Does Rolex sell Bracelets Separately?
You probably know that you can change the bracelet on many Rolex watches from Oyster to Jubilee and vice versa. But if you want to change your bracelet, you first need to buy one. The natural thought is to buy one from an authorized Rolex retailer, but this begs the question: does Rolex sell bracelets separately?
This is what we are going to find out in this article.
So, can you buy a Rolex bracelet from an official Rolex dealer? The real answer to that question is maybe, but you should be able to.
The issue when it comes to supplying spare parts, like dials, bracelets, and other items, Rolex is very strict to prevent parts from ending up on the secondhand market and being used to modify watches in ways that Rolex does not approve of. And from our extensive research, we have found that different dealers have different policies.
Some authorized Rolex dealers will have no issue selling you a bracelet separately. They may have some in stock and if they don’t have the bracelet you need in stock, they will order it for you. But for some reason, it seems like different retailers have different policies and this does of course not have to do with Rolex’s policies. Instead, it is likely the result of Rolex changing its rules several times over the year and dealers have memorized the rules regarding bracelet changes, even though the rules have since changed.
Some of the requirements you may face if you ask to buy a Rolex bracelet from an official Rolex retailer are:
You can only buy the bracelet you have on your watch
This is a policy that we have found that some Rolex retailers have. In practice, it means that you can only buy the same bracelet that is already installed on your watch. The issue with this is that a lot of people want to switch from Oyster to Jubilee or from Jubilee to Oyster. There’s no real point in buying a new, identical bracelet unless yours is broken.
You can only exchange the bracelet
Some dealers have the requirement that you can only exchange the bracelet that is currently installed on your watch. This means that they will keep your original bracelet and replace it with a new one. This is a less common practice but some stores seem to apply this method.
Some retailers will have no issues supplying bracelets
Then we have the retailers who have no issues at all supplying the bracelet you are requesting. This is the best type of retailer from a customer standpoint as it gives you complete freedom to buy any bracelet you like and switch your bracelet accordingly. The good news is that in recent years, this has become more and more common as Rolex has made the rules for switching bracelets more liberal.
Rolex announces bracelet changes possible officially in 2021
In 2021 Rolex announced that both the GMT-Master II 126710BLRO and BLNR were to be available with Jubilee or Oyster bracelets side-by-side in the collection. Prior to this, the GMT-Master models in the collection were exclusively available on Jubilee bracelets. For Rolex, this is not a new thing as earlier in its history, customers had the ability to choose the GMT-Master with either a Jubilee bracelet or an Oyster bracelet. Many decades later, Rolex just reintroduces to give customers greater freedom of choice when it comes to the bracelet of its watch.
With this release, Rolex also announced that it would be possible to change between Jubilee and Oyster bracelets – and vice versa, for customers. This meant that Rolex now officially confirmed that clients would be able to buy these bracelets separately. Note that this announcement was only done specifically for the GMT-Master II models in steel. In other words, whilst some retailers will, in fact, sell you bracelets separately for any model, the idea of this announcement was specifically connected to the GMT-Master II.
It seems that Rolex is slightly unclear with its bracelet policies based on how different Rolex retailers operate when it comes to selling Rolex bracelets. Rolex has only publicly confirmed that the sale of bracelets should be possible for the GMT-Master II models, but not any other models. However, there are also several other watches that are available either on Jubilee or Oyster from the factory. The same principle should apply to those as well. And if you ask some Rolex dealers, it does.
Our advice is that if one Rolex retailer denies your request to buy a bracelet separately, you should ask a different retailer.
Rolex is primarily against the modification of its watches so the biggest challenge is when you want to buy a different bracelet for your watch than what Rolex makes. For example, you may put a Jubilee bracelet on a Submariner but since Rolex has never made this configuration, many view it as a “modification”, something that Rolex prohibits. But since the GMT-Master II is available on both the jubilee and Oyster, it is not considered a modification and that is why it should be possible.
