How do I change a watch strap?

Before you start: two facts about your watch

1. The lug width of the watch. The new watch strap and the spring bar must both be that size. Search your reference on this site, or read the measuring guide.
2. Lugs drilled or not drilled. On drilled lugs the hole goes through the lug of the case and is visible from the outside; the page of your watch reference on this site says so. The method below changes at step 3.

You also need a spring bar tool with a forked end (for watch lugs that are not drilled) or a thin pin of about 0.8 mm (for drilled lugs), and a soft surface to work on.

The five steps

1. Protect the case. Lay the watch on a cloth, dial down. A strip of masking tape on the inside of each lug of the case protects the case from the tool: most marks on a case come from this moment, not from wearing the watch.
2. Find the spring bar. The watch strap is held between the lugs by a spring bar: a small steel bar with a spring inside and a tip at each end, pushed into the holes in the lugs.
3. Release it. Lugs not drilled: slide the forked end of the tool between the watch strap and the lug of the case, catch the shoulder of the spring bar tip, press it towards the centre of the bar and lift the watch strap out. Drilled lugs: push the pin into the hole from the outside until the tip retracts, and lift. Keep a finger over the spring bar: it is small and it jumps.
4. Fit the new watch strap. Put the spring bar inside the new watch strap. Seat one tip in its lug hole, then press the other tip with the tool and lower the watch strap until the tip clicks into the second hole. You should hear or feel it.
5. Pull-test it. Hold the case and pull the watch strap firmly in both directions. If it moves, the spring bar is not seated or it is the wrong length: take it out and start again. A watch is held to the wrist by two spring bars; this test is the only check you have.

Spring bars with a quick-release lever

A quick-release spring bar has a small lever on its body: pull the lever, and the watch strap comes out without a tool. It only works with a watch strap made with the slot for the lever, and the pull-test at step 5 applies to it too.

When the watch strap does not come out, or does not go in

• It does not come out. The spring bar may be bent, or the tool is pressing the wrong part. Stop before you force it, and check the position of the tip.
• It does not go in. The spring bar is too long, or the watch strap is too wide for the lug width of the watch. Check both sizes against the page of your watch reference on this site; the spring bar guide says which spring bar your watch takes.
• It goes in but moves. Wrong diameter of the spring bar, or a worn tip. Replace the spring bar.

Once the new watch strap is on, the care guide says where a leather watch strap wears and when to replace it.

Check your own reference

Family averages are the reason people order the wrong size. Your reference has its own measured number, and it is in the database.

Other questions

• Why will no strap fit my watch?5.7% of watches have no lug width at all. Here is what to do instead.2,640
• What length watch strap do I need?Ready-made straps come in one length only. Whether that length reaches you is a different question.75/115 mm
• What size watch band do I need?The watch decides the width, your wrist decides the length. The three ways to find the width, in order, and the mistake to avoid.
• Which spring bar does my watch need?Length is the lug width of the watch; diameter is decided by the brand. Rolex, Omega and Tudor have their own, the rest take a standard 1.8 mm spring bar.

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