!! It is truly amazing to me that we actually thought some of these things were a good idea at the time!! 🤣. As a serial sentimentalist and the proud custodian of heirloom watches this is one that speaks to me in a very special way. Bob was a guy who was very smart, very driven and was tough as nails. If he liked you he would move mountains for you even at his own expense. He was a great judge of character (not withstanding his son in law 😜). I was more of A Character which is why we got along so well. 😎 When we were growing the business and I would go on road trips selling or delivering I would leave between 3-4am and a lot of long days I would get back to park the trailer until 1am. He was my first call EVERY MORNING and my last call EVERY NIGHT. Just to check in with me. It didn't't hurt that he had the bladder of a flea so he was up anyway, but he would call every hour or so during the night. If he knew I was coming home late, he would get up in the middle of the night drive down to our yard and open the gate for my arrival so he just just make my life that much easier!! 🙏 This was BOB!! I love to keep his and others memories alive while I wear their watches they so graciously trusted me with. Hope you all have an outstanding Monday!!

My answer is always the same: you're asking the wrong question. If your bracelet needs fixing, the real question is why you bought the watch in the first place — because a bracelet that needs intervention is a bracelet that wasn't right to begin with. Integrated bracelets are one of the most technically demanding components in watchmaking. The fit between bracelet and case, the clasp action, the inner link finishing, the taper geometry — these are either executed correctly at the factory or they aren't. No polishing cloth fixes a structural decision made at the manufacturing stage. Every DIY intervention — micromesh on brushed surfaces, stretching links by hand, sanding rough edges — either removes material permanently or deforms geometry that was already marginal. The techniques exist. They're maintenance, not improvement. They restore a watch toward what it should have been. They don't elevate it beyond its original specification. If the bracelet is genuinely letting the watch down but you love the watch — and you bought it because you love it — the most practical solution isn't a YouTube tutorial. It's a good strap or a quality aftermarket bracelet from a reputable supplier. It won't be original anymore. But original isn't worth much if it means the watch stays in a drawer because wearing it annoys you. The goal was never the bracelet. It was the watch.

If last month was about wearing the watches that called to me, this month is about the ones I neglected. Today I'm wearing the wife watch.