I’ve probably mentioned this before, but watch straps helped me get hooked on collecting watches. Few watches stay mated to their stock straps for very long. I love strap swapping. I love playing with different materials, textures, and colors until I find the one that is just right, and then doing it all again when a new watch or strap crosses my threshold. It’s crazy, but it’s fun. If you share this mania, then you know there are certain staples you must keep in your strap drawer. You need a wide assortment of leathers to be sure. Rubber and silicone for when things will get messy. Canvas and Cordura for sure. NATOs … we’ve all got NATOs. And, of course, sailcloth – that’s where strap makers like Australia’s Artem come in. They gave me three for this review.
Sailcloth is a synthetic fabric most commonly used for — you guessed it — sails. It is tough as nails, highly water resistant, and its tight weave provides an attractive texture. Unlike canvas or other fabrics, it isn’t fuzzy when new and tens to resist such fraying over its lifetime. I find it to be more practical for a diver or tool watch than leather, but less casual than rubber.
Artem straps are tapered, lightly padded, and impeccably finished, creating a tailored look that would not be at all out of place on a dressier watch, but can still take whatever abuse you will heap upon it. You get two keepers, one fixed, one floating. The lining is soft rubber that feels great and is, of course, waterproof.
The brand offers an impressive variety of sizes: currently, 19 – 23mm, odd and even, depending on the model; plus apple watch fitments. You can get the standard 75/115 length, as well as a large 85/124, or an extra small 66/105. They will ship with pre-fitted quick-release pins or your choice of either standard or fat-end spring bars.
Currently, you can choose whatever color you want so long as it’s black, but you do get a choice of stitching. I sampled black, white, and gray. Red and blue are currently sold out.
The standard buckle is brushed and polished stainless steel, with a narrow tang and a signed square frame with clipped corners. Unlike many buckles, I found this one to be substantial and neatly finished. If you want a black one, they have that too as a $22 accessory. Its dual finish and white engraved logo look particularly sharp.
Finally, if you prefer a deployant clasp, they offer three: steel or black PVD single-fold style ($45), or the more complex Blancpain-style butterfly ($73). I sampled the Blancpain. It takes some fiddling to fit it to your strap. You’ll need a small screwdriver for the frame and a steady hand for the threaded T-bar, but it looked great when it was in place.
The padded end is about 3mm thick, which is enough to give the strap a pleasant fullness but so much that interferes with most spring bar perches. I was even able to fit it on the notoriously tight Citizen Nighthawk without fuss.
Artem bills their straps as “zero break-in” and this is fairly accurate. The material is quite pliable when compared to some other sailcloth straps I have owned. That said, the padded sections near the lugs take a couple of days to conform to your wrist and keep that curvature. This is not unique to Artem; I have encountered it on every padded strap I’ve owned. It’s just something to keep in mind when you first strap one on.
I paired the white with a chunky Seiko Atlas and then the Nighthawk where the high contrast stitching complemented the white chapter ring. The black one went onto my McDowell Time Maxton and the dual-finish black buckle was a perfect match for the case.
Finally, the gray stitching was right at home with the blue-gray bezel markings on my Hager Commando Pro.
All around, I could not be happier. These straps are well made, practical, look fantastic, and offer a range of options for everything but cloth color. I’d say they more than justify their $85 base price. Highly recommended.
For more information or to purchase your own, head over to ArtemStraps.com.
