Credits: Article and images by Elizabeth Doerr @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/07/01/milanaise-mesh-watch-bracelets-whats-the-attraction-reprise-3/
As a great many watch lovers know, straps and bracelets can make or break a watch. While some might find the “vintage” appearance of mesh too delicate for today’s watches, for me mesh remains one of the most beautiful ways to dress up a watch, whether new or old.
And for those in warm or tropical countries, mesh bracelets have the advantage of a very long lifespan compared to leather straps.
It is not always apparent how much work has gone into the smoothness, comfort, and design of a metal bracelet’s manufacture. And a mesh bracelet is one of the most comfortable in existence: because there are no links, it doesn’t catch arm hair and it feels silky and smooth on the skin.
Breitling Chronoliner from 2015 on a factory mesh bracelet
If you’ve ever looked into this type of bracelet before, you will know that there are price differences among mesh bracelets. Many bracelets found on today’s Swiss or German watches were manufactured, or at least partially manufactured, in the Far East. And while those products are good in both looks and quality, they are almost 100 percent machine-made.
In fact, there are very few factories left these days that make their bracelets almost entirely by hand.
The best quality mesh bracelets almost always come from Staib, which was established in 1922 in Pforzheim, Germany.
Breitling discovered the advantages of mesh early on: here on a 2012 Transocean Chronograph Unitime
Mesh or milanaise: how is it made?
Mesh is also known by the name milanaise or milanese (“of Milan”).
The technique for making mesh bracelets was apparently already known to the ancients, confirmed by findings at Etruscan graves.
During the Renaissance and baroque eras, goldsmiths in Milan made mesh from hand-wound wire spiral coils, which they fashioned into bracelets and necklaces. These jewelry pieces made of woven metal material were named for the place of their birth. Since then, the word milanaise (sometimes seen as milanese) has been used as the technical term for mesh within the watch industry.
It is possible to manufacture this material entirely automatically, but the quality is significantly lower than that of handmade mesh. A great deal of qualified work done by hand is needed to ensure the qualitative level necessary to any smooth and attractive watch bracelet, but most especially one made of this beautiful metal.
Elizabeth Doerr replaced the strap of her RGM Reference 151BE with a beautiful Staib mesh bracelet
Staib manufactures high-quality milanaise, some of which is used by the company for the bracelets it sells and some of which is sold to other manufacturers to produce their own products.
At Staib, woven “blankets” are first created that are cut, shaped, and soldered as needed depending on their final use. The steps needed to reach the blanket stage include annealing, trimming, cleaning, and polishing. The blanket edges need to be carefully pressed and condensed so that they do not unravel as a knit sweater might if it is cut.
Milanaise weave comprises rows and rows of wire, coiled together, woven into each other by long machines that look like automatic long lathes, but which are specially built for the job. Staib works with wires of all metals – steel, gold, silver, and platinum – from 0.20 to 2 millimeters in thickness.
The carpets are carefully trimmed to get rid of any sharp edges that may have been created during cutting. Some of the mesh carpets are pressed by very powerful machines to give them another pattern or structure.
Every time the material is worked, it becomes a bit stiffer. For this reason, it is annealed in an oven after every step so that it relaxes again. Stainless steel is annealed at more than 1,000°C.
After the last annealing step, the mesh blanket is shaken out by machine and rolled over hard rubber to make it flexible again. When using gold or especially delicate mesh, such as that seen on the 2018 Audemars Piguet Millenary, this is done manually.
After being cut and pressed, the clasp elements are added. And then it only needs to be cleaned, polished, and dried in large dryers.
Vintage Omega Seamaster Professional 600 Ploprof on mesh bracelet
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Credits: Article and images by Elizabeth Doerr @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/07/01/milanaise-mesh-watch-bracelets-whats-the-attraction-reprise-3/
