The Breitling Watch Source Forums

I need an additional hole in my strap as with the first available my navitimer can still rotate on my wrist.
Looking at those existing they seem to be around 1mm in diameter. I have checked on ebay but the smallest hole puncher I could find is 3mm.
Has anyone any experience on such problem?
Any suggestion is highly appreciated

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330560911631

robust deer watch strap hole puncher. might be a solution

it says that the hole is 1,5mm but I saw an identical one in another auction where the sellers says it's 2mm, so I guess it's still too big.
This is THE tool, but the price is crazy:
http://www.ebay.it/itm/Bergeon-XL-Watch ... e45&_uhb=1

any alternative?

Have you tried dropping by a couple of local watch makers to see if they would do it for you?

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"It is just a matter of time!"

Hi Rik,

Punching holes looks a cinch, but I can tell you it’s not for the faint hearted. Get it wrong and its an annoyance. Its easy to make a mistake, especially if you move the punch whilst pressing in a hole. Practice, practice and more practice before you attempt it on anything approaching a top quality strap.

If you don’t have a leather worker in your area that you can trust, then a watchmaker might be the best option. If you are keen yourself, most punches come with a variety of tips to cut different sized holes.

Jim

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Jim

"You have Control".

Hi Jim, my problem is essentially time and some mistrust: I don't know here nearby a leather worker nor a watchmaker, so I should get into the car and seek for someone and then hoping it does a good job.
All in all I'm inclined to do it by myself, I only need the right tool (the cost of which is probably less than the amount I would be asked for doing the job in a shop).

My only doubt is: looking at the available space I see that the hole would be close to the padding: can this be a problem?

Yes, I think if you cannot buy a smaller strap (always an option normally) then doing it yourself is the only other way of achieving the desired outcome. Even if the hole is not in the same centring as the others you will find this is less of a problem than the issue of getting it too far to one side of the strap or the other.

I would buy a reasonable quality hole punch with interchangeable heads, so you can match up the right punch with the hole size. Run some test holes in a peice of leather and see how you go for accuracy and size. Using the tang on the buckle to reference the location of the hole is pretty starightforward. Just remember though, that the tightness of the strap when guaging the right location needs to be thought about before you commit. Do you allow a little slack or do you tighten it further than the nominated location? You will see what I mean when you go to test the best location. I find that I have to loosen the nominated point just slightly, so that when the tang rests in the hole it feels about right and is tight. It seems that when testing the lcoation on your wrist, the final location is slightly different in reality to the test position. Its just mechanics.

Jim

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Jim

"You have Control".

I've had the same problem in trying to find a hole punch with small enough bits. I did find one a while back that had punches for 1.0, 1.5mm etc. but when I ordered, it was not in stock and the vendor never could ship.

I have another lead on a small punch but haven't followed up on it yet.

This was where I was checking:
http://www.ofrei.com/page_226.html

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Chrono Jetstream
Montbrilliant 1903
Aerospace E79362