Would you bother making this spring bar change?

So, I recently picked up this Heritage Seamaster 300 new and wanted to make a strap change.



I found a nice black strap to try, and I noticed when I took the old strap off, that the spring bar tips were barely sticking out of the ends. I went to my parts bin and pulled out a pair of OEM 2207, and 2208, and the spring bars in the strap matched the 2208.

My understanding is that for a 21mm strap, Omega would specify 2209; 2208 would be suitable for a 21mm bracelet.

Thus the question: since the 2208 is obviously acceptable from a length perspective for the 21mm lugs, if using a strap, would you just leave those, or source a pair of 2209’s? Thanks.

I would source 2209's.

Since this subject has come up a lot lately, maybe I can explain it using a photo that will help. I'm sure this has been covered before, but here's a photo that illustrates how these spring bars work and relate to each other:



In this case I'm comparing 2207, 2208, and a generic 20 mm spring bar. As you can see the 2208 is the same length as the 20 mm generic bar. The 2207 is actually shorter than the 20 mm bar, but would be what Omega uses for a 20 mm lug width when using a bracelet. The 2208 would only be used on a 20 mm lug width with a strap.

2207's are actually "short" but due to the way the bracelet end links fit, they are secure with a bracelet and won't easily come out of the lug holes. If you were to use these on a regular 20 mm strap, there is an increased chance that they will come out of the lug holes. Why? Because the strap can flex in a way that the bracelet cannot, and this can lead to the strap sort of "gripping" and pulling the spring bar slightly if the strap was twisted for example, and this can cause the spring bar to pop out.

Again using 2208's in a 20 mm bracelet will make it very difficult to get the bars out.

So for 21 mm, everything moves up by 1 number, so 2208's are for bracelet, and 2209's are for straps. For a 22 mm lug, we move up again, so 2209's are for bracelets, and 2210's for straps.

So as I mentioned in your last thread on this, the 2208's are actually "short" for the 21 mm lug width, and the 2209's would be right for a strap.

Hope this helps.

Cheers, Al

Thanks. This covers exactly what I was after.

Sorry to be slow: do you mean you wouldn’t bother making the change from the 2208 to the 2209 on the 21mm Seamaster 300 noted above, or on a different, less expensive watch with the same lug dimensions?

He's jokingly reiterating the comments from the Kevin O'Leary thread.

Thanks.