The Speedmaster Professional bracelet & strap guide
Part 3

The Speedmaster Pro doesn't need to be worn on a bracelet. If worn on a strap, one gets a completely different watch. A lot of watches can be worn with completely different styles of straps, but the Speedy looks great on a huge variaty of strap styles. The only thing that is really required is that it is a strap with 20 mm lug size (19 mm for Speedmasters made before 1966). The type of strap is of great influence on the overall appearence of the watch, which will be demonstrated here.

Hirsch Waterproof black

A sturdy black ribbed strap on the Speedmaster Pro. Looking tough and very sporty.

This strap is made by Hirsch, and the model name is Waterproof. This model name is quite confusing as it suggest that it is not a model name but a property. All strap dealers I encountered were confused by this, so keep this in mind if you are going out to get one. It is 18 mm wide at the buckle side, and it has shark skin grain.

The strap is very heavily built, it has two thick ribs and white stitching. Although the strap is clearly designed for the most thick and heavy diver's watches out there (which would explain the model name Waterproof), it doesn't overpower the Speedmaster but it gives it a sporty and casual look.

Because the strap is black, the black dial and bezel of the watch and the strap make one aesthetic entity. This visually accentuates the case, the hands and the markers. The nice thing of a visible case is that the elegant shape of the lugs becomes immediately clear when one looks at the watch. This is a big contrast with a Speedmaster on a bracelet, because with a bracelet, the shape of the case is visually integrated with the bracelet, which accentuates the round shape of the black dial and bezel.

Hirsch Livingstone brown

The Speedy on a plain brown strap. Sporty but elegant, and the desing of the watch comes to full exposure.

This strap is also made by Hirsch, the model name is Livingstone. It is also 18 mm wide a the buckle. This strap is plain, the leather looking like calf. This still gives a bit of a sporty look, but it is a bit more dressed than the ribbed black strap shown above.

A brown strap on a Speedy is something people don't come up with easily. I have heard a lot of people say: "You will need a black strap because of the black dial." I really think this is not true. Agreed, the blue and green straps I have tried are not really my taste. A brown strap gives the watch a very distinctive appearance, it gives it some sort of "aviator" look. Omega also sells a brown strap, it comes standard with the 1957 re-edition and it is quite similar to the Hirsch shown here.

The aesthetics of the brown strap on the Speedy are even more interesting than those of the black strap and the bracelets. Here, the strap is not visually integrated with any part of the watch. This makes both the curved shape of the case and the round shape of the bezel and dial very visible. Whith this particular strap, the white stitching somehow links to the white hands and markers on the watch. This all together makes the watch look stunning.

Croco strap

Left a Speedmaster on the sporty strap, right a Speedmaster on a croco strap.

 

On the next page you will find some information and pictures on leather straps and NATO straps...

Click here for part one of this article Click here for part two of this article