Whether it’s a cool integrated sports watch or a diver in need or something waterproof to match its depth rating, rubber straps are some of the most colourful, comfortable and versatile around. Plus, unlike a classical leather strap, you don’t particularly need to worry about how it looks at a formal dinner. If you’re wearing a MoonSwatch to one of those, you can either pull off anything, or don’t care. However, with rubber’s great versatility, there are a lot of options out there, so here are five of the coolest rubber straps for sports watches you should be considering.
Wristbuddys Rubber Strap for Tissot PRX, £59
Finding any alternative for an integrated bracelet is next-to-impossible. It generally needs something made completely for that watch, even when it’s a horological property as hot as the Tissot PRX. Which is where Wristbuddys come in. They blew up after creating straps specifically for the MoonSwatch and they’ve continued their streak with their bright, fun selection of PRX straps.
This orange number is a particular highlight in more ways than one, made from chunky FKM rubber complete with a quick-change spring bar. If you’re one of the many, many collectors that became enamoured with the 40mm PRX, this one’s for you.
Horus Straps Rolex Oyster Perpetual Straps, £101
If you’re trying to colour match your dial, even a millimetre difference on the Pantone colour chart makes for an eyesore of a combination, which becomes an issue given how fantastic the Rolex Oyster Perpetual looks with a bit more colour. That’s why Horus have perfectly colour-matched the entire OP collection with their rubber straps. Seafoam blue, sunshine yellow, and red all come in durable rubber and with a lifetime warranty. That’s not bad for something that might just become your daily wearer.
Artem Hydroflex Hybrid FKM Strap, £177
Any watch with nautical aspirations suits a bit of sailcloth – the pairing makes sense even on paper – which just so happens to be what Artem specialise in. The Australian brand’s sailcloth straps are the best on the market, hands down. The Hydroflex however is a little bit different. While the top part uses the embossed textile that Artem is known for, particularly in this sleek, tool watch-ready grey, the under part is actually FKM rubber. This means that, while it has that ultra-cool nautical aesthetic, the Hydroflex is much more comfortable on the wrist, particularly if it does so happen to get wet. If that’s the case, let’s hope you’ve put this bad boy on a diving watch.
Jean Rousseau Atlantis Rubber Strap, £210
While they’re better known for their extensive range of bespoke, hand-made leather straps, French Maison Jean Rousseau are no strangers to sporty straps. The Atlantis Rubber collection is designed to be highly robust, capable of withstanding the trials and tribulations of all sporting activities and is completely waterproof.
Which means you can use it on your dive watches and have confidence in it from the pool to the ocean. At the same time, it’s also a bright and vibrant range with a variety of colours available including yellow, green, orange, blue and red. So it’s a great match for colourful divers like the Tag Heuer Aquaracer or almost any Doxa you care to name.
Strap Brothers MoonSwatch Strap White Striped, £35
A versatile silicone rubber strap for the Swatch x Omega is the Strap Brothers’ MoonSwatch Strap White Striped. It has a bold profile with a broad face decorated with an indented stripe. The white makes it suitable for a variety of the MoonSwatch colourways such as the Saturn pictured here or the Mars, Uranus, Venus, Sun or even the Earth and Moon.
The durable and flexible properties of silicone give the strap a sporty aspect that suits the MoonSwatch since chronographs are one of the premier sports complications. They serve as stop watches to time laps and splits while the tachymeter bezel allows it to calculate speed or distance travelled.
