I have owned a vintage 6105-8009 for some years now and I have turned into something of a watch strap geek. This is not due to trying to find a strap for my Seiko exclusively as I also own a Marathon SAR (for which I purchased the bracelet, but much prefer it on a rubber strap), same with a Doxa 750 Pro, and a very nice Zodiac SSW. The use of a rubber strap seems appropriate with these watches as they are certainly not jewel watches, but rather tool watches… all though the polished case of the Doxa seems to belie this assertion… a bit of glass beading puts things well in order to this end, and provides less of a ‘lure’ affect to mid-range coral reef predators. Not to say I’ve ever been bitten, but the interest paid by some snarly teethed freaks gets a bit spooky.
I obviously don’t dive with the 6105, but my thoughts to get it back to its original look always fascinated me. Therefore looking around for an original waffle was on the radar requirement, and as most of you know the price is often prohibitive, and the strap is usually (but not always) compromised in some way with regards to condition.
The first rubber or rubber like vintage strap I tried was Squinky’s venerable Basket Weave Tropic (the less expensive version). An excellent choice for the 6105, but you will have to find a nice 16mm buckle to make it work as the steep tapper looks a bit off with an 18mm buckle. My wrist is 7-1/4 so I am using most of the strap. What I liked best about the SBW (Squinky basket weave) was the high durometer of the material used and subsequent low static charge (resistance to lint collection). SBW measures @ 122.22 mm on the long (6 O’clock) side and @76mm on the short buckle (12 O’clock) side.
For rubber stiffness there are many different scales with Shore Durometers (see table 1), but we will stay simple and say that it measures in the 78-80 range in my simple opinion. My son and I are avid skateboarders… me… old school long boards with softer wheels for more carving grip, and my son more new school vert-park with harder wheels that don’t deform during aerial maneuvers. Super soft gummy wheels are at 75a. Most real ‘soft’ wheels measure at about 80-82 in range, which is still difficult to push your thumb-nail into. My son’s ‘hard’ wheels are at about 92a… rocks. So if you pull longitudinally on the strap you get some stretch, but nothing close to what you get from silicone. The only mod that you may have to employ with the SBW is sanding down some of the injection points on the underside of the strap and on the keeper which can be a bit itchy. These are vestigial remnants of the injection mold process. Edges are rolled nicely which makes it comfortable for those of us who like to wear our watches a bit tighter on the wrist. Also the unique raised saw toothed edging on top looks cool while providing a feel of indexing when donning the strap… you can hear it. The rolled front edge where the strap meets the watch is also nice in that it provides for a nice transition to the underside of the strap. I find this little detail to be important in that straps, when fitted, point almost straight down from the lugs across the radius and ulna of the forearm. If the strap ends are not finished and rounded you have something of an aesthetic design issue… mind you nothing serious, but for $50 - $75 bucks for some good rubber you would think otherwise.
(Table 1)
Durometer of various materials on ‘A’ scale
Rubber band – 25a
Door seal – 55a
Auto Tire Tread – 70a
Soft skateboard wheel – 75a
Hydraulic O-ring – 70a-90a
Hard skateboard wheel – 98a
Ebonite Rubber – 100a
Squinky basket weave tropic (left), Squinky higher end 20mm DEP MOD sub-tropic (right)
(Table 1)
Durometer of various materials on ‘A’ scale
Rubber band – 25a
Door seal – 55a
Auto Tire Tread – 70a
Soft skateboard wheel – 75a
Hydraulic O-ring – 70a-90a
Hard skateboard wheel – 98a
Ebonite Rubber – 100a
Squinky basket weave tropic (left), Squinky higher end 20mm DEP MOD sub-tropic (right)
Squinky basket weave tropic (left), Squinky higher end 20mm DEP MOD sub-tropic (right)
Notice the squared off lug end section of the DEP MOD tropic (right on pix 2). The flat end portion faces almost straight up when wearing on a watch. The less expensive basket weave on the left has a nice rounded profile. I will say that the DEP MOD works very well with my Zodiac SSW as the watch is designed with ‘hooded’ lugs, so the strap blends seamlessly with the watch (currently at IWW for spa treatment).
Despite this design issue I have been wearing the DEP MOD on my 6105 for over a year. Without a doubt; this strap is one of the most… if not the most comfortable rubber dive strap I have tried. Slightly softer at the 78a range with comfortable stretch longitudinally, and zero lint collection. Standard cross hatched underside gives great relief of perspiration and good cooling. 16mm buckle end with single wide keeper lend to a real vintage look.
I have since changed the strap on my 6105 to the new waffle (type II). If you read the details on design you know that envelope specifications are 1:1 with regards to the original. The only things not translated are the polymer compounds used. For better photos (I suck) I would suggest that you Google: Christopher Moy photography. He has a great section on this very strap. Durometer is hard as compared to other rubber straps…@87a-89a, but very much in keeping with standard vented Seiko Z straps; an almost plastic feel – but not plastic, and certainly not cheesy. Very stiff out of the box, but workable around a nice round jig for a couple of days… I don’t like to boil straps as I think it may degrade something… This strap has almost zero stretch longitudinally.
Rounded lug end portion. Very nice attention to detail.Dual finish top side. Small pyramids or waffles are perfect with zero distortion from pyramid to pyramid. Gloss finish pyramids, with a charcoaled textured outer boarder.
High gloss back side with water/perspiration relief pyramids to original design rules. Even the keepers (2 of them) have a dual texture from front to back… nice.
The only idiosyncrasy in design would be here at the buckle end. The strap itself is 16mm at this end but comes fitted with an 18mm buckle. This buckle size is necessary if you have a wrist size (like me) of 7-1/4 or so… because a 16mm buckle will not slide up the strap to engage the adjustment holes I need. The strap is too wide for a 16mm at the 5 hole (counting from the strap end as you initially pass the strap through the buckle when donning…a 16mm buckle just fits at the 4 hole).I don’t know about you folks, but my arm swells and retracts about half a hole length during the day due to hydration. Also my wrist area swells when active (lifting, reefing sails, etc...), so I find myself adjusting accordingly. I have since punched / melted a new half length hole between the 4 – 5 holes. There is some tricks necessary in this since the back side of the strap incorporates the large pyramid design of the original, and buckle tang alignment can suffer.
Overall I give the Waffle Type II a straight ‘A’ at this juncture with the anticipation of a couple of ++ as time moves forward. Definitely the look of the actual strap that came with the watch, with slightly less than the comfortable ‘feel’ of the Squinky DEP MOD. Simply I do not anticipate taking the strap off as it is everything I want. The feel is tight and airy at the same time with no hair pulling. Again I wear my watches tighter on the wrist, so some break in is in order. Very nice and very correct in my opinion and well worth the cash…if you have a 6105 you NEED this strap.
Lars
