Zenith

Bodo
33

• Show profile
• Show other posts

New sailcloth strap for the El Primero Defy

About a year ago, I purchased an El Primero Defy, for the original post click here:
zenith.watchprosite.com

During this past year, I wore the watch quite regularly, and it is a real pleasure on the wrist. The only thing I was not quit happy with was the watch strap. So a week ago I decided to get a new strap for the watch, and quickly got the idea to try a sailcloth-type strap. I have a sailcloth strap on my Blancpain FF which I like a lot.
After shopping around a bit, I decided to go for a Hadley-Roma strap made from sailcloth with a backing made of Lorica (some type of synthetic leather). The strap came in the right size (18mm lug width, 16mm buckle width), so I could even keep the original Zenith buckle, which is quite nice.
Now the watch case of the Defy has a very special shape, with rather thick lugs, and the original rubber/plastic strap was shaped to match the case/lug shape without a gap, in the style of an integrated metal bracelet. So I had some concerns that a regularly shaped strap might not look good on the watch. But the new strap turned out to be sufficiently thick to work well with the thick lugs, and the gap between the strap and the watch case is also not too big. I actually like the non-integrated look much better, since it looks more classic to me.
The textured surface of the sailcloth gives the strap a very sporty look which works great with the watch, and the material of the strap is also very comfortable. I can't say anything about the durability yet, but I have no reason to assume that it could be inferior to leather or rubber in any substantial way. Also, the strap was quite cheap compared to a quality leather strap, so I don't really care how quickly it wears out.
Up to now, most of my watches have either a leather or rubber strap, but the sailcloth is a great alternative, and I'd really recommend considering this material to anyone looking for a sporty watch strap.

Below are a few pics of the watch with the new strap.

Regards,
Bodo