Genuine question condidering my prior...
What are we recommending currently? It's going on "that" Seiko 57sdrgghghbg...
Watchgecko have a good range of NATO straps.
For plain/traditional colours, it's still Timefactors.
For colourful, it's MonkeySwag.
Timefactors didn't do a long enough strap for my (substantial) wrist.
They did a nice strap for my son though.
These guys did a decent long strap (once you looked away from the posturing) http://natostrapsco.com/
Got a dark navy MonkeySwag NATO on my Pepsi Seiko 5 that I'm pleased with - and have a Watchgecko one for one of the others. Both are good quality and a decent length.
Timefactors didn't do a long enough strap for my (substantial) wrist.
You must have MAHOOOSIVE wrists!
Gotta be Bond, hasn't it?!?!
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IT DOESN'T FIT THE WATCH!
ARGH!
Also, think it's a belt strap, not a NATO.
IT DOESN'T FIT THE WATCH!ARGH!
Quite agree, nothing worse than a couple of millimetres of spring bar showing either side of a strap that's quite clearly not designed to fit the watch it's on!
Just looks ugly and stupid.
If you want genuine NATO then look no further:
[url= http://www.gasgasbones.com/non-ggb-stuff/phoenix-nato-g10-watch-straps.html ]Phoenix NATO straps[/url]
(Nice watches too)
Quite agree, nothing worse than a couple of millimetres of spring bar showing either side of a strap that's quite clearly not designed to fit the watch it's on!
Just looks ugly and stupid.
Yeah this guy must be a right clueless muppet lol
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Am I the only one who can't look at a G10 strap without thinking about one of these?
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I used cheapestnatostraps.com takes a few extra days to get here, but they have multibuy deals. and a huge, huge range.
Currently rocking one on my Vostok Amphibia as it goes.
Watch Gecko have some really nice ones for £20 that have well made hardware on them, not the usual rings or cheapo tang buckles, but chunky big pre-v styled almost. I really fancy once.
But, tbh, there is a lot of evidence that NATO straps on spring bars actually cause MORE bars to pop out than just having a normal 2pc strap. It's to do with the strap twisting in the lugs and pulling the bars out. If you Google around, there are loads of users who report they have only ever had a spring bar pop when using a NATO style strap, and have since sworn off of them.
Personally I'd only use them again with shoulderless spring bars. My watch never felt really that secure compared to a normal 2pc leather strap or bracelet.
I like the look of that.
The bracelet and clasp on my Seamaster has started to wear and I fear that it may fail resulting in the watch being lost. The price of a replacement is mind-buggeringly expensive.
A NATO strap on it would look rather smart.
For the price of them I could get a couple and colour coordinate with my outfit.
Those ZuluDiver look good but £24! The Timefactors Deluxe Nato are very high quality and half that price. Hardware on them looks similar. They're a tight weave/high thread slightly shiny fabric so look a bit smarter as well but that may or may not be what you're looking for.
there is a lot of evidence that NATO straps on spring bars actually cause MORE bars to pop out than just having a normal 2pc strap
I'm sure. the other side of that is that a single bar popping out doesn't mean the watch falls off your wrist.
ZuluDivers cheaper on Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01H7ASOXK/ref=pd_sim_200_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=N42MAKJAYEDDBWYAD7XC
Different hardware
ah.
De facto
Am I missing something, or do you mean de rigueur?
Here's my Zuludiver NATO from Watchgecko. I think it looks pretty decent...
[url= https://image.ibb.co/gqZy2F/IWC.jp g" target="_blank">https://image.ibb.co/gqZy2F/IWC.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= https://imgbb.com/ ]my photos upload[/url]
the other side of that is that a single bar popping out doesn't mean the watch falls off your wrist.
Oh absolutely, but the argument is that it might be the NATO causing the bar to pop in the first place.
Anyway, they look great. Some watches just look proper on a leather NATO. A few places are making them without the 2nd layer (the one thats supposed to stop your watch falling off the strap) which makes them a bit thinner on the wrist. I'm tempted by that too, as I always disliked the added thickness.
Am I missing something, or do you mean de rigueur?
Sine qua non, Shirley?
CaptainFlashheart - MemberSine qua non, Shirley?
Not really, I prefer plain tan leather with my timepiece. Stripes like the above would be too much with the ticking eyes and moving paws.
Yeah this guy must be a right clueless muppet lol
Or else the person responsible for sorting out everything the actor wears on set didn't really notice...
Oh absolutely, but the argument is that it might be the NATO causing the bar to pop in the first place.
I can see how that might happen, I've got a couple of Zulu straps, without the second extra part and they're really quite thick material, so if the watch is a bit tight on space around the spring bar, the extra thickness is likely to put extra force on the bar from behind, which could cause an old, worn bar to fail.
I'm wearing a Casio MT-240 that was my step-dads, I bought it for a birthday present after his other watch went missing, and I've started wearing it now he no longer has a need for it, but I really don't like the plastic straps they have fitted.
Problem is the space between the pillars is fairly narrow and the strap is stepped at the ends to go the full width of the pillars, and as a result a NATO/Zulu strap has either got to be really narrow, or else have a bit cut out of the sides to fit behind the spring bar, and that's pretty tight too!
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The orange Zulu strap I'd like to fit, because it matches the numerals, I'm certain will just be too thick to fit behind the spring bar, without compromising it and causing it to fail.
I've got a black NATO strap that's much thinner, so I might have to just go with that, and maybe get an orange one later, but the thickness of the strap is crucial with this watch.
PITA!
but the thickness of the strap is crucial with this watch.
PITA!
Dirt cheap Nato's from eBay then. The better quality ones i've bought have all been thicker.
Right then...
Just bought one for my Seamaster. Let's see how it looks in a few days.
Like a two grand watch on a two bob strap?
Yeah, but it is unwearable at the moment as the bracelet is falling apart.
perchypanther - Member
Like a two grand watch on a two bob strap?
Yep.
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Annoyingly in GSC colours, which Bond wouldn't have worn. #BondGeek
Doesn't really look right to me....
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HTS - a good clean and changing the pins & sleeves on the bracelet will do wonders. Something like £1.55 for each pin and sleeve from omega normally.
I like watch gecko, quality is good for the price. The cheaper ones can be a bit... cheap. I've got an Oris divers on the bond knock off striped strap and it looks pretty good. I don't think the seamaster works quite as well on the NATO, all personal choice though...
Doesn't really look right to me....
Not on that wrist. It looks like he's been pulled out of a canal.
Nice IWC spitfire chrono, I have the UTC version (same applied numerals)
tempted to try a nato now, at least if you don't like them they are cheap enough to chuck back in the draw.
at least if you don't like them they are cheap enough to chuck back in the draw.
kerrekt.
Had a go at hacking the Zulu strap to try to get it to fit the Casio, and so far, after a couple of hours careful cutting with a Stanley blade and equally careful heating the cut edges with a soldering iron, all I've managed to achieve is one missing spring bar, and no further forward to getting the sodding strap to fit!
Problem is the thickness of the material won't let it bend enough to fit into the curved recess where the spring bar sits, so while one end will go into the teeny little hole, the other just can't be pushed far enough in to click into the hole.
Buggerit. Looks like I may have trashed a really nice strap, but I'll keep at it, in case I can get it to fit.
Tried curved spring bars?
It's not an issue unique to your watch. NATO straps were designed originally to go on fixed bar watches that had the room to accommodate them after all.
How do you remove the spring bars from a Seiko- the strap doesn't move back...
Got a few nato straps mainly from Timefactors and Monkeyswag but if you fancy something similar but different try a Perlon strap, I have a watch on a Eulit Palma Pacific.
Very comfy and fully adjustable as you just pierce the strap anyway with the buckle pin.
Like this below:-
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How do you remove the spring bars from a Seiko- the strap doesn't move back...
What sort of Seiko/strap?
have you got one of [url= https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/262614800437?chn=ps&dispItem=1&adgroupid=49150986128&rlsatarget=pla-327951032325&abcId=1129006&adtype=pla&merchantid=110335821&poi=&googleloc=9045894&device=c&campaignid=861364963&crdt=0 ]these?[/url]
Curved spring bars might work, but the strap goes right to the edge of the recess, and it's getting the end of the spring bar to go into the little hole that's the problem.
What I'm going to do is carefully drill the little hole right through, then enlarge from the outside, cut a length of 0.8mm stainless wire to go right through from the outside as a tight friction fit while the strap's in place, then it'll only need one pin to be pushed through from the outside to allow the back to be taken off for a battery change. It'll be a lot more secure than spring bars that are under stress, and I can use the much thicker Zulu strap I already have,
My Seiko SPORK actually has this, because the original steel bracelet was very close fitting, and used thick spring bars, the pillars are drilled through to allow a pin to be pushed through to get the bracelet off; an idea my goldsmith mate thinks all watches ought to have, [i]especially[/i] those divers with plastic straps, which he hates with a vengeance, despite having all the tools available.
Kryton, has yours got drilled through pillars, like the SPORK has? You just push a brooch pin through to push the end of the spring bar in. Really good idea.
This photo shows the little holes at the outside ends of the pillars
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Like a two grand watch on a two bob strap?
I'm in that camp. Fill your boots of leather or metal options, but this fashion for material straps is a joke
Kryton, has yours got drilled through pillars,
No, hence the issue. Id assume you have to pull back the strap and the bar is spring-telescopic, like a loo roll holder. But i cant force the strap back to see.
One of these:
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Very pleased with it.
Got a quote for having my old bracelet reconditioned and fitted with a new clasp. I'd better start saving now, but in the meantime i'll stick with the NATO.
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Kryton use a Stanley knife, slide it between the strap and watch and you should feel the bar, then twist it against the lug and it will pop free.
Countzero if your Casio plastic or metal? I wouldn't do what you're suggesting - especially if it's plastic. Spring bars are a better option, put a pic up of the back of your watch - casios can be a right ballache to do.
Yep, image here to show the two part pins
[img] https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQUYuS7ndnnQm-Blc5se5zvhdnkjVF29VwZ0a9zU-4yb-RYqsGz [/img]
I'd post photos if I could work out how the chuff Imgur works!
As it happens, I've managed to hack the Casio and strap, wearing it now, and I'm rather pleased with it. I notched the sides of the strap where it fits between the pillars using a Stanley blade, then carefully melted the edges with a soldering iron, [i]very[/i] carefully drilled through the pillars using an 0.6mm drill in a holder, then used an 0.8mm drill to run through from the outside, making sure the holes align, then pushed a piece of 0.8mm stainless wire partway through over the strap and carried on pushing and twisting until it went through the opposite hole, snipped off the long end and used a needle file to smooth off the sharp protruding end.
If the battery needs changing then it'll just need a pair of needle-nosed pliers to work the wire back out, or push through with a brooch pin on one side.
The strap is exactly the same colour as the dial markers, and it looks really good, the strap is nice and thick with brushed steel round buckle and keepers, so well pleased for a couple of hours work.
I guess, if I'd had a watch clamp and bench vice to hold it in I might have been able to force the spring bars into place, but the amount of stress they'd be under had me worried they'd just break apart.
Kryton, it might be worth getting a proper spring bar tool, thinner ends and easier to work into a tight space.
Is the strap steel or rubber? The rubber ones are a bitch, my goldsmith mate, who I got the stainless wire from, hates dealing with those if he's given a watch to do a battery change on, or a dial repair.