Sadly Links of London have now gone out of business and many of the shops that sold their products have too.
If you have one of their most popular pieces, The Sweetie Bracelet, you may find yourself at a loose end (my attempt at humour). Fear not, when it's time to re-string one of these, you can do it yourself.
Below is a "How to" video I made some years ago on how to re-string one of these. Now before you view this and judge, please bear in mind that I'm not a teacher, cameraman or presenter, just a guy trying to help you do your own repair from my kitchen table.
After you've watched this video, I do have some extra points to add.
If it's broken, check the amount of rings you have. The standard Sweetie has either 80, 90 or 100 links for small, medium and large respectively. You can get spares if needed.
Again, if it's broken, find the hallmarked link. On the more recent ones (teardrop shape logo link), this will have a little tag on it. On the older versions you will need to search through to find a link with a hallmark on the side. This is usually the second to last ring of the lot when you find it!
Layout. The hallmarked ring sits next to the logo ring. the one with a tag is 4-5 links away.
Before you start, stretch the elastic to warm it up, much as you would one of those long balloons before blowing it up.
Give it another warm up just before tying the knot. This will help the knot to contract and keep it tight.
If you're having trouble with the knot slipping, try a surgeons knot. It's very similar to the knot I've used above and easy to do. You will also be able to find many video instructions for this also, such as this one.
Generally avoid adhesives as they will often make the elastic and knot brittle. The only exception is a gap filling Cyanoacrylate (super/crazy glue) such as this one .If you're doing a lot of them, or just want a much larger tube, there is this one.
REALLY important one. If you can't get the know to bind, you're not alone. There is a small percentage of people that just can't do it, don't beat yourself up.
These additional hints and tips should help you to make a successful job of this, but if you decide you don't want to do it, I can do it for you if you like.
For the re-threading kit, please click here. If you would rather someone else does it for you, I've been re-stringing these since they were first released and have a listing for that as well, which you can find here. Please note that the re-stringing service is for UK customers only as it gets tricky receiving and sending repairs from abroad.
Have a go and good luck!
Best wishes,
Damian