Omega OEM NATO straps - different materials?!

I feeling a little bit unsure right now and need your help guys.

I bought a 1816 Speedmaster Pro Moonwatch last month, the Big Box edition. Last week I had enough courage to remove the steel bracelet myself (never done something like that before) and switched to the included black NATO strap. Loved the look and immediately ordered another one from Omega - the black one with the white stripe in the middle. Got it two days ago.

The one thing I noticed was that the new strap seems more stiff. It doesn’t bend that easily I think especially when you tuck the last bit back in or where the straps folds over the spring bars.
Am I hallucinating this? Are the straps made different? What’s your experience?


PS: another thing I’m confused about is that the official Omega NATO strap install video shows curved spring bars. I got a normal pair of spring bars with my strap. Do I need curved spring bars? I used the ones from my steel bracelet - is that ok or does using straight spring bars damage the strap or something?

In your big box there should have been some spare spring bars. The spring bars for the bracelet are shorter by 1mm than the ones used for the strap. If you reused the bracelet spring bars for the strap you run the risk of having a bar come undone. I don't know what the real world likelihood of it occurring is, but Omega provides the different bars for a reason, so I suggest making sure the correct bars were used.

As for the material, I don't know the reason for the difference.

It’s probably going to loosen up with some wear. Sign of good nylon in my book