A while back I bought a Vintage Series Pilot watch that I thought would look better with a brown vintage IWC Buffalo strap with rivets than the calfskin one that came with the watch. I happened to have a standard size IWC Buffalo strap and a spare deployant clasp in a drawer to experiment with, so I tested my theory. I much preferred both the strap and the convenience of a deployant clasp, but the combination was about an inch too short for my 8-inch wrist - leaving the clasp too far off to the side. IWC doesn't sell Buffalo straps these days, so I tried to find an extra-long vintage IWC OEM Buffalo strap in the secondary market. After an hour or so of searching online without success, it occurred to me that another solution could simply be to add a one inch extension to my deployant clasp. I searched again, but it seemed like such a thing doesn't exist; meaning that if I wanted one I'd have to make it myself. As a starting point, I did find an 18mm generic steel extension link for metal bracelets. I gambled and ordered one. It arrived a month later and took about a half hour of effort to modify - by filing a notch into the center of the link so it could connect to the deployant clasp and grinding the end of the link to shorten it a bit. The result was a perfect fit on my wrist. I think that the project also turned out well from an aesthetic perspective (a minor issue in any case, since no one can see the extension link under the leather strap when the deployant clasp is closed). An unexpected side benefit of the project is that the expansion link that I bought is designed to automatically slide forward and expand up to an additional half inch as needed (and contract automatically), so there won't be any need to make temporary sizing adjustments for future air travel (which would ordinarily cause the deployant clasp to have looser fit in the holes of the strap as a result of repeated adjustments).
Here's a couple of photos of the deployant clasp with the extension link:
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](s736.photobucket.com/user/WhistlerBC1/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsjwcc29fo.jpg.html)
Here's how it looks on my wrist when the leather strap covers the extension link:
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](s736.photobucket.com/user/WhistlerBC1/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsv7mhttuu.jpg.html)
And here's how the watch looks with the new strap:
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](s736.photobucket.com/user/WhistlerBC1/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsykfrccph.jpg.html)
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](s736.photobucket.com/user/WhistlerBC1/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpsqdzby472.jpg.html)
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](s736.photobucket.com/user/WhistlerBC1/media/Mobile%20Uploads/image_zpspcxaro7b.jpg.html)
Total cost: 10 U.S. Dollars in stainless steel.
Given the high cost of authentic IWC straps (which are generally much better than the aftermarket ones I've seen for IWC watches) and the difficulty in finding authentic vintage OEM replacements in extra-large, I'm hoping that there will be some value in this solution for my large-wristed peers in the forum.
P.S. What do you think of the Vintage Series Pilot Watch on a riveted strap?
