Wrist check 2021
Discussion
[quote=robbiekhan]Bike ride Sunday, mate got a Khaki Field Mechanical last week so was only natural to make it a HamBros bike ride.
Quick question about the Hamilton. I’ve got a 1973 Hamilton W10 British Army issue. It has fixed bars, but I can never feel truly comfortable with a NATO strap. Does your Hamilton have spring bars? If not, am I right in saying with that single piece Zulu you don’t get that extra fold back pass through that you get on a NATO?
Quick question about the Hamilton. I’ve got a 1973 Hamilton W10 British Army issue. It has fixed bars, but I can never feel truly comfortable with a NATO strap. Does your Hamilton have spring bars? If not, am I right in saying with that single piece Zulu you don’t get that extra fold back pass through that you get on a NATO?
Jinba Ittai]obbiekhan said:
Bike ride Sunday, mate got a Khaki Field Mechanical last week so was only natural to make it a HamBros bike ride.
Quick question about the Hamilton. I’ve got a 1973 Hamilton W10 British Army issue. It has fixed bars, but I can never feel truly comfortable with a NATO strap. Does your Hamilton have spring bars? If not, am I right in saying with that single piece Zulu you don’t get that extra fold back pass through that you get on a NATO?
Yeah the original W10 spec from the MoD stated that as part of the Def Stan requirements the lug bars had to be fixed so back then all the W10 spec watches from Hamilton, CWC etc had to comply with this. CWC still produce the same watch today just with a more modern movement. Their one still comes with fixed lug bars too. Hamilton on the other hand chose to go with normal spring bars so you can use a 2 piece or one piece or full on NATO.Quick question about the Hamilton. I’ve got a 1973 Hamilton W10 British Army issue. It has fixed bars, but I can never feel truly comfortable with a NATO strap. Does your Hamilton have spring bars? If not, am I right in saying with that single piece Zulu you don’t get that extra fold back pass through that you get on a NATO?
The one piece I have does not have the extra bit that folds over creating double the distance between watch and wrist like the normal NATOs do. The need for the extra piece is to keep the watch secure in the event a springbar fails, but since the one piece is rubber, the watch doesn't move unless you physically move it when held at one end of the strap so no need for the extra bulk and faff of the extra section.
Here's the strap in question: https://www.watchgecko.com/zuludiver-298-one-piece...
I have also ordered a genuine vintage Hamilton 18mm buckle to fit on this just to keep everything looking period correct.
However if you like the NATO strap itself just not the extra bit, you can very easily cut it off and use a soldering iron or flame to close off the cut end so it does not fray. You will essentially end up with a one piece NATO without that extra section. I've done this before with all my fabric NATO straps as I cannot stand the extra bit.
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robbiekhan said:
Yeah the original W10 spec from the MoD stated that as part of the Def Stan requirements the lug bars had to be fixed so back then all the W10 spec watches from Hamilton, CWC etc had to comply with this. CWC still produce the same watch today just with a more modern movement. Their one still comes with fixed lug bars too. Hamilton on the other hand chose to go with normal spring bars so you can use a 2 piece or one piece or full on NATO.
The one piece I have does not have the extra bit that folds over creating double the distance between watch and wrist like the normal NATOs do. The need for the extra piece is to keep the watch secure in the event a springbar fails, but since the one piece is rubber, the watch doesn't move unless you physically move it when held at one end of the strap so no need for the extra bulk and faff of the extra section.
Here's the strap in question: https://www.watchgecko.com/zuludiver-298-one-piece...
I have also ordered a genuine vintage Hamilton 18mm buckle to fit on this just to keep everything looking period correct.
However if you like the NATO strap itself just not the extra bit, you can very easily cut it off and use a soldering iron or flame to close off the cut end so it does not fray. You will essentially end up with a one piece NATO without that extra section. I've done this before with all my fabric NATO straps as I cannot stand the extra bit.
Thanks for that, that’s really helpful, think I’ll give one of these a try on my Hamilton. The one piece I have does not have the extra bit that folds over creating double the distance between watch and wrist like the normal NATOs do. The need for the extra piece is to keep the watch secure in the event a springbar fails, but since the one piece is rubber, the watch doesn't move unless you physically move it when held at one end of the strap so no need for the extra bulk and faff of the extra section.
Here's the strap in question: https://www.watchgecko.com/zuludiver-298-one-piece...
I have also ordered a genuine vintage Hamilton 18mm buckle to fit on this just to keep everything looking period correct.
However if you like the NATO strap itself just not the extra bit, you can very easily cut it off and use a soldering iron or flame to close off the cut end so it does not fray. You will essentially end up with a one piece NATO without that extra section. I've done this before with all my fabric NATO straps as I cannot stand the extra bit.
My Dad's 1960s Constellation, today. It was his 18th birthday present. It has had a hard life, but I do not want to get it restored. Like it as it is, battered. Had to replace the strap though as it broke.
Just 35mm so you can see how tiny my girly wrists are...
Just 35mm so you can see how tiny my girly wrists are...
Edited by Harry Flashman on Tuesday 5th January 12:45
Harry Flashman said:
That is lovely. Does it have a spring drive movement?
Thanks. It's a handwound mechanical (9S63), rather than a spring drive. This was one of the launch editions, but there are series production versions in the same case (SBGK references).The handwound spring drive from 2019 was the SBGY003. It was a slightly smaller case and has the white cocktail time dial. I mulled over which one to get, but the blue won pretty quickly. I keep looking at the SBGY though!
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