Band Camp: Are Bracelets the Newest Complication?

It’s no secret that a bracelet or a strap can make or break a watch. For band obsessives, the name Gay Frères (established in 1835 and inventors of the beads-of-rice bracelet) is as important as Gérard Genta.

Fun Fact: Established in 1835, Gay Frères not only invented the beads-of-rice bracelet but also the three-link “The President” bracelet for Rolex. Introduced in 1956, this bracelet was so important that some refer to the Rolex Day-Date as “The President.”

Others (me included) will spend hours poking around flea markets looking for new old stock of Bonklip bracelets (designed and patented by the British company C.W. Dixey & Son) just because they are easily adjustable and surprisingly comfortable for a system patented over 100 years ago.

But before you say, “They just don’t make ‘em like that anymore,” guess what? They do!

Brands are once again turning their attention toward bracelets, straps, and clasps. In fact, four of the buzziest novelties this year aren’t even watches! Let us introduce you to three wrist game changers.

Introduced in October 2025 and billed as the world’s first 3D printed, titanium bracelet-strap hybrid, the Ming Polymesh is a bracelet with the suppleness of a strap and a strap with the tactility of a bracelet. This is no easy feat to accomplish.
 

We’ve written about Ming, an indie based out of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, many times before. Among collectors, the brand is most distinguished for its futuristic appearance and ultra-light construction. One of the brand’s most unique signatures is its use of curved lugs, so the original Polymesh was tailored specifically for Ming and Ming alone.
 

It didn’t take long for Ming enthusiasts to request a version of the strap that was compatible with non-Ming timepieces in their collections. The result was the Straight.

Introduced in April of this year, the Straight is the first Ming product created primarily to be worn on watches they don’t make. Unsurprisingly, this is also a complicated proposition.
 

Without modern manufacturing techniques (specifically, advances in 3D printing technology), the Polymesh could not have existed even a couple of years ago. That is because its creation involves an entirely new topology with more motion engineered into the radial axis than the lateral one. To achieve this, each of the Polymesh’s 1,693 components (including the buckle) is formed simultaneously and hooked into its neighbor in a closed loop for a perfect fit.

Ming partnered with Sisma S.p.A. in Italy and ProMotion SA in Switzerland to prototype and manufacture this extremely demanding product. The result is a bracelet designed to fit a straight pin lug width of 20mm on a 38mm case. The strap is designed to fit wrists measuring 152mm (6”) to 200mm (8”). And while the technology is cutting-edge, the texture and pattern of the Polymesh recall the old-school elegance of a beads-of-rice-style bracelet.
 

Finally, in the spirit of collaboration, the Polymesh Straight is also available through two of Ming’s partners in the Alternative Horological Alliance: Fears Watch Company and Massena LAB.

As Kenneth Kuan, from Singaporean strap company Delugs, has often pointed out, “Our mission is to make strap changing a lifestyle.” To promote this mission, the brand has always sought to make switching up your bracelet or straps as simple as possible.

A refresher: Delugs was launched in 2018 by collectors who wanted to apply the finishing standards seen on cases and movements to straps. In addition to using high-end leather, fabric, and rubber, the company has engineered other amazing elements, such as the Spring Deployant Clasp.
 

Their newest innovation is the Micro-Adjust CTS Clasp, which is meant to address the fact that many of us have noticed that our watches wear a little tighter at the end of the day than they did when we started out in the morning.

With pin buckle straps, you merely have to go up one hole size to get comfortable again, but deployant clasps don’t allow you to do that, making them much fiddlier. So, while the company’s original CTS Deployant Clasp has two notches so you can tweak it a bit for a looser/tighter fit, it requires a tool to adjust.
 

Initially, Delugs considered producing the rubber straps with more sizing holes, but soon realized that this compromised the strap’s integrity and overall durability, undermining its purpose as an “everyday” strap. Thus began a three-year research and development journey into creating a tool-free, micro-adjust system.

According to the brand, “Function testing led to the addition of two small ‘humps’ to the micro-adjust spring bar’s path of travel, improving the feel of the snap-fit system. Adjustments were also made to the clasp’s actuation to ensure that the amount of force needed to engage the clasp’s micro-adjust [mechanism] was sufficient to prevent accidental triggers, but not too much to the point where it becomes inoperable.
 

“We also conducted a 1,000 pull-push test to verify that the final design could withstand daily use. This also allowed us to confirm whether the amount of force required to work the snap-fit system remained consistent even after significant wear.”

This patent-pending piece of stainless-steel hardware is small but mighty and locks into place with a satisfying snap. It allows for 3mm of on-the-fly adjustment per side for a total of 6mm. To make it even more versatile, it is available in 16, 18, and 20mm and comes in four different colors (silver, black, yellow gold, and rose gold).

So, whether you are into the swapping lifestyle or just need to replace a worn-out strap, the Micro-Adjust CTS Deployant Clasp lets you tailor the fit on the fly – no tools required.

Haute horology maisons love to talk about in-house movements and vertical integration, but only a handful of players make their own bracelets. This isn’t a bad thing – without collaboration there would be no Gay Frères – but it’s always nice to see brands create a concept from barrel to buckle.

This year, the Swiss-based independent watchmaker Simon Brette introduced its first researched, developed, and designed bracelet – the Prisma Cobra.
 

Manufactured by the Swiss brand FiMM, the Prisma Cobra bracelet is a happy marriage of structural complexity, distinctive looks, and exacting attention to detail. It features 465 components and required two and a half years of research and development to meet Simon Brette’s exacting standards of ergonomics and polishing.

As a result, the finished product doesn’t look like any bracelet you’ve ever seen before. The construction makes the links look like snake scales. The stainless steel, faceted links look like they are dancing when the light hits them.
 

The bracelet itself is constructed so that the signed clasp, with its patented Elfix comfort-adjustment mechanism, sits almost imperceptible on the wrist.

The Prisma Cobra was made for the now sold-out stainless-steel edition of the Chronomètre Artisans, so, sadly, this version of the bracelet is not offered separately. But Simon Brette is always looking forward and says that this bracelet opens the way to future interpretations through new materials, finishes, and expressions.