Where can I buy a watch link remover in L.A.?

April 28, 2007 1:57 AM

Where can I buy a watch link remover in West L.A.?

I wanted to remove some links from a watch I just got as a gift to wear to a party tomorrow night (well, technically tonight at this hour), and since I have a few metal-bracelet watches, I'm thinking it might be good to just drop the ~$10 and buy a link remover so I'm not constantly running to the jewelery store.

However, my Google-fu is weak and I haven't been able to figure out if any of the jewelery shops I've pulled up would actually be able to sell me a link remover and not just charge me the couple of bucks to remove the links.

Does anyone know of a place I can just buy a link remover? Can I buy something like this at Target or some other department store, or should I just call around jewelery stores until I find one that sells 'em?

I live on the Westside, so if anyone already knows of someplace that sells link removers in that general vicinity, please let me know.

posted by loudguitars to shopping (3 comments total)

First thought was Bourget Bros in Santa Monica, but -- jewellery dept closed in 2005, I see. Call what remains and ask where their jewellery supply trade went?

Or, Progress Machine & Tool on S Olive, and it's been too many years since I lived in LA for me to do very well with the location part of the question. But, "jewel(le)ry supply" is a useful Google here.

Amazon has them, but jewellers' supply houses make for interesting shopping expeditions if you've got the time.
posted by kmennie at 2:47 AM on April 28, 2007

You're looking for the tiny screwdriver with the forked "snake's tongue" end that you use to pull out the "toilet paper roll holder"(watch band pin) piece out, right? Because once you have that any set of tiny screwdrivers will work.
Not to dis on your ability, but have you removed links from watches before? There's two different kinds of adjustable watch bands, and most are the kind that's a total pain in the ass to remove links from. I've practiced several times, and I have still not been able to do it without damaging the watch. And this was with instruction and guidance from someone who was able to do it. It's possible to do yourself, but kind of a pain to learn. If you know how to do it, or are willing to practice and learn, then more power to you; I'm always up for encouraging someone to DIY. But personally, speaking as someone who's received training for a Jewelry Counter, I would still take it to a jeweler.
posted by Juliet Banana at 7:19 AM on April 28, 2007

You might want to try Feldmar on Pico, a little west of Robertosn.
posted by kitty teeth at 7:34 AM on April 28, 2007