Review by Lauren C., @Watchmakers.Daughter
With the recent trend towards reviving vintage bracelet designs, I was eager to try out the Straps Co Beads of Rice style bracelet. It aims to replicate the feel of a vintage, five-row, beads of rice bracelet but with the convenience and build quality of a modern, stainless steel unit. The middle five “rice grains” are mirror polished along with the sides of the bracelet. The outer segments are bushed, as is the clasp. The clasp is fairly standard for a bracelet at this price point ($64.99 for stainless steel, $89.99 for black, yellow gold, or two-tone PVD). It is milled, brushed, has a safety lock, and adds a sporty touch to an otherwise dressy bracelet style. I think, as a future modification, it would be nice to have the option of a deployant clasp without the safety lock to make the whole bracelet a bit more dressy.
Improving on typical vintage beads of rice bracelets, each link is solid 316L stainless steel, and unlike some modern but cheaper versions, the bracelet is made up of individual “grains” instead of fused links. This allows the bracelet to flow extremely well around my wrist. The links move not just along the length of the bracelet but the width as well, which makes the bracelet extremely comfortable to wear. The first links from the lug end don’t rotate as freely as the other links on the bracelet, but I imagine that will improve over the course of wearing the bracelet for a few years. The butterfly fold is still a work in progress. The straight end links are attached via friction pins, so perhaps there are plans to offer curved end links in a future release.
The bracelet is 172mm long with all of the included links and the micro adjustments maxed out. Uncoupling all of the removable links brings the bracelet length down to 92mm, making it wearable for pretty much anyone. For my 6.5” wrist, I ended up removing four links and then using the three adjustment holes on the clasp for the final fitting. In a thoughtful touch, the holes on the clasp are exactly the length of one removable link. Sizing the bracelet was extremely easy, especially considering the fact that each grain can move independently. The removeable links are connected via friction pins, and the pins seem to hold well and stay in place after putting the bracelet back together.
I chose the 18mm width as that’s the lug width of most of the watches I’d want to wear on this bracelet, but Straps Co also offers this bracelet in 20mm and 22mm. The bracelet width remains constant from lugs to clasp. I tried it on my vintage Vantage dress watch, my Seiko “Railmaster” mod, and a vintage Rotary chronograph, and the bracelet worked well with all of them. The 4mm thickness doesn’t overwhelm any watch yet added a good amount of wrist presence. The bracelet is slightly narrower than the 18mm nominal width (around 17.75mm), making it straightforward to attach to a watch with just a spring bar tool. If it was a true 18mm bracelet, you’d need a pair of spring bar tweezers and a healthy measure of patience to install it.
The Straps Co Beads of Rice bracelet dresses up any watch you put on it. Wearing it on my Seiko Railmaster while out in the field proved that the bracelet is extremely durable as I finished the day without a scratch on it. I imagine desk diving marks will appear on the clasp eventually, but not readily.
Straps Co has definitely replicated the famed comfort, elegance, and durability of a vintage beads of rice bracelet. If you’re looking for a way to add a touch of vintage class to a watch, you can’t go wrong with this one. ⬩
