The Forstner Bullet and Barrel Bands are two of Forstner's most unique and striking products in the Forstner catalog.
After listening to your feedback, we've now released the Bullet and Barrel bands for the Tudor Black Bay Pro in addition to the Omega Speedmaster and Seamaster lines, the IWC Mark XX, and the Tudor Black Bay 58 and Ranger 39mm.
The Forstner Bullet Bracelet
The Forstner Bullet bracelet is a design familiar to many--it's been widely adopted by a number of brands for the last 50+ years, but many don't know its origin story. Forstner's successor in the 1960s, Jacoby Bender ("JB," now owned by Forstner) created the Bullet bracelet to accompany the Bulova Accutron Astronaut in the early 1960s. The original Bullet bracelet had many of the same characteristics of the 5-link bracelet folks know today from many watches, including the Omega Speedmaster, but Forstner's (JB's) Bullet band was slightly different from more recent (post-1970) interpretations. Forstner's Bullet bracelet had more rounded links, with an angled side profile with the sides fully polished. This design gave the impression of a bullet--hence the name. Forstner's current Bullet band faithfully recreates the design of the original 1960s Bullet band, but with modern construction. That is, the Bullet bracelet has solid links and solid end links. The links are removable for resizing via a convenient screw system. And, the bracelet is fitted on Forstner's push-button milled clasp with plenty of micro-adjustment.
The Forstner Barrel Bracelet
The Forstner Barrel bracelet is a new design from Forstner, but one that is based on historical designs in which the central connecting link was hidden. Breitling popularized this general aesthetic in its Rouleaux bracelet, but we took a different take from Breitling's design. Unlike vintage versions of this design, which typically were made with stretchy links without a traditional clasp, Forstner upgraded the design to contemporary expectations, making the links solid and removable by screws. Forstner also added its push-button milled clasp for an optimal wearing experience. Unlike the Breitling design, Forstner created a smooth tapering bracelet from 20mm at the end link to 16mm at the clasp--ideal proportions, in our opinion. It also made the finishing uniform, rather than a mixture of polished and brushed finishes. The result is a completely unique look characteristic of Forstner's design philosophy. In other words, we made it our own.