Haveston A2 Service Series Single Pass Layout
October 7, 2018
Let us face reality, the vast majority of straps fall into three main categories. Steel bracelets which are akin to the armor plating of a noble knight of the 15thcentury. It is tough, and take more abuse than the fragile human skin beneath it. It makes words like robust seem lacking and inadequate. Next watch straps can be made of leather, which can take on a vast amount of character traits from supple and luxurious to downright rigid and rugged. The amount of personalities an animal hide can occupy is nearly limitless. I feel this material would make up the central most portion of a Gaussian curve for watch straps if there was such a thing. If you go far enough on the curve though you will reach the nearly flat 6 sigma portion and somewhere on that side resides the infinite color spectrum of the NATO strap.
I said this before and more recently in my BluShark NATO review, that in order for a NATO be successful, you must have a niche that is special or unique. Merely using high quality nylon is not enough anymore as many vendors use premium grade nylon that is woven into very nice feeling straps. No, that alone is not enough anymore. You need meaningful design and next level construction. Haveston was the first NATO I ever reviewed on this sight and while I am a self-proclaimed critic of the NATO, companies like Haveston give me reason to stop and take notice and come to appreciate the NATO world they choose to occupy. It is a niche market for sure, suppling solely military themed straps, but with the plethora of aviation/military/field watches in existence, I firmly believe they have chosen wisely and offer the absolute best straps available to match this genre. If you want a hot pink NATO, Haveston is not for you. Want a leather strap, for now they are not for you. But if you want a strap that is an exact replica of the paint colors on a parachute plane fuselage used for the Invasion of Normany on D-Day, Haveston has you covered.
Three images are taken from the Haveston Web page to show the inspiration of the colors for these three particular NATO straps.
A word from Haveston on these A2 class watch straps:
The “A2” (Alteration 2) features a single-pass layout for a streamlined wearing profile and reduced “off-wrist” height, a robust polyamide fabric weave which returns to shape, and refined dye tones.
DIMENSION
I now own 5 20mm Haveston straps and they all get used from time to time. All of them are true to measure at about 19.9-20.1mm. The single pass A2 is 1.3mm thick which like the name suggests meaning it will barely move the watch off the wrist when worn, unlike other NATO’s that require double layers of nylon between your case back and your skin (as much as 3mm higher than traditional 2-piece watch straps). The Haveston Service series has more adjustment holes than you will ever need (13 of them) and finding a comfortable fit is never an issue. On my 6.75” wrist, I am about in the middle somewhere between hole number 7 or 8.
DESIGN
I almost felt compelled to write this review just for this section. The Haveston was the first NATO I know of that actually rethought the layout and design of the traditional NATO. They made their product more than about color and making it as cheap as possible. Were they the first with the sliding keeper and the repositioned watch location so no tuck was needed? I think they were, but I have no way to validate that, although when I started buying NATO’s 3 years ago, nobody else was doing these things. The service series use to come only as a 1.5mm thick ultra-durable (tow my Abrams tank out of the mud durable) NATO with wonderful military inspired colors. They retained some of the standard NATO construction as well with two pieces of nylon that both must reside under the watch giving you an increase of height of 3mm. While this is to me was okay as I had a few 9mm thick watches, today that is unacceptable to me as I have become more aware of that added thickness.
Haveston has addressed this in the best way possible by removing the lower portion of the strap (which I almost always cut off and throw away anyway) and changing the way the fabric is woven to give a slimmer 1.3mm thick weave. The difference is amazing in flexibility and comfort. They still use the floating keeper design on all their A2 ‘single pass’ strap meaning you never have to fold and tuck extra length straps causing this NATO to wear more like a ZULU. The look is more polished and clean and tidy. I really think this is the future of ALL NATO straps.
So the floating keeper and thinner material are both nice, and the way they reposition the watch on the strap is simple brilliant, but I think the real niche beyond building most well thought out NATO is the strict adherence to the military traditional colors rooted in history and distinction.
I come from a military family. The inspiration of the Haveston color pallet is emotionally linked to my psyche. The invasion strap on the Hamilton has colors that hail form the stripes that were painted on allies planes during the battle of D-day for easy recognition. The M-22 blue, dark silver and light silver on the Sinn was patterned off the colors of the battleship USS Missouri, and the Bremont is shown on the carrier strap, which has its color pattern from the transitional blue colors of planes that would have been found on navy planes occupying the decks of US carrier fleet during World War II in the Pacific Theater. I was not part of the greatest generation that went to Europe or the Pacific to fight against the worst threat to freedom the world has ever seen. I never had to spill an ounce of my blood to enjoy the freedoms I have. But I am cognizant that everything I have I owe to my countrymen. I take great pride being from a military family and these straps get me closer to that in some way as implausible as it may seem. For that I thank Haveston will continue to keep supporting them, not only for making a fine innovative product, but for saluting a time of great bravery and sacrifice.
KEEPER AND BUCKLE
The buckle on the Haveston Service series is quite nice. It is angular and unique to the brand. It is nicely stamped HAV and can be had in polished or brushed depending on the needs of the customer. The keepers on the service series are unique. The first keeper is sew in and fixed while other keeper is allowed to move about 2” to hold whatever length of strap remains after you fasten the buckle. This allows the strap to wear thin and almost just like a standard two piece leather or canvas strap. No fold over, no tuck are required with a Haveston A2.
HOW DOES IT WEAR
Just about any NATO you pick up will be fairly comfortable on the wrist. Some will look better than others, and some will require modification of the strap to wear right. Some will require you to fold the extra strap backwards toward the buckle if you want to minimize the height gained. The Haveston through clever design and premium material selection has abolished every Negative to a NATO strap. The strap vanishes under the watch and no perceptible height change is noticeable. The strap easily finds an adjustment hole that is just right and slides effortlessly into each keeper. While on the wrist the strap stays impossible thin and tidy. It avoids looking ultra-casual like some NATO’s and allows even the tooliest of watches an air of sophistication.
Mostly I want to say that the Haveston integrates with the watch and looks like it was designed for it, rather than a strip of one size fits all nylon thrown onto a timepiece. The only caveat is the user must get the color right to completely achieve this watch strap mind meld. Which leads me to the next section.
WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR
I sort of let the cat out of the bag early by declaring one of the biggest strengths Haveston has is its undying commitment to military inspired colors and designs. This can also be a limitation as military or aviation or field watches are not the only ones that can benefit from a NATO strap. I find if you have a watch that has a modicum of ruggedness, these straps may work very well. If you have a field watch or aviation watch these straps will positively take you back in time to day when actions and deeds were paramount to living another day. The comfort the strap is fantastic, and the colors and fit and finish are unwavering. This is evidenced by the the fact the straps I bought just two weeks ago are still the same quality and as the ones I purchased and have been using for 3 years.
WHERE CAN I GET ONE
The only place I now to get a Haveston Service Series strap is straight from them:
http://haveston.com/service-strap-series.html
They come packaged in a fantastic little military styled Tin delicately wrapped in tissue paper. The presentation is remarkable and the company starts our journey back to the 1940’s the minute you receive your strap. Easily one of the best packaged straps NATO or otherwise I have ever received.
SUMMARY
Whether it is the floating keeper, or the thinner material, or the repositioning of the watch on the strap to avoid extra unwanted length past the buckle, or simple if you just love that bygone era of brave men and women who served our country, Haveston is a standout in the NATO world. Having found a wonderful iconic niche to occupy and then concentrating on a truly unique product with actual measurable improvements not found elsewhere in the industry I think they will be making great watch straps or a long time to come.
