Vintage Watches Bracelet

I teased about a tutorial for a cool bracelet I made last weekend. I had some computer problems last week, so that set me back a few days. All's well now, and I'm so happy because I've been itching to show this off! I'll just start with a picture of the lovely finished product.

Isn't she pretty? I love how it turned out! Here's how I made her.


I knew I wanted a jump ring with beads between each watch, so I sorted through my beads and picked some from my stash that had lots of sparkle and a dressy feel.

I chose some clear, red, and brown Swarovski crystal beads that I had rescued from some vintage broken necklaces and set each one onto a head pin.

You know how to do that, right? Insert the pin, cut it off, bend it about 90%, then curl the end using round nose pliers. When you're done with that step you'll have beads that look something like this.

With my beads all pinned and ready, I gathered my watches.

These are some that I've had that no longer work. A couple I acquired through family, a few were bought for small prices at thrift stores, (I'm talking like $1 each). Now, here's a little tip if you decide to use vintage watches in this same manner. See the two watches on the right in this next picture?

The last one wouldn't work for this project. See how the strap attaches to the watch? It has two lugs with a pin between. The pin holds the strap on. Whereas the one on the left, (as well as the other four I'm using for this project) has a single lug coming off the watch frame. One with a pin wouldn't give you the integrity you'd need for this bracelet. I'm afraid the pin would pop out. 
So with my watches gathered I had to remove the bands. I could have just cut them away, but I'm a frugal crafter and figure I can surely find a use for them, so I studied how they were attached and removed them carefully. I won't include that process here, as each one was a little different, you'll just have to study and see how they come off of the watches you've chosen.

With the watchbands removed, I gathered my watches, jump rings, and pinned beads, for assembly.

I joined the watches with a jump ring and added three pinned beads to each side.

Continue this process until you have all of your watches joined together. My wrist measures 6.5inches, so depending on your wrist size and the size of the watches you might use more or less than five. That's what I needed for my bracelet.

I tried a couple of different clasps, but settled on a lobster claw with a short chain on the other end. 
Since none of the watches run, as an after thought, I decided to set each one with a time that holds a special meaning to me. One is set at 3:31 for my daughter's March 31st birthday, one at 10:52 for the time she was born. 8:28 for August 28th, my anniversary. 1:11 for Mr. ShowMe's January 11th birthday.  No one knows the meaning of those times but me, and that's ok. When I look at it on my wrist and see the various times, I know what they mean, and it gives me another reason to love it!

Thanks for stopping by. If you decide to make something similiar, I'd love to hear about it! 


I'm linking up with Angie's party over at Knick of Time and all the other fun places listed on my Link Parties page.




"