How The Armoury’s Mark Cho Started Crafting Solid 18k Gold Bracelets For Cartier Collectors
What do you do when you want a bracelet to match your watch but can’t find the perfect one? What if the brand never even made a bracelet for your watch? If you’re like me, you ask colleagues, check Hodinkee, deep-dive watch forums, and likely take your chances on eBay. However, if you’re Mark Cho, owner of The Armoury and Drake’s, you figure out how to make a bracelet all your own.
Devout readers of Hodinkee will know Cho has cultivated an impressive watch collection over the course of his career in menswear. Now, he’s venturing into new horological territory by producing custom 18k gold watch bracelets born from personal desire. “I always wanted to make a multicolored gold bracelet for my Tank Mosaic tile,” explains Cho. The project crystallized when several factors converged: his bracelet aspirations, a chance encounter with a 1970s Cartier Cintrée on a white gold bracelet, and a meeting with a semi-retired goldsmith. What began as a personal project — “I did ten of them. One for me and nine for Armoury VIPs” — quickly evolved after an Instagram post generated unexpected interest. Now, they’re available to be ordered through The Armoury’s website.
Cho’s designs draw heavily from horological history, particularly “old Cartier tank bracelets, and imagery from Antiquorum Auctions from the ’90s.” John Goldberger’s renowned collection provided additional inspiration.
Quality remains paramount to Cho’s manufacturing approach. “We obviously want to make solid gold bracelets. We actually did consider making hollowed gold bracelets, but especially for a Cartier, it just didn’t feel right,” he explains. “Given the heft of a Cartier, you should make a solid gold bracelet. So we didn’t cut corners. It’s all solid gold links.”
The production process demonstrates meticulous attention to detail: “We test them in brass, and then if they look right and actuate right, then we make them in gold, and then we hand-finish them. Hand-finishing is one of the most laborious parts because you have to hand-finish every piece.” Each bracelet features screwed links toward the end — a modern adaptation absent in vintage pieces. Inspired by historical Cartier examples, these solid 18k gold bracelets feature seven-link rows shaped to complement specific watch models: stout links for the Tank Louis Cartier and slim ones for the Tank Cintrée. Solid gold end-links fit flush against the watch case, while a butterfly clasp ensures secure wearing.
Available in yellow, rose, or white gold — with rhodium plating recommended for platinum Cartier watches — Cho also offers tri-color gold bracelets matching the special edition Mosaic Dial Louis Cartier from 2022. While a brushed finish (matching the watch case at 6 and 9 o’clock) is recommended, polished finishes are available upon request. All pieces are made-to-order in Hong Kong and have an approximate four-month delivery time.
Entering the technical world of horological accessories hasn’t been without its challenges. “It’s always terrifying because there’s a lot of watchmaking expertise. There’s a lot of amazing craftsmanship in watchmaking. And so I certainly don’t want to get over my skis,” admits Cho. “I think the bracelet we make is a perfect quality bracelet that’s reasonable for the price.” This is where Cho’s expertise in menswear becomes valuable. Like tailoring, creating watch bracelets requires a balance of art and science, knowing which levers to pull and when. “I struggle to imagine how anyone could make a better, cheaper one than us. We really tried to position ourselves at the value end of the market.” Value, in terms of solid gold bracelets, comes down to how much you want something that didn’t previously exist. The bracelets will set you back from $20,500 for the single colour and $24,500 for the tri-colour. Payment terms are 50% deposit and 50% on delivery. All bracelets are made-to-order in Hong Kong with a delivery time of approximately four months.
Cho recognizes the challenge of introducing a novel product to a well-established culture. “How do you bring something new into a marketplace in an industry that’s very mature, has been around for a long time, and where people generally have quite conservative tastes? You can’t go too far out of the box, or no one will buy it.”
“But then, if you’re just making another rehash of vintage, that’s also not exactly exciting either. For people like me and in my business, where our job is to come up with interesting things, to show them to people and try to get them to buy them, it’s just not exciting for us either to make a rehash of something that necessarily previously existed, with the exception of this bracelet — because I wanted it so bad.”
Looking ahead, Cho is exploring finer designs with up to eleven links, creating a mesh-like appearance. He’s also crafting round-ended bracelets compatible with various watch cases beyond Cartier, including a custom piece for a Datograph.
Cho has found a perfect niche in an industry often resistant to change: creating products that honor watchmaking heritage while fulfilling genuine collector needs. If he’s got a dream bracelet in mind, it’s safe to assume that he’s not alone. True to his entrepreneurial philosophy, Cho’s bracelet business stems from personal passion rather than market analysis. “Many of these things are just fueled by my need for ‘Oh, you know, [it would] be cool to have this.’ And then it’s like, ‘Oh, maybe I can make it and sell it to a few people.’ That’s usually how Armoury products get started.”
More information can be found here.
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