US tropic on Submariner

So I recently picked up a 14060 from a fellow member. All of my Rolex’s have their bracelets, but like many I like to play with options from time to time.
One strap I was exited to try was the Uncle Seiko Tropic, but like most straps that are thick and flat at the top, I discovered that the lug hole to case distance proved to be an issue - something I hadn’t even thought about when I got the sub- that’s a tight gap.
(Yes, that’s a 19mm in the below pic for illustration- I had already modded my 20 when it occurred to me to post this)

I couldn’t even seat the spring bars because it couldn’t clear the case.


I have several vintage curved tropics but none in 20mm, so I thought that sacrificing a 20mm US to this experiment was a worthy endeavor.
I used a Dremel with a sanding wheel and started to gently grind away at the center and move back and forth to create the curve.


I eyeballed it and when I felt like it was close to the correct shape, I finished it with a little sand paper to smooth out my choppiness (not the steadiest of hands).


Now I have the gap I need between the case and top of the strap for it to move freely.


And on the wrist


In hindsight I may have worked to be a little more fluid with my grinding and angled downward the top to maintain more of the pattern on top. I was trying to create an even up/down curve so the strap wouldn’t hang up on the case- but realize after the fact that the strap doesn’t need to flex that way, so couldn’t have kept more of the top pattern.

Regardless, I think it’s promising as an option for these hard-to-fit lugs and my next attempt would probably be a little cleaner looking.

FWIW, I've had to do that with some modern rubber straps also.

You can finish it off with a finer wheel to get a more attractive end result. It's easier if you have a bench mount for the Dremel.

On the wrist you can’t really see the unfinished edge as you can in the photo, but I was thinking that perhaps heat treating it (like with a soldering iron) could smooth out that visible top edge

That’s a good thought- I think I do have finer wheels- but not bench mount- but I could just put it in a vice.

Dang, that looks good! Nice little work around as well

Looks very nice in general let alone the strap, but strap looks great.

Looks good 👍 and for the minor imperfections that remain, don’t worry - no one flying at 33K feet will notice them anyway 😁

Heat gun over a soldering iron.

So I went back over it with a finer grit wheel and it did smooth it out

buuuuut, I went too far, and you can see the spring bar peeking through when it flexes on the top end of the strap 🤦
It’s not noticeable on the wrist but I know it’s there...so will be ordering another 20mm strap and doing it again a little less aggressively.

Agree on the 20/16 taper- that would be nice, but strait ends won’t work on the sub case- it rubs the case, so it has to be curved. Originals in 20mm are prohibitely expensive.

It works...sports Rolex are not strap friendly, so well done!

Dude, congrats on that sweet watch! Strap looks good

I noticed using a B&R strap on my OPD that I got that rub mark at the center but didn’t give it much thought. I wore a custom made shell cordovan on my GMT and it never rubbed but in hindsight that is only 1mm thick at the top over the spring bar.
I always thought the use of curved spring bars and contoured rubber straps like the Everest were for vanity or the OCD, but now I get it- there really is no clearance.

On the older sub/gmt cases there is plenty of clearance... I don’t know what made Rolex decide to change this for the modern design. There really is no clearance.