Crafter Blue SKX Navy Blue Rubber Watch Strap ($65.00)
October 25, 2018
Most of us go through life quite content to walk into a store and buy a shirt or pair of pants off the rack and as long as it fits acceptably well, we do not raise too much fuss. We do the same with shoes, and even furniture hoping for that perfect fit. There is nothing wrong with any of this, but what if you could get something made to suit your unique profile tailor fit to only you? Few things in life come this way as often our physical shape changes over time due to completely uncontrollable forces acting against us such as how good a deep dish pizza tastes, or how seductive a glass of wine is after a hard day.
But not everything is subject to change. First example that comes to my mind would be a fine vintage automobile. An old car is mostly formed steel and as you would expect quite resistant to change. It will hold its form in perpetuity if properly cared for. Since that is fixed, a nice custom fit set of luggage for a vintage car can be a thing of beauty. Custom fit automobile luggage accentuates the owner’s connection with the car. It symbolizes the lengths the owner will go to increase the usability and thus the time he/she can use that particular car. It is a great relationship and if done right can be quite stylish.
The Crafter Blue rubber watch strap has a similar bond with the watch it was made for. Custom fit to blend into every curve and make the most use of space as possible on one particular watch and that watch only. Just as in the example of the luggage, this is not a cheap way to make any product, but the results are very distinctive. Options for custom fit anything are rare these days, so I am quite happy Crafter Blue gives us this choice. Let us see what they say about their product.
Pure vulcanized rubber strap together with stainless steel tang buckle and keeper engineered to fit the Seiko SKX series. Meets ROHS standard. Non toxic, non marking and non allergen.
That is a very technically accurate description, but I think we can put some meat on the bones with a thorough strapsense review.
DIMENSIONS
Since the Crafter Blue strap I purchased was for my SKX mod, all dimensions are just for my particular watch, but Crafter Blue does make custom rubber straps for many other Seikos (Sumo, Samurai, Turtle, & Marine Master) as well as a couple of Tudor Watches (Pelagos and Black Bay) as well as something called a Universal strap.
The width of the SKX strap at the lugs is 22mm just like the SKX. It tapers to 20mm at the buckle end. The thickness is 7.2mm at the lug (thickness is a product of the custom fitment) and tapers down to a very reasonable 3.5mm at the buckle and free end. The strap will fit wrists 220mm (that is 8.6 inches English units). On my 6.75” wrist, I am somewhere in the middle of the adjustment holes which are practically too numerous and closely spaced to count. I think this is one of the very strong design points of the Crafter Blue strap. It would be nearly impossible to NOT find a comfortable fit with this strap. The chances of being in between lose and tight with adjustments is practically zero.
DESIGN
The most obvious design que that sets this strap apart from the majority of other rubber straps for the SKX is that it fits flush against the case and lugs with no gap apparent. This gives the watch a more unified and cohesive look. The strap installs like any other strap via spring bar tool and once installed is extremely worry free. The rubber which is thick at the section that follows the curved case section angles downward toward your wrist. This is a very smart design choice since rubber is strap is not allowed to rotate around the spring bar as with other straps. The downward angle greatly aids in its ability to closely conform to any size wrist.
And conform it does. The rubber chosen is very high quality and quite dense, without being too stiff or plastic in texture. It is made of vulcanized rubber which is simply natural rubber which is heated in the presence of Sulphur to give the rubber more durability and toughness to abrasion while allowing it maintain a good portion of natural rubbers flexibility. Vulcanization can be overdone or underdone with compromises in toughness or flexibility either way. So it is of vital importance for rubber which will be next to your skin to get this combination spot on. I really think Crafter Blue did this with some deft choices and have produced a strap that while not silicone soft is still comfortable to wear but at the same time allows it to carry out its mission of being a dive watch strap with all that entails.
Aesthetically the outside of the strap is very smooth and simple rectangular shape with two slots cut in as its only embellishment and they do an admirable job of breaking up the other wise plain top surface. The bottom is a whole other game. The strap has edges that follow the shape and the holes of the strap that protrude down toward the skin of the wearer further than the rest of the underside of the strap. This lifts the vast majority of the rubber off the skin allowing your skin to breathe and dry off. I have often said in the world of molded straps, you have only clever design to separate one slab of injected rubber from another. This standoff design allows this strap to be worn comfortable at the beach or office in any weather and in any condition. Crafter Blue is FAR from a one trick pony in terms of design.
KEEPER AND BUCKLE
The Crafter Blue SKX strap has but one floating 316L stainless steel keeper. It is brushed on all sides except for the very surrounding edge which is polished and with the word ‘PROFESSIONAL’ etched or engraved into the side. The keeper is perfectly sized to hold the excess strap in place comfortably and keep it there. If you wear your rubber straps tight, the keeper will resist movement once on the wrist due to the tactile nature of the rubber and steel interface. I would suggest moving the keeper up the strap first, then after buckling move it back down to hold the free end of extra strap.
The buckle is stainless like the keeper and has an extra wide tang that is quite at home sitting flat against the strap once buckled. Crafter blue ensured it would not stick out or protrude as I have seen in other rubber straps. Both the keeper and buckle are very utilitarian in nature with hardly any embelishments to speak of. The edges are smoothed and polished (on the keeper only) to an acceptable level, but this strap gives no illusions about being dressy.
HOW DOES IT WEAR
Right out of the package holding the strap in my hands, I was a bit worried about how this strap would feel once on my SKX. While 3.5mm is not overly thick for a strap meant to be used on a dive watch, it is also impossible to not notice that amount of thickness while say typing on a keyboard, or resting your hands on the armrest of a plane. However, since Crafter Blue did such an admirable job with its rubber blend, this strap draws very little in the way of complaints from me.
Yes, sitting at my desk with 7mm of extra rubber on the bottom of my wrist is noticeable, but having said that, it is not in any way annoying or uncomfortable. In fact the way this angles around the wrist and the way the rubber conforms, even if worn on the snug side of comfortable it just vanishes. The fitted design while definitely looking ‘the business’ also gives you some nice bonuses you may not have expected. For instance, since the strap cannot rotate about the spring bar, the watch case exactly where you put it and never rotates around to an odd angle. I found never having to adjust how the watch sits on my wrist a welcome design feature. Also, while I was wearing it all week, not one time did I ever get a sweaty wrist even after wearing it all day. The straps does not trap moisture which is as useful indoors as it would be spending the day looking for lobster.
WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR
Usually I have to give lots of thought as to what watches I think this particular strap would be good for, but in this case I have to say, that this strap is ONLY good for an SKX007/009 as that is what it was made for. I am quite sure all the other Crafter Blue straps for other Seikos/Tudors are just as well made and have the same inherent goodness as this strap. I do not normally review one off straps, but the SKX is so popular (as are the Tudors Crafter Blue make straps for) I felt this strap warranted a review.
So since this particular strap is only for the SKX, what does it do to that watch? I feel that it does give the SKX some bit of polish and uniqueness. In a very tool-like way it elevates the SKX to something a bit special. The Seiko SKX as designed has the bare essentials needed to be a certified a dive watch and absolutely nothing else. It comes across as if it were built to a requirements document with little thought about making it attractive. It is this bare Spartan nature to my engineers’ eyes, gives it a form follows function beauty that is nearly unmatched.
WHERE CAN GET IT
At the time of writing this I know of two places to get this strap, but there may be more. The first of course is Crafter Blue themselves:
https://www.crafterblue.com/seiko-skx-strap-cb05
I also found them on Amazon in case you prefer that:
SUMMARY
I have said it before that the search for a luxury rubber watch strap is riddled with disappointment. Rubber is an amazing material in terms of all weather and all element durability. It cleans up easier than a NATO and the ability to mold it in any shape or form gives it so many advantages. I prefer a good rubber strap over a NATO for those and many more reasons. Now the question posed is this: Is the Crafter Blue a Luxury rubber strap, and I would say no. However, it is a very well designed strap and it is not a slab of rubber with no sense of style. It is far from that. I think that the Crafter Blue strap is the embodiment of the SKX ‘only the essentials’ design philosophy. Everything on the strap is purposeful and nothing extraneous is included. In that light, I think it is a spectacular strap that is leaps and bounds better than the crude OEM SKX strap and a welcome upgrade to all SKX owners.
