Regimental NATO Watchband

As I mentioned before. I recently upgraded (incrementally) from a crappy digital watch from Wal-Mart to a serviceable analog watch from Target. See here. I have no complaints about the watch itself. It’s served me well in the pool and I haven’t gotten sick of the styling yet. But the strap is another story. For one thing it gave me a rash. I got in the bad habit of wearing it to bed and in the shower. The bigger problem is that my wrist seems to be sized halfway between two notches. It’s either uncomfortably tight or it’s dancing all over the place when I run.

I fully intended to experiment with watch bands when I bought it. Mostly for style considerations, but also because I liked the nylon strap on my digital model. Though not the velcro and empty space left by the fold back. Six months into being a watch wearer, I feel confident that it’s worth more investment.


I think I’m going to try a NATO strap. At first I was just going to order a solid black one, then I stumbled upon the James Bond design and then on to various collegiate and UK military regimental stylings. smartturnout.com has a good selection. Almost too good. I want to order four or five of them and start a liberal rotation. I’m a little wary of breaking rules about not being a member of the specific regiments and school alumni, but I think I can rationalize and repurpose their color scheme for schools and and institutions I am affiliated with. I’m not sure where to start though. The 007 is sweet.

Changing and setting up the somewhat novel strap should be a fun thing to learn and I’m looking forward to having a subtle conversation piece of flair on my person.