Gay Freres BoR Heuer Autavia bracelet

Hi all,

I have a lovely GF BoR bracelet for my Autavia with HLF endlinks.
So the bracelets links are stretched a bit. I've heard contrasting options on reconditioning these so that the stretch is removed.

There are some places that will service and rework these so they are tight once more, which I was considering.
However, some have said that as with reconditioning watches, the value can be impacted.

I have since opted for basic servicing so that all the links are now closed and tidy, and I've had one of them removed so it fits (and looks) well. However the stretch remains...

So with little info online with regards to watch bracelet opions, value and resell, I was wondering what anyone thought here?

2 pics added: 1 with stretch shown = 18cm without endlinks, and 2, shown without stretch = 16cm.

Appreciate that to recondition or not (as with watches) it can be personal and when I was starting in my watch collecting journey I was dead against it, but my stance has softened over time and in the right circumstance it can be beneficial, plus these are to enjoy, right?

But, in this instance, if this was to count against it when it came to reselling then I wouldn't want to pay for a service that would actually depreciate it...

Cheers,
Phil

Hi Phil, the stretch doesn't look bad at all now to be honest-better than a lot of them.

That aside, I find it hard to believe (have never heard) that anyone would have an issue with a GF bracelet that has had the pins replaced to make it tighter. And while it has to be acknowledged these are quite valuable objects, I wouldn't have ever thought doing so would detract from the value, quite the opposite. (but this is not to be compared with a vintage watch IMO-where you do have to be very careful what you do and don't have 'reconditioned'.)

The main concern of course would be if it were done badly and the links weren't properly repaired-so it would take a real expert to do a good job.
Best, Steve

Hey Steve,

Thanks for your reply. The back was a bit untidy - some links had come apart a little. But to be fair, agree, not as bad as some look...
So I was thinking the same esp as the pins are internal and should enhance it making it tighter.

Anyway, one for the future then 😀

Cheers,
Phil

Looking for a source to repair two BoR Heuer Gay Freres bracelets with similar stretch to bracelet shown in thread above.

Thanks.