Add / Remove Links & Pins from Watch Bracelets - Adjust Length of Watch Bands with Pins

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This is how I adjust people's watch band lengths.
The watch in the video uses cheap cotter pins, which aren't solid, but have a split on one of the ends. When adjusting, you don't want to push the split end all the way through the link's length, so push from the 'solid' side, outward, which is what the arrows etched in the bracelet are supposed to indicate - the direction to push the pin outward. The split piece should be the first to go out.
To put links back together, reverse the operation, remembering to not push the split (weaker) end through the entire length of the link connection, but instead, the split piece should be the last to go in, and this reverse direction goes against the direction of the arrows on the links (solid end first, at the head/tip of the arrow on the link, and then push from the split side backward from where the arrow points).
This method works for friction pins too, such as on the old Omega Seamasters (2255, 2531, 2254, etc. and newer until they went to screws). Usually on friction pins there's a notch in the pin that's to one side of the pin - not in the middle, but closer to one side. Similarly as described above, you don't want to push that notch all the way through the connection, so make it the first out (as per the arrows), and the last side in.

[@addisondraper3574]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. You have helped me out and made my life just a little bit better (I also learned a few things I hadn't been expecting to learn). I appreciate your efforts. thank you. - the only addison

[@heyitsjosh]

Thank you for the nice comment! I'm glad it helped!

[@marygarza9128]

Thank you so much I couldn’t put the pin back on until I saw your video and I succeeded. Thank you. I was without my watch for 2 - 3 weeks.lol

[@heyitsjosh]

I'm glad it helped!

[@CraftyZA]

my eyes are bad, and with your over exposure, can cannot comprehend what you are saying while you speak. Still learned some things. Thanks for the video

[@suzannebrown7437]

I can’t believe my watches have arrows on them and I never knew this! Thanks so much for a really helpful video

[@heyitsjosh]

No problem! Thanks for the comment! Just remember that the arrows indicate the 'exit' of the pins (the way the are to be pushed out or removed), and when you're putting the pins back in, start at the back of the arrow and you want the least amount of friction on the pins while they go back in, so they should be arranged to slide in the easiest way. So if there's a divot or raised lip, or something on the pin that will cause friction while in the bracelet (thus the name 'friction pins'), you want to create the least amount of friction while inserting the pins.

[@codydenver3972]

AWESOME. Saved me $30 at the jewlers.

[@heyitsjosh]

Glad it helped!

[@dylanmaxey2531]

Thank you! You made it easy to add the links on my watch.

[@VinnyCostello-y1v]

I found this video very help

[@heyitsjosh]

I'm glad to see this!

[@jamescovert7072]

Informative, but the glare was hard to watch.

[@zacdeagan9618]

can someone help me i don’t know how to add a link???

[@salomoney23]

Zac Deagan same problem here. I took my watch and they removed more

[@enderxzebulun]

Play the video backwards.

[@bmw.pi314]

Great video and helped me a lot. Thank you. I cannot believe I was paying €12/watch to have this done or replace straps! I was fleeced! 😨

[@narjasdesigns]

You helped me understand what I was looking for! Amazing

[@halo2bullseye922]

Thanks for the video bro!

[@heyitsjosh]

You're welcome. I hope it was helpful.

[@halo2bullseye922]

@@heyitsjosh it was!!

[@ezcomezgo11]

Very helpful. Thank you very much. :)

[@heyitsjosh]

Glad it was helpful!

[@RobynHode8]

There are no holes, but there are an arrows.

[@winggirl0798]

If we are here watching your video, we clearly know nothing about doing this. How do we know the difference between a collar and a divot? A cotter pin? None of this makes sense.

[@heyitsjosh]

There is a pin that connects the two link. However, the pin would freely move in and out, so there’s a little sleeve/collar that goes over the pin to widen the connection and thus ‘friction fit’ the pin between the 2 links.

[@savamac]

The initial explanation about the different types of pins is truly awful and left me none the wiser. A diagram drawn on a sheet of paper might have helped.

[@mashigabla]

any advice on pins bending and getting stuck?

[@heyitsjosh]

Are they bending on the way back in?

[@a.krueger6486]

Bro, get on with it.

[@Dotti_staygeekin]

How do you connect that watch together after you unlock it

[@heyitsjosh]

You push the pin back in, in the opposite direction that you pulled it out from.

[@palothegamer6538]

Mine has only 3 pins on each side, but then there’s no more pins and it still doesn’t fit. What should I do when I ran out of pins? Is there another thing I can do or take it to a jewelry

[@palothegamer6538]

I hope that makes sense

[@botbot4366]

arrows. What arrows?!?

[@heyitsjosh]

There should be arrows on the inside of the bracelet. If there aren't any arrows and you have 'split' friction pins (not solid ones) you should push from the solid end (thus the split part comes out of the bracelet first). Usually cheaper watches have split friction pins and better watches have collar tubes that go over top of the pins (or in the holes of the link before the pins go through). Anyway, if you have split pins, don't push the split part, but only push the solid part. You should look closely at the pin and if you see a split end and a solid end, push the pin out from the solid end to make sure the split part comes out first. Then, when re-connecting the links, put the solid end in first. The split part is the weak part, so you don't want to push that side as it will just split the pin apart and create more friction.

[@heyitsjosh]

My one TAG watch doesn't have arrows and doesn't have split pins, so I just pushed from any direction I wanted, but when I pulled the pin out, I noticed 2 notches in the pin, so when I replaced the pin, I put the longer part in first (the longer part before the notch). If I would've put the shorter end in first, I'd have to 'fight harder' to get the pin in.

[@savamac]

@@heyitsjosh I read this after adding my comment above - still don't get it.