Straphabit Brodinkee x Straphabit Men Wear Pink Watch Strap
October 9, 2024
I started this website based on the belief that nothing can change the personality of a watch more than a good watch strap. It is the setting, or soundtrack of your favorite watch. I have attempted to tie together as much verbiage as possible to illustrate that concept in the last few years. I have a watch strap today that has the potential to do far more than merely change a wristwatch. It could change a life, bring hope, and dissolve anxiety altogether.
For the past few years, the team at StrapHabit has joined hands with millions of others to help fund the research done by the American Cancer Society to help find a cure for Breast Cancer. Since 2022 they have raised over $30,000 dollars for the ACS and they aim to do it again in 2024 until the need is gone. Nick, the owner has graciously lent me a wonderful Brodinkee Pink FKM watch strap to review, and I was humbled and honored to accept it. Because as you will find out, buying one of these straps is not only a worthy donation to a cause that directly effects about 1 out of every 3 women diagnosed with Cancer, it is also a pretty slick little watch strap in of itself.
NOTE: This review is for the Brodinkee x Straphabit Men wear Pink 2024 Deployant Watch strap. But is applicable to all Straphabit FKM Rubber watch straps.
DIMENSIONS
My strap was of the 20mm variety as all my divers and most of my casual daily wears are 20mm. But it is available in 19mm, 21mm, and 22mm as well which is a lot of welcomed variety and opens this strap for use on most watches made today. The 19mm and 20mm taper down to 16mm at the deployant, and 21mm and 22mm taper down to 18mm. This lends itself for a wide array of wrist sizes. At the springbars, the strap is about 4mm in thickness and that tapers nicely to 2mm at the ends lending itself to a very flexible and wearable strap. The length of the strap is 80mm at the 12 o’clock end and 120mm at the 6 o’clock end. This along with 12 very close adjustment holes means that any of these straps will fit you regardless of what size wrist you may have.
DESIGN
Before I get carried away, I need to get into why this strap is different than other ‘rubber’ watch straps. Firstly, it is not rubber. FKM stands for Fluorine Kautschuk Material. This fluoroelastomer as originally developed by Dupont and carries with it the commercial name brand Viton. Rather than use actual organic rubber in the watch strap, such as a vulcanized rubber, FKM is synthetic. It was developed to survive in environments where natural rubber (and you, the human wearing it) cannot survive without severe degradation or in your case, death. FKM is highly resistant to oils, extreme heat, and chemicals. This user has even tested it personally and I can tell you it can even withstand level 5 hot Thai Curry sauce (far better than I withstood it). It is used widely in aerospace and industrial applications where long service life in harsh service conditions is needed. So, time on your wrist, no matter what you do (or eat) is a walk in the park.
The watch strap does not do anything daring at first glance, but that is perfectly fine. Overly designed watch straps tend to have a marmite effect on people, limiting the scope and use cases to a broader audience. The Straphabit FKM has a design that I would say offers visual substance, without overcomplicating the picture. On the top surface it offers a nice, raised backbone that starts at the spring bar and wraps about halfway around the strap. It does not compete with the watch or the deployant for attention but gracefully adds depth and interest. The sides of the raised portion greet the watch strap base with a gentle fillet and everything on top and bottom is smooth to the touch. All edges are slightly rounded and pleasant on the skin for day long wearing comfort.
On the underside, you will be greeted with an embossed Straphabit logo and quick release spring bar which makes fitting this to any watch quick a toolless operation. I would especially like to compliment this straps free ends for being so very thin. Deployants can have a tendency to bulk up a watch, much like a NATO does on the bottom of a watch on your wrist. Keeping the buckle ends ~2mm thick is a wise choice here as it keeps the watch uniform on the wrist and avoids any ungainly protrusion while writing or working on a laptop.
KEEPER AND BUCKLE
Well lets just call it buckle here, as there are no keepers to be talked about. Straphabit chose to go with a polished deployant clasp which handles the duty of fastening the watch to your wrist. This style deployant is found on watch straps from across the watch strap spectrum. This particular deployant is nicely polished with the twin pushers requiring an acceptable effort to operate and a very satisfying click when closed. Unlike other deplyant clasps, though, this one seems to wear a tad thinner and does not seem to protrude as far as say a Grand Seiko Deployant or a Tag Heuer Deployant.
The buckle is polished and free of any logos save for the one inside with the nicely etched Straphabit moniker. The fold over and construction feel neither exceptional nor lacking in any way. I can say that this point, my two button clasp seems free of most scratches, likely due to the shape of the clasp and how it contacts with the surrounding environment.
Due to this arrangement, the Straphabit FKM strap keeps the lose end of the strap neatly tucked next to your wrist, so the overall wearing aesthetic is clean and tidy without being bulky.
WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR
This is a decidedly casual watch strap. Having said that, I could see this working on watch genre’s outside of simply divers. Field watches and watches worn for active work (like first responders, and military) would be a good choice. The engineered durability of FKM leads this strap into harsh climates and environments.
On a more specific note, this particular FKM strap is laser focused on a very worthy cause. Raising money to help make sure the standing army that fights against breast cancer has the funds they need to keep the drum beat they march to going today and as long as it needs to until treatments and finally a cure comes.
HOW DOES IT WEAR
At this point, I have worn this watch strap for about 2 weeks. I have uncovered nary a single bad thing, or uncomfortable moment while it was attached to my little Timex. It blends seamlessly with the Marlin 39mm automatics cushion style case leaving practically no gap between the case and strap. Pro tip, always take note of the size of the gap and placement of the spring bar holes with relationship to the case. If the gap is large, look for a thicker strap to make up for it. On watches with longer lugs, like older NOMOS or many IWC’s offerings this can be very challenging (maybe try a NATO here). When you can get the strap to fill in the gap between the spring bar and the case, the watch strap has an almost integrated look and adds cohesiveness to the package.
WHERE CAN I GET ONE
After purchasing many straps from Straphabit, Nick at Straphabit offered me this Pink strap to review to help get awareness out. I find the Straphabit website very well made and logically organized. It is clear and easy to navigate with fast checkout and quick shipping. I also very much appreciate his own personal reviews of watches, and straps that are of personal interest to him. Straphabit is quickly becoming a destination for watch lovers, not just a place to buy straps. This is where you can get your own Brodinkee Pink FKM watch strap:
SUMMARY
Millions of women every single year face breast cancer. Like all cancer, it is a treacherous foe that arrives without notice and steals not only years, but hope and happiness as well. It bears no prejudice for sex, age, color, or nationality. It is a frailty of the human condition and exacerbated by countless environmental triggers. I would wager that most people will face this demon either directly or indirectly at some time and it is vital to let these people know they are not alone. I believe in the power of love and healing influence of hope and a positive attitude. I highly recommend the Straphabit FKM strap. They are some of the most fairly priced FKM straps on the market equaling or beating others offerings at a third of the price. I will also say about taking the leap and buying one of these fine pink Brodinkee straps. You will have a great wearing strap and you can rest easy knowing that 100% of the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. Nick has a well managed operation free of 4 layers of middle management each taking a cut of the money. This is an act of love and kindness and if we as a watch community can help, I think it is money well spent.
