Approximate Time to Adjust Your Watch: 5 minutes
Most wooden watches include extra links in the band which means you will likely have to remove links to achieve the perfect fit. Removing links from a watch is easier than you may think.
With the tutorial below you should be able to resize your watch in about 5 minutes! If you purchased a Joycoast wooden watch, we include the tool you need to remove links. If not, you can purchase the tools pretty inexpensively on Amazon or elsewhere.
Alternatively, you may take it to a watch shop, jewelry shop, or kiosk at the mall and they should be able to do it without any issues, and most charge on average around $10-$20.
What you Need
- Resizing tool (Can be a "pin and hammer" tool, or a turn-style resizing tool, or possibly a paperclip or similar object.) See images below.
- Your wooden watch
Quick Tips:
- Make sure to remove an equal amount of links from each side of the watch, to ensure it sits evenly on your wrist. (If you are removing an odd number of links, it doesn't matter which side the extra link comes from.)
- No matter the tools you are using, or if you are adding or removing links - the links are adjusted with the same concept – pushing the pins out.
The image below shows the most popular tools used to adjust or remove links.
Tool #1 is the Hammer with the block and pin.
Tool #2 is our “turn-style” tool, which is the easiest to use for our customers and included with all of our watches.
Tool #3 is essentially just a pin tool used for pushing the pins out. Which may be substituted for a paperclip in some instances, although we do not recommend.
All of our Joycoast watches feature pins that require pushing out in order to add or remove links from the band. Some other wooden watches feature screws, which are based on the same principle – but will need to be unscrewed instead of pushed.
Step 1: Determine How Many Links to Remove (or Add) for the Perfect Fit
If removing links, put on the watch and pinch the excess links together – get a feel for how many links will need to be removed. Once you pinch them together, imagine they the links you are pinching do not exist. You want a little bit of wiggle room, but not enough that the watch can rotate around your wrist. In the image below, I would remove 3 links – see how that fits, and if needed, remove 1 additional.
Step 2: Determine Which Direction to Push the Pins Out
All of the pins inside of the watch band have one side that is thick and graded. This thick side must be the first side to come out.
If you look at the links for the watch from inside, there could be an arrow pointing to the way you should push the pins out. If not, we will show you how to determine the direction.
Place the watch down in front of you right-side up. Now, locate the “crown” (pictured below). All of the links below the crown will be pushed out the same direction as the crown. All of the links above the crown will be pushed out the opposite way. (follow the direct of the white arrows)
Step 3: Push the Pins Out
If using the side-wheel tool #2:
Lay the watch inside the tool and put watchband parallel with the pin and turn the side-wheel until the pin inserts inside one of the pinholes on the watch band. Continue to turn until it forces the pin out. The edge with the ridges should be protruding, then pull the pin the rest of the way out. You may need a small set of pliers to grab it.
If using the hammer with the block and pin tool #3:
Gently lay down the watch on its side in the block, with the center hole lined up with the center of the block. You will be lining up the pin in order to hammer down and out the pin from inside the link.
Step 4: Re-insert the Pins into the Links
This step should be pretty self explanatory, but I would just advise to put the pins back in the correct way.
Step 5: Enjoy Your Perfect Fitting Wooden Watch!
