So much for staying silent; no more. The problem lies in the fact that many Rolex owners are used to the ‘classic’ bracelet found on a good portion of the Rolex range today.

The ‘classic’ bracelet design has not changed much, until the GMTII-C was released. This was the ‘dawn’ of a new era for Rolex with many changes that were, initially, met with much disappointment.

A comfortable wristwatch is one that is well balanced on the wrist, and the extremely light ’stamped’ steel bracelets with hollow links do not help matters at all. If one is lucky, they will have Solid End Links (SELs) but this does not prevent the bracelets from constantly ‘rattling’ on your wrist either.

One must argue, for this price point should one not expect much more from Rolex? With the recent price increases and continuing worldwide economic crisis, Rolex have started to price themselves with brands far higher up the horological food chain and for this reason need to offer more bang per $.

Your average consumer is also more likely to be used to decent bracelets from the likes of Omega and Tissot for example. The problem with the classic bracelet from Rolex is not so much a question of whether it will perform its duties, but the ‘cheap’ look when one opens the clasp…and the rattling doesn’t help either.

The first two Rolexes I purchased presented me with this very problem; they both had terrible bracelets in terms of quality, the watches wore top heavy, and the rattling was gnawing on my nerves. …and I did the unthinkable; I purchased the 116201 DateJust which featured a completely solid bracelet with newer style clasp with comfort link and solid rose gold links as well.

With much pondering I decided that it was best to let go of the first two watches in favour of the TT GMTIIC; therefore, my entire collection now sporting the best of Rolex bracelets and then some.

Schematic of the Rolex GMTIIC clasp, detailing its complexity.

Many Rolex enthusiasts however, will continue to blindly defend the classic bracelets. They do offer one advantage, where one is able to ‘micro-adjust’ the length and tension of the bracelet at will. This alone does not justify the poor quality by Rolex in this department, and the new clasp design for the Deepsea Sea-Dweller is testament to this.

116713 above, 116201 below: Notice the solid gold links in the bracelets.

It’s not a question of why bother, but rather why not?