Hi guys,

I've searched for a definitive answer to this, but still can't find one.

Are there two different sizes or spring bar, depending on strap or bracelet, to suit the Seamaster 300?

I went to an Omega Boutique last week to get a Nato strap. They came back with my watch (Nato fitted), the original bracelet and two spring bars (I assumed the original ones from the bracelet) in a plastic bag.

I assumed that they just put new spring bars on, because I had asked about this beforehand, but didn't think much of it.

Fast forward until today and I went to swap NATO for the bracelet for a change, using the two spring bars in the bag. Could not for the life of me, get the spring bars in. Tried the bars by themselves (without the bracelet to get in the way) and I could JUST squeeze them in, but can't imagine it's possible on the bracelet.

I then noticed that the bars that were with the NATO were slightly shorter. (23.42mm uncompressed V 24.41mm). Put the shorter ones in the bracelet and fitted it no problem.

I did some searching and found this;

Hoping someone can clarify this once and for all, are there different sizes for bracelet or strap?

Thank you kindly.

 

That's pretty weird. They should've used the curved spring bars for your NATO in the first place.

 

I asked if the NATO came with the curved bars, to quote the boutique, "The strap order does includes 2 spring bars, but it is a standard 21mm spring bars not curved ones for other NATO(thicker material)straps"

 

rob09,
I’ve been switching back and forth between strap and bracelet on my MC 300 for years without issues. Just the straight spring bars that came with the bracelet. I replaced the spring bars this year, just out of habit. I do many sports and activities with the watch and periodically replace most critical bits of all my gear including things like springbars, batteries, and O-rings (obv batteries not needed for my watch). They were provided by my local boutique, identical to the originals and straight. They install and work fine for both strap and bracelet. If you have fitment issues it must be because of improperly sized spring bars.

As an aside, pick a cool avatar before a crappy squirrelly one gets picked for you

 

Thank you, I'm now thinking they installed the NATO on the original spring bars and provided a set of replacement ones that were wrong, but could be forced to fit.

Just going to keep using the ones the boutique supplied with the NATO, have to assume they know what they're doing.

Thanks for your advice.

 

Yes, straps typically use longer bars. No idea what specific watch "Semaster 300" refers to, as it could be several, so if you provide the reference number of the watch I'll check the part number you need for the spring bars.

Cheers, Al

 

Thank you Al, ref is 233.30.41.21.01.001, but i'm not sure how I could get a part number off the bars.

The bars that were on the strap are actually the shorter of the two.

 

That is on a steel bracelet, 21 mm lug width, so the spring bar for the bracelet is 068ST2208 - note that this is actually the bar used for straps on watches with 20 mm lugs.

I see a regular leather strap listed for that case, but they don't show the spring bar, however I'm confident it would use the slightly longer 068ST2209 for the leather straps.

Cheers, Al

 

Interesting, that would explain the bracelet having the longer bars and my new strap having the shorter. I'll have to try and swap over to the longer ones on the bracelet.

Thank you for looking into that, wealth of information.

 

Strictly speaking, you can use the shorter bars for the strap. Omega uses the longer bars because they are more secure.

Tom

 

Yes.

 

Hello guys. I want to put back my Seamaster 300 bracelet and the service center is saying that the part number is 068ST2209, not the 08. They’re also charging $10 each! What a crime.

 

I called an Omega authorized dealer who, after I relayed this information, told me I was wrong and that their information says that for a 21mm lug width using a strap, the correct bar would be the 2208. Your post was a number of years ago, but has this information changed? Thanks. They also wanted $25 for a set of two, so I’d like to get this right if possible.

 

That seems a little expensive, springbars at my AD cost € 4 a piece.

 

I could be very diplomatic about this, but given what they want to charge you I'll just say this - not only are they very mistaken, they are trying to gouge you big time...

Ask them to look up ref. 23392412103001 - this is a 21 mm lug width, and uses a strap. They can see for themselves that the spring bar listed for that is 068ST2209 | SPRING-BAR Ø1.80 - two should be less than $10, BTW...

 

Appreciate it. Thanks.

 

A follow-up, if I may: if a 2208 can be used with a 21mm lug-width bracelet, it’s obviously long enough to keep that secure. But is the 2209 indicated for the strap on a 21mm lug because there are more/different stresses on leather while wearing compared to the bracelet, thus requiring a longer bar? Or, on the flip-side, is it because a longer bar would actually be better on the bracelet, but tougher to put on/remove due to the inflexibility of the end-link?

 

One thing about using the Omega Extranet - it's not exactly intuitive a lot of the time. For example, to find the information I gave you I did the following:

1 - I first looked up the reference number listed in this thread.
2 - I then pulled up the case for that reference.
3 - Using the case reference, I searched on straps that are used on that case.
4 - When I found a strap that was used on that case, I did a search on that strap to find the watch reference I listed in my last reply.
5 - When I look at the bill of material for that watch reference, that is the step that shows me the spring bar.

So much for Swiss efficiency...it would be great if the strap page simply listed the spring bar that goes with it, but it doesn't - that would make far too much sense.

These are the kind of convoluted searches I do to find information there because often there's just no other way to get to the information directly. Because I use it virtually every day I'm working to either order something, find a part number, or look up an answer from the various forums I'm on or the emails I get, this only takes me a minute to do. But to some sales person working at an AD who may look for parts maybe once every couple of weeks, they aren't going to take the time to go through all these steps on the phone, if they even know how to do them.

So what they likely did was look at the reference you gave them, and when that gets pulled up (showing it on a bracelet) they just looked at the bill of material that was in front of them, and gave you the bracelet spring bar number - wrong for what you were after.

This is why when people ask me to look something up, the more information they give me the better...

 

If you use a 2209 on a bracelet, it will work, but you will be hard pressed to get it off...

 

That I can totally see. But if a 2208 secures a bracelet on the 21mm, why is a longer bar needed for the strap?