I accidentally in some forum came across pictures of watches having been fitted with olongapo bracelets and as they looked cool I wondered where they came from. As the name suggests Olongapo is the name of the city in Subic Bay where the US Navy base was back in the day.
Not sure if it was a Filipino invention or if the GI's came up with the idea to make bespoke stainless steel bracelets as the leather and textile bracelets rotted quickly away in the tropical conditions. Legend has it that the first ones were hammered out of stainless steel cutlery. Then later they were embellished with the wearers military specialty, military insignias, unit logos, or rating badges but nevertheless these were made in few numbers and were worn mostly by US Navy SEALs, Green Berets, Navy Divers, and USAF Para's. I guess this also provided work for some local artisans.
I had a look around but all I could find was old bracelets with US military designs that did not appeal to me because they were very personal, as well as they were too small for my wrist. I asked in forums and was tipped in the Facebook group Seiko Watch Club of Philippines (SWCP) to check out the Instagram handle 'olongapobands' which I did.
There I hit jackpot and found the perfect outlet for my design. They have displayed multiple bands they have made for customers and I messaged them for a design for myself. It appears they were not based in Olongapo anymore but have a workshop in Cavite and so I met up with kuya Jaffy Jurado in Manila who brought some samples to show. We discussed the design that I was going to email over consisting of a anchor and wheel combo with my own 'insignia' and on the inside I would have the inscription "tempus fugit" (time flies). He also took measurements of my wrist and noted lug size of the watch it was intended for.
With that we parted ways and I also ordered a rally bracelet, then my wife paid up via Gcash and all I needed to do was wait. Eventually they were mailed by LBC and arrived home to my doorstep in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately I was out sailing so I only got to try them months later but it was worth it, the bracelet fit like a glove with the turtle on my wrist but the rally was more of the size for my wife.
The detail is very sharp and as I can see they have possibly cut out the design in stainless steel and probably spot welded it onto the bracelet. Not sure how they do the cutouts but I suspect some kind of laser or CNC cutting machine that is the controlled by a computer. Nevertheless a serious piece of handiwork and a pleasure to wear, it sure will stick out from all the generic natos, metals and leather bracelets.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to comment anything :)