zOwie Omega Discussion Forum

Well.....probably from a purely "technical" point of view, the fitted all metal strap does add structural stability to the spring bar. Picture in your mind a rubber or this other nylon or fibrous type band getting caught at a steep angle......putting a friction grip on the spring bar pin/pins and pulling them sideways. If they don't breat, this sliding motion often causes at least one pin to slide out of the hole, releasing it. As a long time jeweler i often see this problem when someone comes into the store with a leather strap on that's under sized in width by a couple of millimeters. You can actually slide the band across the extra play between the lugs and get the band to release rather easily. Imagine this happening without your realizing it and loosing a great watch! ALWAYS use a leather band at least the full width of the lug spread!

A well fitted metal band avoids the problem, and increases the "sheer" strenth of the spring bar. This because all forces of an inadvertantly pulled band are concentrated very near where the pins go into the holes. A soft type band (leather or nylon/cloth) can cause forces to concentrate toward the middle of the spring bar pin and cause it to bend/break at this middle section. Any "bar" has more strenth at the end than in the middle. I can bend a 4 inch piece of gold wire a lot easier than a 1 inch piece......let alone one of only a few milimeters. So when you have a spring bar within a well fitted metal strap.......the effective strength of the pins is increased by a wide margin.

I will say the fact that the watch will not fall off your wrist if one pin is lost is the one area where i like this military style band. But it's not always the best looking choice for a dress gold watch or some sport models, where the fitted band really looks great.

By the way, the original factory spring bars are "usually" way above the replacement pins offered by the jewelry supply houses for general use. Factory originals often have thicker walled stainless steel tube walls with a tougher spring strength. Rolex and Omega i have noticed this with. But the aftermarket pins are usually brass tubed with weaker tensioned springs! Something that tells me the wait to special order a factory replacement is usually worth it!

: The strap will not be too thin for the SMP.
: It's very rugged. It's also quite broad and
: looks really good on the wrist. A big watch
: with a wide strap, what more can a man ask
: for? ;-)

: As for the spring bars, I don't think that the
: forces are greater than with a
: "regular" strap. And there a nice
: addition: If one spring bar happens to give
: up the ghost, the watch is held by the
: other. (See pic below.) That's a bonus as
: opposed to a strap. Then again, on the stock
: Omega bracelet the spring bar is so tightly
: fitted that I can hardly imagine it
: breaking, and maybe that's the case with the
: Omega rubber straps as well.

: The buckle is less flimsy than it looks, BTW.

: -hacmac