I have the 38mm blue one (love it) on rubber and have been holding off on the stock bracelet because it’s a bit bulky at the clasp and doesn’t taper. However, the new generation AQT bracelet that kind of resembles the Rolex presidential bracelets looks great and looks comfortable. Have any of you guys been down this road?
Looks like you may have to be the pioneer here. In my experience with similar attempts, the answer is almost always no. Even if the lug width is the same, the springbar holes won’t align or the case shape will be just different enough that it won’t work. But who knows?
An update on this: I went to my local boutique (king of prussia) They had moved from their prime location, big showroom space on the first floor to a smaller unit in the second floor just for a couple months (water leak? Who knows) Anyway they are having an issue with the new Aqua Terra’s bracelet which is holding the whole watch up from retail sale, they’re not even available in store until March. I wasn’t able to handle one or even breach the conversation on if this swap is possible. The salesman told me the terracotta model is especially hot.
I wonder what the issue is, specifically. If it's clasp-related (but perhaps it isn't) it fits neatly into my (perhaps petty) grievance-narrative about Omega bracelets. Omega is my favorite watch brand as it has been for years, but their spring-operated bracelet deployant claps--especially the dive ones---have a high failure rate, and I don't understand why they haven't completely rethought them. (As I documented here many months ago, I had two SMP300c clasps fail on me; on my new Aqua Terra the spring-play is already giving me a little worry but it hasn't failed yet. Going beak-and-latch style, like Rolex, or doing something more minimally butterfly-like, such as what PP does with Aquanaut: there are so many options wouldn't rely on these tiny springs that have a tendency to get bound up or otherwise fail.
An update on this, I was able to check out the new aqua terra collection in person. The compatibility is still up in the air - they said it might work but since they only have a few watches in stock they don't want to use the store models to experiment. I could order a bracelet for ~$1,100 USD and they could experiment to see if it fits. My main qualm with the standard bracelet for the teak dial 38mm aqua terra (pictured above) is that the clasp is flat and does not contour to the wrist. Unfortunately, the new sunburst dial AQT's have the SAME CLASP down below. THEY HAVE THE SAME BONES!!! Also I felt that the new bracelet was a bit clunky. It resembles the Rolex president bracelet (which is amazing), but the execution isn't nearly as good. Apples and oranges. Some of the little folds sometimes get caught up on each other and you need to 'un-kink' them, and the bracelet just didn't impress me, it doesn't feel fitting to a watch of this price point and in fact feels like a step back from the bracelet on the standard aqua terra collection. The nail in the coffin for me is that they re-used the butterfly clasp that doesn't contour.
In case you are visual, here is what I mean by the flat clasp. Underneath the new aqua terra bracelet is this same flat mechanism which does not sit well on small wrists: