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JwRosenthal
·I have stayed out of this thread becuase I am simultaneously offended and aroused…I will go to bed now and unpack that
A pretentious, snobby, old fashioned guide to choosing a strap
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RevZMan123
·I have stayed out of this thread becuase I am simultaneously offended and aroused…I will go to bed now and unpack that
I can't wait for our DMs later
Oh, wait, wrong thread
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akshayluc420
·Let's have at it! Protrek on their new eco-friendly khaki-green rubber, Citizen in the stock burgundy strap, Solas on their stock Salmon skin leather strap, and black croc-grain calf leather on the Union Glashutte
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Nupero
·
This thread is both distressing and confusing. Apparently I don't even know what a dress watch is! Fat lug Seamaster in SS... If that is a dress watch, what references were Omega's everyday watches during the 50s? Or is an everyday watch a modern concept?
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rspace
·No mention of nato?
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TexOmega
·Super-dark burgundy shell cordovan.
Vintage, if you can find it.
Scott's got a few....
https://www.ebay.com/itm/234838464287
Yes, vintage Shell Cordovan are high quality
Mine in Chocolate by GEMEX
This website may earn commission from Ebay sales.
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Walrus
·I can’t go back and find it but it was mentioned the cross stitches are the Watch equivalent of wife beaters. I picked up a few because they are handmade in California and I like the communication from the company. I put a couple on some vintage seikos and I gotta admit they just don’t seem right to me. Granted a vintage KS isn’t a watch of great value i just like the look but I feel I’m insulting it with the stitches. I will remedy it this year after I break into the new year getting my first watch in a while, something moderate to start off, my game has slipped a bit the latter half of 22 due to being overwhelmed with some things.
But yeah here is, in my eyes, a nice watch I always liked but I think the band does it a disservice. I think I liked it for a month. I have to admit it’s not my only one.
I
But yeah here is, in my eyes, a nice watch I always liked but I think the band does it a disservice. I think I liked it for a month. I have to admit it’s not my only one.
I
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SOG53
·I can’t go back and find it but it was mentioned the cross stitches are the Watch equivalent of wife beaters. I picked up a few because they are handmade in California and I like the communication from the company. I put a couple on some vintage seikos and I gotta admit they just don’t seem right to me. Granted a vintage KS isn’t a watch of great value i just like the look but I feel I’m insulting it with the stitches. I will remedy it this year after I break into the new year getting my first watch in a while, something moderate to start off, my game has slipped a bit the latter half of 22 due to being overwhelmed with some things.
But yeah here is, in my eyes, a nice watch I always liked but I think the band does it a disservice. I think I liked it for a month. I have to admit it’s not my only one.
I
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DirtyDozen12
··Thanks, mystery donor!Granted a vintage KS isn’t a watch of great value i just like the look but I feel I’m insulting it with the stitches.
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bradurani
·Happy new year, and grateful thanks @bradurani for your teaching - both the wit and the authority. I think I've grasped most of it, but I'm still dragging my knuckles a little over a couple of things...
1) When does acceptable brown cross that line into (unacceptable) red?
2) Likewise, when is brown not brown but orrrnge?
3) Dress watches - surely midnight blue is, sort-of, well, OK?
Thank you again for the PSA about the vile two-chunky-stitches thing (We'll never know why they happened, but hey, so long as they get rid). However... there has to be just a leetle leeway for discreet contrast stitching? With a two-tone dial? Please?
(Btw even if I don't make the standard GPA requirement for OF, I actually identified as smart on my application, so they said I get a free pass.)
Grade: B+
Your first strap is definitely red, but I'll concede that there is occasionally a place for red if you're deliberate about it and can pull off the difficult task of matching it with your outfit. Here, the white dial of your Longines serves as a sort of blank canvas on which it's ok to add some color. If the markers and hands were steel, blue would be the color of choice. Because your markers are gold, you can embrace warm colors and use a red strap.
The strap on your Helvetia is too orange, hence you don't earn an A.
As I alluded to, blue lizard or crocodile can be used to good affect on a white dialed, white metal watch - think Cartier Tank, or a vintage Grand Seiko. The mostly white hue of these watches affords you some room for creative color pairing. Do keep the cut and stitching of these straps traditional and dressy, please.
Your Memovox is one of the those 70s watches that's too funky to be a dress watch, and too dressy to be a sports watch. I like what you've done there. That's a good color match.
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bradurani
·I appreciate what you’re trying to do here — who doesn’t go into shock every time they see someone wearing brown shoes with a business suit, after all — but I can’t help feeling you’re being a little too proscriptive.
I feel sorry for those style-challenged Italian navy divers who committed the awful faux pas of wearing their Panerais on leather straps, for example, and you’re not giving any room to shell cordovan?
forgive me my sins — I don’t particularly like metal straps, and I’m not trying to convince anyone that I dive with a 65-year-old watch on….
Grade: D
That Heuer Bundeswehr is magnificent! I'll concede that my initial proscriptions on military watch straps don't cover all cases. History matters here. There's much literature on the forum around what straps were issued on what watches by what countries. Listen to the posters who have done their homework, and follow suit. I don't know what was issued to German pilots in the 60s, by a NATO wouldn't surprise me. Unfortunately for you, tan is only ok where one might expect to be fighting in the desert, and I can't find any mention of Germany being engaged in a desert conflict during that age. Black would have been the more sober choice.
That Rolex big crown is very special too. Here again, some research is necessary. I don't know exactly when the rubber dive strap was introduced, but I'm guessing it was after the vintage of this watch. Maybe a vintage cloth dive strap is the way to go here? I know the leather you have it on is wrong.
That GMT looks terrible. Sorry. The Omega Seamaster (also a gorgeous watch) looks good on that strap, but is it nylon, or cotton? Nylon would be more appropriate. The Speedmasters are all wrong.
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bradurani
·Let's have at it! Protrek on their new eco-friendly khaki-green rubber, Citizen in the stock burgundy strap, Solas on their stock Salmon skin leather strap, and black croc-grain calf leather on the Union Glashutte
Grade: A
Stock straps aren't always correct necessarily, but they're almost always successful at capturing some specific, reasonably attractive aesthetic.
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bradurani
·Please also touch on your opinions:
- Taper vs non-taper on straps and bracelets
- Lug fit that is too tight or too loose. Is it ever acceptable? Stuffing a 19mm in an 18mm hole for instance.
- Accepted buckle styles?
- Deployants on leather straps?
- Stainless mesh with flat ends on a curved watch (the latest Bond Omega for example)
Excellent questions!
- Straps should almost always be tapered. At least that's true for anything made from any animal leather. Some professional dive straps can be straight cut to offer a non-nonsense masculine look. Done incorrectly, a straight cut strap can take too much of the visual weight of the watch and detract from it.
- There are plenty of Etsy sellers who will make you a strap that exactly fits your watch, so there's no excuse for getting it wrong.
- Deployants on leather are a dishonest ploy by watch makers to up-charge you for add-ons. They're clunky and uncomfortable.
- A full breakdown of bracelets is subject for another post, but I'll say I do not like the flat ends on the NTTD. It should have proper end links.
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bradurani
·@bradurani - saepe in errore versans, numquam animi pendens
Semper Ubi Sub Ubi
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bradurani
·I can’t go back and find it but it was mentioned the cross stitches are the Watch equivalent of wife beaters. I picked up a few because they are handmade in California and I like the communication from the company. I put a couple on some vintage seikos and I gotta admit they just don’t seem right to me. Granted a vintage KS isn’t a watch of great value i just like the look but I feel I’m insulting it with the stitches. I will remedy it this year after I break into the new year getting my first watch in a while, something moderate to start off, my game has slipped a bit the latter half of 22 due to being overwhelmed with some things.
But yeah here is, in my eyes, a nice watch I always liked but I think the band does it a disservice. I think I liked it for a month. I have to admit it’s not my only one.
I
Thank you! Don't feel bad, we learn through our mistakes. The valuable lesson you've shared here is an asset to the community and will serve to prevent others from making the same error.
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bradurani
·Agree I dressed my KS up a bit with nice straps from Torre
Grade: B
If you start with the premise that a King Seiko is a dress watch, then you haven't dressed them up, but rather dressed them down. That being said, a King Seiko is kind of an in-betweener so I'll begrudgingly allow for calf leather here. Just don't wear them with a formal outfit.
