Crafter Blue Strap CB08

[dkpw]

I recently bought a Crafter Blue CB08 strap for my Seiko Turtle and thought I would write a review of my initial findings.

I bought it for several reasons. I don’t like the Z style ripples on the OEM strap, I’ve never worn it on that. The Strapcode jubilee I normally wear is excellent but makes for a heavy combination. I like the design nod to the Omega PO straps on the CB08, with its raised centre which adds definition and interest. I liked the idea of a neat, fitted, dedicated strap made for the Turtle. Finally I wanted to see what the quality was like, as I was thinking of buying one for my MM300.

The strap comes well packaged in a plastic wallet, with a credit card warranty and a pair of spring bars. These are considerably thinner that those from Seiko or Strapcode. Fitting the strap was not straightforward.

Part of the problem was there were pieces of rubber moulding remaining in the strap’s lug holes. When I pushed the spring bars through, bits of rubber were forced out. I had to do this on both parts from both sides, to clear the holes. This affected my early fitting attempts.

Then there’s the tight tolerances. You have to place the strap into the lug directly from above, which means you need to compress both spring bars simultaneously to fit it. You can’t (well I couldn’t) do one side and then the other, as there’s no room to waggle the strap. Luckily, I’d just bought a pair of spring bar tweezers, but even with those, it took a few goes.

The twelve o’clock side was okay to fit, although the heavy metal keeper, kept sliding down the strap and getting in the way of the tweezers, as the straps stand upright when being fitted, which adds another element of difficulty, as you have another thing to control. Even with the tweezers, the six o’clock side took longer, the twelve o’clock side and keeper got in the way and then I found more rubber moulding affecting the angle of the bar in the hole.

Finally, once fitted, the strap is supple. Not as supple as some others I have tried, partly due to its thickness and material, pure vulcanised rubber. It doesn’t attract lint, has a faint vanilla smell, has a very sturdy buckle and tang with that hefty metal keeper. This is naffly marked; “Professional.” I would’ve preferred a company name or logo there instead. There are fifteen closely spaced adjustment holes for the tang, which mean you should be able to find a comfortable position…. but we’ll come back to that. The underneath is raised and textured to provide grip and ventilation. There’s also some nice branding.

So is my MM3000 going to have a CB strap? No. While they are clearly capable, well designed and well built this one is not terribly comfortable.

Ironically, the attraction of having a fitted strap is the feature which causes its biggest disadvantage. By fitting to the case so well, the angle of the straps is forced down rather than out. The strap thus presses against the sides of your wrist, then flares out so the underside of your wrist is not in contact with the strap. I like a loose fit with my metal bracelets, and so this compression on the sides of my wrists is not at all comfortable. If you loosen the keeper, you still have pressure on the sides and if you loosen again, the pressure lessens a bit but you now have a top heavy watch rotating around your arm.

I’m probably over-egging the pudding. It’s not a pain but it’s also not as comfortable as I was expecting, primarily due to the vertical angle and its thickness, which I think is 6mm at the lug. The MM300 will be staying on its OEM bracelet for a good while yet.

[bigbaddes]

i have black and orange crafter straps for my sbdx017 - no bits in holes, good fit and not undue compression due to fitting angle. i much prefer the crafter straps to the supplied seiko bracelet or Z20 for that model. it also works well on a one piece zulu/rhino style band. have a 7 1/2 and quite flat wrist.

horses for courses perhaps.

[dkpw]

i have black and orange crafter straps for my sbdx017 - no bits in holes, good fit and not undue compression due to fitting angle. i much prefer the crafter straps to the supplied seiko bracelet or Z20 for that model. it also works well on a one piece zulu/rhino style band. have a 7 1/2 and quite flat wrist.

horses for courses perhaps.

That is interesting to read, thank you.

I have heard both sides of the story, comfy with MM300s and not comfy. To my eye, they look very attractive together, but having tried the CB08, I think I'll keep to the bracelet for a while longer. That decision might have been harder to stick to, if CB offered an MM300 strap a buckle and didn't require you to muck about with the OEM clasp. That's always struck me as a rather bizarre choice from them.