21-Piece Watch Repair Kit

The mixed reviews on this item had me wondering whether I should by it or some more expensive kit. I mainly got my kit to shorten a couple of watch bands for my Seiko watches. The kit actually worked very well. The pins in my watch bands actually somewhat look like cotter pins if you are used to working on machinery. The difference between them and a cotter pin is that the portion of the pin where the metal bends 180 degrees is bent tight instead of being bulged like a cotter pin. Instead it is the end of the pin that has the split that has the bulge in it. This bulge at the split end of the pin is what creates the compression fitting of the pin in the watch band so it doesn't come out.On your watch band you should have arrows on the inside portion of the band. These arrows show the direction that the pins are supposed to move when they get pushed out. And the arrow should be on the side of the band that you insert the pin of the tool into to push the pin out. Now if you don't have arrows, don't worry. You can still figure out which side the pins have to get pushed out of. Remember that I said the split end of the pin has the bulge on it. That is the end that has to come out. That side if you look at it closely, will almost look like a really small flat head screw. The other side will look like a solid rounded piece. That solid side is the one you want to push on with the tool, because you can't push the bulge portion of the split end all the way through the watch band.The watch band pin remover that you see in the picture that is blue is what I used to remove the pins. The one that was shipped to me was black but it is built the same except that mine has one hole in that groove instead of 3. But if you look closely in the picture you'll notice there is a plate underneath where the watchband goes that can slide. And at the end you'll notice a thumb screw. That plate sets in a groove that is at an incline. Adjusting the thumb screw moves the plate along that incline groove and thus moves the plate up or down to adjust the placement for the thickness of your band. It actually doesn't take all that much pressure of turning on the handle to press the pin out. So if it feels like it is taking a little too much pressure or the pin of the remover is starting to flex, then make sure you are trying on the correct side and have it aligned properly. For deciding which link to remove, I'd recommend first removing the middle link of the ones with arrows or the one furthest away from the clasp. The watch clasp can make the band seat on the device funny if you aren't careful. Moving a little further away from the clasp on the band can help with that so it presses flat against the device wall. And once you get the pin to push about 1/8" out or less (all you need out is the bulge on the split side of the pin) you really don't need to use the device to push then pin out any further. Trying to push it out further with the device is going to make it more likely to bend the device's pin. At that point you can use the needle nose pliers to easily remove then pin without bending it.For pinning them back together, just reverse the process. The solid end (180 degree bend) of the pin goes in to the watch band hole on the side that the pin came out of, which should be the side without the arrows. Make sure to have the links aligned properly. If they are aligned properly the pin should push in all the way until it reaches the bulge at the split end of the pin. If it doesn't go in that far without ease, you likely don't have the links aligned properly. (If you try to hammer the pin in with the links aligned improperly you can bend the pin.) Once I had it pushed in up to the bulge, then I used the little grey block to put the watch band in so I could use the hammer to lightly tap it in until the pin was flush with the watch band. I think it is a good idea to have something like a note pad or something like that handy next to the block so the watch band can be kept level if you want. I tapped the pin flush, then used one of the pin punches to barely recess it back inside the watch band.The kit worked to a T. It was easy to remove the pins and put them back in. And I didn't put a single scratch or ding into the watch band like that last guy at the mall did to my one watch. I shortened two of my watches with no problems whatsoever and had never used one of these kits before.If you are careful and meticulous to details, you shouldn't have any problems using the kit. The kit is cheap, but it does the job well and you easily get your money's worth. Heck, it is hard to get even just a pair of cheap needle nose pliers at a store for the price of this kit and this kit comes with a pair. You don't need to buy one of the expensive kits to do the job. I'd only probably recommend that if you are going to try removing one of those fancy twist backs that has the 6 notches or so. I'd be afraid of stripping those notches on the watch back if you weren't really careful with the tool included in this kit. But for removing and adding watch band links, this kit will work very well.I think the people who wrote the negative reviews about the pins bending or device breaking weren't careful, didn't know what they were doing, or likely a combination of both.I'm totally happy with this kit for removing watch band links. And I'm glad I didn't spend the extra cash to get one of the more expensive kits.

I used this kit to remove a couple of links from my new (Mother's Day) Invicta watch. I did look at purchasing the link remover (blue thingy) alone, which I could have gotten alone for less than $5 from other sellers, but wanted to get the hammer, pliers, and extra pins just in case. I ended up using just the link remover tool (blue thingy) and the mallet/hammer, but am happy to have the remaining tools for future projects.There were no instructions in the kit, and the website to which the packaging directs you for instructions is extremely inadequate. No pictures, no video, no detailed-enough directions on how to remove the extra links to size the band.However, as other reviewers have noted, there is a plethora of independently made instructional videos if you Google some search version of "how to adjust a watch's link bracelet." Choose a couple to watch - I watched the one produced by "Lazy Ass Videos" a couple of times, then just went for it. BTW, I'm really surprised Amazon let me use the word "Ass" in this review - twice, now!Having read the negative reviews, I was wary of breaking the pin on the link remover tool (blue thingy), but there were three spare pins (a total of four in the kit), so I felt I could afford a little trial and error. It was also news to me that the watch manufacturers put little arrows on the back of all of the bracelet's removable links, which show you against which side of the link you should push the screw/cotter pin, and which side it will then exit the link. I went somewhat carefully, but not with brain-surgery precision, and was able to remove the links pretty easily (while sitting on my bed and holding the watch and tool in my lap). But hey, I put on reading glasses, so I wasn't totally irreverent of the whole process.I did wonder if the pin was going to break, as it took a little more force than expected to turn the pin against the screw/cotter pin in the link, but it did not break, so I guess it just depends on the watch and how tightly the screw/cotter pin is held in place. I think that this difficulty may be an Invicta issue. However, it was not as easy to get the screw/cotter pin back in place to reattach the two sides of the band. That took a lot more fiddling, some taps with the hammer, and I ended up using the link remover tool (blue thingy) again, to push the screw/cotter pin back into place and seat it completely. If I had used a third hand to hold the two sides of the watch band in place so that the holes in the link pieces aligned perfectly, it would have been much quicker and easier. I ended up ditching the first screw/cotter pin I tried to reinsert, and the remaining one seemed to go in much easier, although that really should not have made any difference.I cannot complain about the quality of the tools in this kit, as the pieces I used worked as designed on the first try, and nothing broke or even indicated it was close to breaking. In about 10 minutes, including 5 finding and watching a YouTube video a couple of times, I achieved my objective of removing two links and reattaching the band together so that it looks like it was always that length.By the way, none of the other online sellers' link remover tools are any different in design and quality than the one that comes in this kit. The one sold by Invicta is precisely the same design and quality, but costs $9, is yellow, and has as many complaints about pins breaking as all the others. There is only one design for this non-professional grade, link remover tool, so if this is all you need, just purchase it from the seller that works out cheaper for you. I try to only get items that are eligible for Amazon Prime (even if it costs a little more overall, as I get it within a few days and can track it easily), which has paid for itself many times over.