Pairing Modern Bracelets with Vintage Watches
Forstner Bands makes a wide range of highly considered vintage-style bracelets — of course, we had to try a few of them.
A moment of silence for the spring bars lost during the making of this article.
If you’ve read anything at all from DVW, you probably know by now that we’re massive vintage bracelet fans. We reached out to Forstner Bands and they were kind enough to provide some samples for us to review. This article is not sponsored by Forstner, and we’re providing our honest opinions of the bracelets provided.
We did want to do our first “review” a little differently though, so since we specialize in affordable and unconventional vintage watches, we decided to put together some cool ways to pair Forstner bracelets with four vintage watches. No more expo, let’s dive in!
A bit about Forstner
Forstner has actually been around since 1920, originally making jewelry and famous watch bracelets like a version of the military “Klip” bracelet and later the “Komfit” band worn by astronauts. The company was later acquired by now-legendary bracelet maker Jacoby-Bender (yep, J.B. Champion!) and shuttered when J.B. dissolved. But in 2019, the brand was brought back from the ashes to offer a lineup of iconic bracelet reissues and some new gems.
The Flat Link bracelet
Yes, this bracelet is for the Omega Speedmaster (the full name for it is actually Forstner Flat Link Bracelet for Omega Speedmaster), but pairing this with a Speedmaster just seemed too easy. It’s a bracelet that feels a long time coming, with vintage Omega flat link bracelets being exceedingly rare and expensive, and the polished/brushed model feels worth the wait.
The thin links are sleek, almost silky on the wrist and the final three links are spring-loaded, so it expands neatly to fit your wrist in any weather. The most modern update is solid end links (delicious), but they still have that hollo- link look that matches the vintage design. The whole package feels solid and well-considered, with a clear passion for vintage bracelets shining through — down to the fold-over clasp with a stamped “JB” logo, referencing legendary bracelet maker J.B. Champion.
I’m gushing a bit too much about this one, but please understand that I spent ages looking for an early Seamaster with a flat-link bracelet, only to have to let it go when I finally found one — this flat-link bracelet feels like a consolation prize.
We paired this with two watches that we thought suited the bracelet without looking too out of place, the first being a mid-1960s Timex skin diver. This watch was only ever offered on a rubber Tropic-syle strap, but it’s been calling out for a bracelet since I found it and this one fits perfectly — almost making it look like a poor man’s Seamaster CK2913 with the broad arrow hand and black bakelite bezel. The polished edges of the bracelet match neatly with the long, downturned polished lugs, and the flat links pair excellently with the slim profile of the watch.
The next piece we chose to pair with the Flat Link is a crisp late-60s Omega Constellation. This watch was never offered on a flat link bracelet in the day, which is a bit of a shame, because the design language of this watch speaks flawlessly to a smooth flat link. While this pairing might look even better with the all-brushed flat link offering from Forstner, the slim links and smooth lines echo the watch’s long lugs and stick hands in a surprisingly satisfying way that feels true to Omega roots.
The Stretch Rivet bracelet
Next up is another powerhouse of a vintage callback that sits in a totally different wheelhouse than the flat link. The rivet bracelet is offered with solid or stretch links, but just due to the vintage cool factor of the stretch, we had to have that one. We see our fair share of floppy, overstretched and fragile vintage stretch bracelets, so the tight robustness of the stretch rivet was a breath of fresh air. Currently this bracelet is only offered in a brushed finish with no taper, and for this reason it feels a little more like a prototype in comparison to the extremely well-considered flat link.
This isn’t working against the bracelet’s favor, though — part of the charm of a stretch rivet bracelet is that it’s a living, moving piece of really old tech that was unrefined in its day. While the bracelet would benefit from a little bit of taper and maybe some curved endlinks, it has the feel of something that will wear in over time the way J.B. Champion bracelets did.
The first watch we paired this one with feels fit for the racetrack, a Clebar chronograph that may or may not look pretty convincingly like a Heuer Carerra from a distance. A stretch bracelet like this could fit over your cool café racer jacket, or just over a good sweater if you’re like me and will never wear dress shirts to work again. A stretch rivet bracelet might seem more at home on a diver, but again, that just seems too easy.
Our grand finale pairing is one I wasn’t expecting to work as well as it does. In the vein of vintage Patek Philippe Calatravas, I put the stretch rivet on an Omega Cosmic triple-date moonphase from 1948. The best way to describe it is “damn”. It shouldn’t work, but it does. Something about that vintage tech of a stretch bracelet with the vintage tech of a moonphase calendar fits together. The lyre lugs meeting the straight end link is surprisingly harmonious — you might not love it, but I don’t think I’ll take it off.
Featuring an arm that hasn’t seen sunlight in like a year.
Find the Stretch Rivet, Flat Link and more on Forstner’s website. If there’s a watch, topic, or bracelet you want to see us cover, let us know using our Contract form or send a message to @iamjoshcameron on Instagram.
