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Thread: French style Nato’s

  1. #51
    No duty on the two I brought

  2. #52
    Craftsman
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    The watchgecko version is now in the sale if anyone wants to try one for £6.

    https://www.watchgecko.com/french-st...p-by-zuludiver

  3. #53
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
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    If only they had 18mm...


    Zergatik ez
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  4. #54
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ey-Up View Post
    The watchgecko version is now in the sale if anyone wants to try one for £6.

    https://www.watchgecko.com/french-st...p-by-zuludiver
    Awesome thank you ! Ordered a blue one for this Hamilton Khaki Mech White, should be absolutely pimps !




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  5. #55
    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    If only they had 18mm...


    Zergatik ez
    Slightly different construction, but 18mm available from here.

    https://www.cheapestnatostraps.com/c...trooper-straps

  6. #56
    Master
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ey-Up View Post
    The watchgecko version is now in the sale if anyone wants to try one for £6.

    https://www.watchgecko.com/french-st...p-by-zuludiver
    £6! Hard to say no to that!

  7. #57
    Master Tenko's Avatar
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    At £6, I’ve ordered a couple to try as was eyeing an Erika’s recently.

    Thanks for the heads up.

  8. #58
    Master
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    Ordered one of these from the Watchgecko sale - they didn't have left of one of the colours I wanted. Black with red stripe arrived today and put it on the PRS 18Q COSC this evening - early days but looks really good and feels good too. Actually goes really well with the PRS18 - even my son commented on the new strap (he probably wants something).

    Very good for £6 in the sale.

    Waiting for the two from AliExpress to arrive to compare.

  9. #59
    Master PhilipK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bambam View Post
    Waiting for the two from AliExpress to arrive to compare.
    They are absolutely identical, apart from the lack of a brand name on the "hook" on the AliExpress ones.

  10. #60
    Grand Master Onelasttime's Avatar
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    I ordered a couple of Watchgecko in the sale and now they’ve arrived I realise that you have to remove the spring bars and fit them back over the strap. Or am I being stupid?

    I bought one for my CWC diver but that won’t work with fixed bars.

  11. #61
    Grand Master Dave E's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Onelasttime View Post
    I ordered a couple of Watchgecko in the sale and now they’ve arrived I realise that you have to remove the spring bars and fit them back over the strap. Or am I being stupid?

    I bought one for my CWC diver but that won’t work with fixed bars.
    Yep, you've got to remove the spring bars, don't work with fixed bars.
    Dave E

    Skating away on the thin ice of a new day

  12. #62
    Master Tenko's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dave E View Post
    Yep, you've got to remove the spring bars, don't work with fixed bars.
    I too realised this today when my WG order arrived. I purchased two one with my CWC in mind!

    Quality wise, they are fine at the price paid. Very comfortable and a bit tidier on the wrist than a nato.

    Happy with mine.

  13. #63
    Bought three from WO and am a big fan of them. Very comfortable even if a little fiddly to fit and secure

  14. #64
    My couple arrived today, strapped one to my Vostok 24Hr, I think the red stripe matches the seconds hand and splash of red on the dial quite nicely. Pretty easy to fit and an absolute bargain at £6.


  15. #65
    Master WarrenVrs's Avatar
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    I'm going to have a play around with them. The material seems slightly to thin for the slider, so when on wrist it gradually loosens throughout the day.

  16. #66
    Just fitted one of the Watchgecko £6 bargain efforts to my recently acquired Arnie - first impressions are good, but a bit scratchy, adjusted the clip with pliers as it stood too ‘proud’ - although if it did come undone it’s way to small to fall off my hand!IMG_6162.jpgIMG_6163.jpg


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  17. #67
    Apologies for the tiny pics - tapatalk for some reason uploads the pics at low resolution, no idea why?


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  18. #68
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    I got three of the £6 jobs from WG. They are comfortable and - for me at least - nicer to wear than a regular NATO.






  19. #69
    Master
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    Black and red watchgecko looks pretty handsome on the BB58, if I say so myself.



    Incidentally, I know that these are basically a rip-off of the Erika's straps, and that I should feel bad about that. I have a couple of Erika's straps and they're nice, although not substantially nicer than the watchgecko ones.

    However, since she just hiked her prices by 50% I really can't justify the price any more. Apparently her straps now use a new improved fabric, but that doesn't justify the hike imo. Also, part of the appeal was that they were supposedly made from genuine parachute elastic, which clearly they no longer are.
    Last edited by MadeOfCheese; 21st November 2019 at 11:33.

  20. #70

    French style Nato’s

    The watchgecko ones I have are fine, but frankly in the real (non watch) world even at £6 that’s a lot of money for knicker elastic and thin stamped metal trim!


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  21. #71
    Master PhilipK's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by RobDad View Post
    The watchgecko ones I have are fine, but frankly in the real (non watch) world even at £6 that’s a lot of money for knicker elastic and thin stamped metal trim!
    True, but we've seen a huge reduction in retail price - from the £50 that Erika's Originals used to charge, to the £18 that WatchGecko charged pre-sale, to £7 on AliExpress, to £6 in the WatchGecko sale, to £5.15 for the last ones I got from AliExpress.

    Obviously EO are trying to make the most of being the "original" and have hiked their prices to £75 to try to exploit that branding while they can, but prices can only come down overall. As you say, it's just a bit of elastic and some stamped metal, so I'm guessing that the cost of manufacturing in volume must be well below £1.

    (Interestingly, while I hate NATOs with a vengeance, I really like these and find them very comfortable to wear. I think being made of elastic means that they can expand and contract slightly as your wrist expands and contracts through the day.)

  22. #72
    Just bought 2 from watchgecko.. It's hard to resist!

  23. #73
    Grand Master Onelasttime's Avatar
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    Finally tried them out last night and I wasn't convinced at first, but after wearing it today – it's sooo comfortable.







  24. #74
    Master
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    So been wearing the WatchGecko one for a few days now and have to say that it is really comfortable and very unnoticeable - can hardly feel the watch most of the time. Was on an EO one before and felt like I had to adjust the watch quite often - maybe the same will happen with this one over time.
    Either way, very pleased.

    Now if only I'd managed to get a green one with a yellow stripe in the sale. If anyone has bought one in the sale that they don't want then let me know - only looking for the green with yellow strip in 20mm.

    Cheers

  25. #75
    Master Gullers's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Onelasttime View Post
    I ordered a couple of Watchgecko in the sale and now they’ve arrived I realise that you have to remove the spring bars and fit them back over the strap. Or am I being stupid?

    I bought one for my CWC diver but that won’t work with fixed bars.
    Yep I did this too!

  26. #76
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    I picked up some of the WG straps - definitely comparable quality to EOs but the WG straps seem to run slightly longer than my EO - I guess that’s the benefit of having the EO strap ‘made to measure’. Has anyone else found the same?


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  27. #77
    Master
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    Had a couple of the WG straps arrive the other day. At £6 you can't go wrong. Elastic a bit "softer" than the EO straps, and the "one size fits all" is a bit of pain for my clasp OCD. Worn all day yesterday - very comfortable and no problems with support - stayed firm on wrist all day (with a 20,000 step count on site to boot!) Got the grey/red (pictured) and a blue/red to highlight the SMP's splash of red on the dial.
    Have a black/white with black hardware, for the Night Mission, slowly winging its way from AliExpress, so will be interested to see the difference.


  28. #78
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    put my old Avia on a grey WG,not sure if i like the combo yet..

  29. #79
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    Received my watch gecko one last week, after paying £18 for it naturally 🙄 And also received a couple from aliexpress yesterday. Ordered them about 12 days ago, so the shipping was actually super quick, considering it was free.

    They’re pretty comparable in quality, though the elastic on the aliexpress version seems kinda tougher, and not quite as stretchy. Both really solid options for the price though!

  30. #80
    Master daveyw's Avatar
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    Good thread and heads up on sale. I’ve ordered a couple as £6.00 is a bargain.

  31. #81
    Craftsman boris9's Avatar
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    Ordered 3 from WG last week. Having finally opened them up they are much softer than the EO version and incredibly comfortable.
    The fact that the length isn’t customised isn’t ideal, but for the price it is impossible to grumble and especially when they will be rotated frequently.
    Black, black/red and also stone/red ordered for use with my Ranger. All work really well for a no frills combination.


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  32. #82
    Just arrived from WG - very happy with it!


  33. #83
    Snap!




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  34. #84
    Craftsman boris9's Avatar
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  35. #85
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    Thanks for all the info on this one gents, had my WatchGecko one for a week or so now, like it a lot, very comfortable and looks too.




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    Last edited by benwisback; 1st December 2019 at 19:56.

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