Want a way to augment your watch collection for under $15 and also celebrate your love of the American Flag (also works if you are French)? Well then today on the 4th of July you can pick yourself up a red, white, and blue-colored NATO-style watch strap. If you haven’t heard, NATO-style nylon watch straps are all the rage. They have a retro sporty look to them, and come in a zillion colors given their nylon construction. Many have “racing stripes” or a series of colored stripes that can work well with many watch dials. It also helps that they are very inexpensive.
Credit: http://rolexblog.blogspot.com/2010/10/rolex-wrist-shot-of-day-andres-polar.html
Unless your watch requires a special strap, you should be able to use a NATO strap with just about any watch that has a straight spring or screw bar between the lugs. We admit that red,white, and blue NATO straps are on the ‘louder side,’ but on a holiday where we celebrate with fireworks, I think you need to be loud. They also work as a great summer strap on both modern and vintage timepieces. When buying a strap, make sure to measure the width of your current strap so that you can order correctly. Most straps are between about 20-24mm wide. Not all red, white, and blue stripes on NATO straps are the same. Most have three stripes, but others can have five or more. Also note that you should match the buckle and bars with your case color (you can normally get steel, black, and gold toned metal on the straps).
It is difficult not to recommend Amazon.com that has just about all the basic NATO straps you need between $10 – $15. See red, white, and blue NATO watch straps on Amazon here.