I thought I'd post a quick review of the Sailcloth strap I bought from www.watchandstrap.co.uk. I do love the look of a good sailcloth but am always wary of spending £150-odd on an Artem strap and then having the worry of being stung with import tax and handling charges. Someone on the CW Forum pointed me in the direction of these and I have to say I am very impressed.
Their straps are £24.99 (which is only 99p more than Zuludiver/Watch Gecko charge for a NATO!) and come in a variety of colours and stitching, the base colours being black, blue and green. I went for the khaki green for by BB Pro. They taper 2mm, so 20mm > 18mm in the case of mine. I also own a Zuludiver Mayday Sailcloth which is a whopping £48 and tapers from 20mm to 16mm. Both include QR springbars. The Zuludiver in black:
Close up, including the chunkier buckle on the W&S model, which I prefer:
I'm very impressed. I don't currently have need for a blue one but if I do, I'll definitely be buying another, and am even considering replacing my Zuludiver with a black one from W&S.