Cheap watch, cheap strap - suggestions wanted!

[mikeyr]

I have a (very) cheap watch by the standards of PH. But I like it and it has some sentimental value to me. But the original green fabric strap has disintegrated so I'd like to swap it over for a new one. Believe it is a 20mm strap so should be plenty of choice, what colours/styles would you peeps suggest? This is the only picture I could find of one on the web, do I go for a similar khaki strap? A different colour? One of those nato strap thingys? Guess only wanna spend up to £20 max. Any suggestions from the PH hive mind?

https://www.tictocwatches.co.uk/mens-c1/strap-watc...

[Landlubber]

These.

https://www.natostrap.uk/?gad_source=1&gad_cam...

[Cupid-stunt]

Nato straps work and you don't have to spend a fortune.

Have a look on ETSY, there are numerous 20mm straps there.
I got a lovely leather one for a bit more than you want to spend, but could have easily spent less.

[DonkeyApple]

This is one of my favourite watches and is with little doubt, the crappiest watch in the Northern Hemisphere. It was deliberately selected by my Grandfather from the workshop junk bin, the dial drawn on, the second hand removed and the glass scored in multiple places. Its purpose was in being lent to the worst customers who demanded a loan watch while theirs was in for repair and my grandfather didn't trust as far as he could have thrown them.

It has been worn by some of the worst people to have lived in London during the latter half of the 20th century, amusingly, one of them the head of the GLC.

It works well with a £10 nato strap from Amazon. A fitting purchase venue given that Bezos would have certainly been eligible to borrow it.

[popegregory]

I’ve got a similar looking and similar price point field watch style thing and was looking at light brown suede straps to put on after seeing something similar jump up at me on eBay. Should add that mine has a light cream-coloured dial though so probably makes more sense.

Second the nato idea. I’ve also got one out the Huddersfield Town merch store that was bought for me for my birthday and it looks really nice on a navy and grey stripe.

[redrabbit]

DonkeyApple said:

This is one of my favourite watches and is with little doubt, the crappiest watch in the Northern Hemisphere. It was deliberately selected by my Grandfather from the workshop junk bin, the dial drawn on, the second hand removed and the glass scored in multiple places. Its purpose was in being lent to the worst customers who demanded a loan watch while theirs was in for repair and my grandfather didn't trust as far as he could have thrown them.

It has been worn by some of the worst people to have lived in London during the latter half of the 20th century, amusingly, one of them the head of the GLC.

It works well with a £10 nato strap from Amazon. A fitting purchase venue given that Bezos would have certainly been eligible to borrow it.

That is epic. What do the etchings on the crystal say?

[redrabbit]

Landlubber said:

These.

https://www.natostrap.uk/?gad_source=1&gad_cam...

Those look good.

I've had some decent stuff from these guys -

https://www.ukwatchstrap.co.uk/Fluco-watch-strap.h...

OP, what watch are you re-strapping?

Edited by redrabbit on Wednesday 9th September 22:26

[DonkeyApple]

redrabbit said:

That is epic. What do the etchings on the crystal say?

On the glass are just 5 scratched crosses like a dice. The dial has 'loan watch' across the centre and the shop name and address above etched with a scribe.

[mikeyr]

redrabbit said:

Those look good. I've had some decent stuff from these guys - https://www.ukwatchstrap.co.uk/Fluco-watch-strap.h...OP, what watch are you re-strapping?

Edited by redrabbit on Wednesday 9th September 22:26

Popped link in the original post, as you can see originally had a green strap. It's a gunmetal silver, black dial with slightly luminescent numbers

[LordGrover]

Bark & Jack NATOs - availability can be a bit sketchy, but they're okay.

[mikeyr]

Thanks all, think I'll give this whole NATO strap thing a go. Prob stick with the green as matches the watch in general (although do love the Gulf Martini colours!).

[Snubs]

I buy all my straps from Watch Gecko as they're local to me, have a huge range and deliver great service. If you're looking for inspiration there are 74 green straps listed from least to most expensive here: https://www.watchgecko.com/collections/all-watch-s...

It's worth noting with Nato straps that they make watches feel very different to wear due to the strap going between your wrist and the case and they're bulky around the wrist due to multiple layers of material. You might love it, you might not. So if you're looking to keep costs down I'd be thinking something where you're unlikely to regret it like this: https://www.watchgecko.com/products/284-italian-ru...

[LordGrover]

Looks like that’s only 22mm lug width though.

[mikeyr]

Have a watch strap on the way, will report back. Happy for it to be a little bulkier.

[WayOutWest]

Something similar, which funnily enough was a "re-issue" of a Pulsar issued to the RAF or something. This one is a 42mm though, with 22mm lug width.
The supplied strap was not very nice to wear so swapped to this premium Bond NATO but it's actually a bit too thick (1.4mm?) so I'm going to swap again to a plain grey NATO that is less like folding thick cardboard when tucking the end back into the keeper.

[Don1]

I still have two working watches still on Animal straps from the 1990’s. One Casio, one Timex Ironman (that has even served in Mogadishu). Cheap watch and strap.

[Bob_Defly]

Fun fact, Animal is now Elliot Brown.

https://elliotbrownwatches.com/

[mikeyr]

WayOutWest said:

Something similar, which funnily enough was a "re-issue" of a Pulsar issued to the RAF or something. This one is a 42mm though, with 22mm lug width.

That looks really nice. I went for a khaki one in the end which seems good quality. Got it from Nato Watch Straps UK.

[mikeyr]

Should point out that's some beige trousers and not a set of weirdly hairless legs in the background