Reply With QuoteLooks good that! Might have to give it a go on the new red full metal I've just received if I can find a suitable coloured strap.
Had a bit of fun with this today after my adapters arrived in the post this morning, so thought I'd share it for anyone else that may be interested! This was very simple to do and anyone with a knife, spring bar tool and a ruler can do it.
The Problem
I've never found the included resin straps that come with G-Shocks particularly comfortable. They're too long for me, the keeper thing moves and I'm not a fan of the aesthetic either. I do quite like the combi-bracelets from G-Shock, but they lack quick adjustments. The metal kits are great for casual use, but heavy and not adjustable for active use IMO.
The Solution
I decided to buy a set of adapters and a 22mm Barton Elite Silicone strap. The adaptor promises to turn the 16mm lug spacing on the G-Shock into a 22mm lug width for a standard strap.
The adapters cost about £3 off Ali-Express and the Barton Elite can be had for about £13 delivered using code SAVE25. Neither promises fast delivery, but both items were with me in under 3 weeks which isn't too bad!
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001514306820.html
https://www.bartonwatchbands.com/col...19450431275062
Plan A
Plan A was simple. Fit the adaptors, then fit the strap.
The adaptors were a PITA to fit to be honest, the machining isn't very precise and I had to use a swiss army knife tool (a spike that I believe is used for pushing thread through leather) to hollow out one side of the 16mm adaptor before I could actually get the included spring bars to fit through. That said, for about £3 my expectations were low, and after 10 minutes of faffing about I had them fitted.
Attaching the strap to the adaptors was easy. No tools needed thanks to the Barton quick release spring bars.
Plan B
However I honestly wasn't very pleased with the end result. The adaptor was doing the job, but it was bulky, extended the lug-to-lug width across the wrist significantly and didn't really look good IMO. Disappointing!
So naturally the next step was to bypass the adaptor. The Barton straps come with two long ends (a 'regular' and a 'long' size), so I decided to do a test with the longer end which I don't use. I cut the quick release spring bar out, marked a notch 3mm in on either side (to turn a 22mm strap into a 16mm strap) and marked a corresponding point 4mm deep into the strap to allow the strap to be inserted into the lug spacing. A few quick/firm cuts with a swiss army knife and I had this:
Not the cleanest job so I was glad I went for a test run first with the spare piece of strap, but after fitting the original 16mm Casio spring bar it did work nicely. For comparison, the below image shows the strap fitted directly to the watch on one side and with the adaptor used on the other side.
So I cut the two strap pieces I intended to use with the same process, and fitted using the Casio spring bars leaving me with what I think is actually a really nice fit. It sits comfortably on my wrist, the colour match with the blue on the dial and the blue on the strap is spot on, the buckle also matches nicely and the strap looks like it was made for the watch
The only thing I'd change if I was doing this again is I would probably buy the 24mm Barton strap instead of the 22mm one. 22mm was the correct size for the adaptor, but 24mm would be a slightly better fit without the adaptor and would just require an extra 1mm to be removed on each side when adjusting.
Looks good that! Might have to give it a go on the new red full metal I've just received if I can find a suitable coloured strap.
Wouldn't the 24mm strap be too wide and you would have to trim the strap itself not just the spring bar part?
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Ah I don't think I could bring myself to take a full metal off the bracelet, but good luck finding a colour match if you do decide to give it a goOriginally Posted by Skip
This method already involves trimming the 22mm strap down to 16mm at the end, so it's just a slightly bigger trim with a 24mm strap. Although without seeing one in the flesh it's hard to say for sure whether 22 or 24 would look better, but if I was buying another I'd probably give it a go with 24mm.
Great tip, thanks. I’d thought about buying those strap adapters before and had concerns about how they would affect the watch. It’s nice to get a perspective on that. I must try out those Barton elite straps at some point. Everyone seems to rave about them.
Very neat! Like that.
Great post, some great ideas here.
Great job, that looks cracking!
Good job. I’ve been thinking of doing this myself but was unsure on the quick release spring bars on the Barton strap.
Easily removed, just use a sharp knife and make one thin cut from the quick release cut-out to the end of the strap, then you can pull the spring bar through easily.
Don't try to twist off the quick release pin, I tried that on the test strap and it created more damage that way. The cut is effectively damage free as you'll remove the cut part when trimming anyway
The transformation is complete, with a replacement bezel having arrived at long last
Excellent thread! May pick one up and have a go. Has anyone tried with the 24mm? 22mm looks great IMO.
Excellent idea! Thanks for the tips (and links)
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That looks really good, I second the uncomfortable plastic they use on some of the g shocks as I have skinny flat wrists it hurts
Inspired by your mod and also never wearing this G due to strap comfort I used a replacement Garmin forerunner (745XT) strap and did exactly the same.
There is a small gap between watch and lug that’s not really noticeable and the difference in comfort is like night and day. I’d be interested in seeing what a slightly wider strap would look like but here’s the results:
Nicely done, makes all the difference if a watch strap fits right on the wrist!
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