The Best NATO Straps

A conventional two-piece strap attaches to each side of the case with its own spring bar. If either bar fails — and they do fail, usually from fatigue at the shoulder or from being compressed badly during a strap change — that side of the strap releases and the watch falls off your wrist.

A NATO is a single continuous piece of nylon that threads under the case, passing through both spring bars. If one bar snaps, the strap is still captured by the other, and the watch stays on your arm. That is the entire reason the design exists, and it is why it was a military issue item rather than a fashion one.

Three secondary benefits follow. It is washable, so it does not degrade the way leather does in heat or water — see our leather strap guide for that trade-off. It adjusts to any wrist without punching holes. And it costs a fraction of what a manufacturer strap does, which makes changing the character of a watch essentially free.

The strap most people call a NATO is properly the G10, issued by the British Ministry of Defence from 1973. Servicemen requisitioned it using a form that carried a NATO Stock Number, and the nickname stuck to the strap rather than to the paperwork. The original specification was grey nylon with chromed hardware, 20 mm wide.

The James Bond association is repeated everywhere and is largely wrong. Connery's Submariner in Goldfingerwas on a striped nylon strap, but the film predates the G10 specification by nearly a decade, and the black-and-red-striped "Bond NATO" sold today is a later commercial invention. It is a good-looking strap with a heavily embroidered origin story.

This is the specification almost nobody explains and the one that determines whether a NATO works on an expensive watch.

The second flap on a traditional NATO exists so that, if a spring bar fails, the watch head cannot slide along the strap. It is a real feature. It also lifts the watch noticeably off the wrist, which on an already-thick watch — a diver, a Big Pilot — pushes the whole thing into top-heavy territory.

For most luxury watches we would take a single-pass. It keeps the primary safety benefit, sits far lower, and eliminates the wad of excess nylon that makes the traditional design look untidy under a cuff.

Here is the part that matters on a watch you care about. On a NATO, nylon is in constant motion against the case back and against the underside of the lugs, all day, with grit from ordinary life trapped in the weave. Over months it will produce fine swirl marks on a polished case back.

On a tool watch nobody cares. On a watch with a display case back, or a polished precious-metal case, this is a genuine and permanent cosmetic cost — and case-back condition is something the secondary market notices. Three ways to manage it:

• Use a single-pass strap, which reduces contact area and movement.
• Choose softer, finer-weave nylon over stiff, coarse military-surplus material. Cheap straps are abrasive straps.
• Use a leather-backed NATO if the watch is genuinely precious. It removes the abrasion entirely at the cost of washability.

Also check the hardware. Cheap stamped buckles and keepers have sharp edges that will mark lugs, and plated hardware wears through to base metal within a year. Brushed stainless hardware, properly finished, is the specification to insist on.

Two numbers, and getting either wrong wastes the purchase.

Lug widthis the distance between the lugs in millimetres, and it must match exactly — 18, 19, 20, 21 or 22 mm are the common sizes. A NATO that is 1 mm narrow will slide sideways; one that is 1 mm wide will not fit at all. Measure it with a caliper or a strap ruler rather than guessing.

Lengthmatters more on a NATO than on a two-piece strap, because the excess tail folds back through the keepers and sits on your wrist. Standard lengths suit wrists of roughly 6.5 to 7.5 inches; below that, look for a short version rather than accepting a long tail. Erika's and Crown & Buckle both offer length options.

You will also need a spring-bar tool. Our watch tools guide covers the ones worth owning — or grab a basic spring bar tool if you only need the one. Fitting a NATO is the easiest strap change there is, because you thread the nylon rather than levering anything against the case.

If we were buying one NATO for a good watch, this is it. The Supremeuses a noticeably denser, softer nylon than surplus-grade material, with properly finished hardware and two-piece keepers rather than the loose single loops on cheap straps. It is available in well over a hundred colourways, and Crown & Buckle has offered single-pass versions alongside the traditional double-pass construction.

Typical pricing runs roughly $22–$45 depending on construction and hardware. At that money the finish is a clear tier above generic nylon, and the softer weave is meaningfully less abrasive against a case back — which is the whole argument for spending more than ten dollars on one.

Available direct at crownandbuckle.com — we belong to no programme there and earn nothing on this pick.

Erika's Originals makes a Marine Nationale-style strap: elasticated parachute webbing rather than flat nylon, derived from the straps French naval divers made themselves from parachute cord. The elasticity is the point — the strap stretches over the hand and then holds the watch against the wrist without a pressure point, which is why it is consistently described as the most comfortable strap in the category.

It is also the most photographed strap in enthusiast circles, and it looks considerably more expensive than nylon has any right to. Pricing typically runs $80–$120, which is real money for a strap — this is the premium pick, not the value one.

Two honest caveats. Elastic webbing loses tension over years of hard wear, so treat it as a consumable on a daily-worn watch. And the woven texture is coarser than a fine-weave nylon, so the case-back caution above applies with more force — this is a strap for a sports watch, not a polished dress piece. Available direct at erikasoriginals.com; we earn nothing on this link either.

Barton is the sensible answer if you want to try the format without committing. The range covers both traditional nylon NATOs and Marine Nationale-style elastic straps, hardware is decent for the money, and quick-release spring bars on many models mean you can change the strap with your fingernail and no tool at all.

It is not the finest nylon available and the finishing does not match Crown & Buckle, but nothing at this price does. For working out whether you actually like a NATO — and whether you prefer single-pass or double-pass — buying two Bartons is a considerably cheaper experiment than buying one Erika's.

Widely stocked; check current listings at Amazon, and general NATO strap listings if you want to compare widths and colours.

A Zulu is the thicker, more rugged relative of the NATO: heavier nylon, chunkier rounded hardware — usually five rings rather than the NATO's squared buckle and keepers — and no under-case flap on the single-pass versions.

It is the right choice for a large tool watch that is genuinely going to be knocked about, and it is very cheap: serviceable examples run from around $5–$10. It is emphatically the wrong choice for anything polished or precious, because heavy nylon is the most abrasive material in this guide and the hardware is bulky enough to reshape how the watch sits.

Browse current listings at Amazon.

Buy a Crown & Buckle Supremein a single-pass construction, in your exact lug width, with brushed stainless hardware. At roughly $22–$45 it is the right balance of nylon quality and price for a watch you care about, and the single-pass construction keeps the spring-bar safety benefit without lifting the watch off your wrist.

Add an Erika's Originals MN if comfort is the priority and the watch is a sports piece — nothing else in the category wears as well. Buy Barton if you are experimenting, and a Zulu only for a watch you are genuinely prepared to mark.

And accept the trade honestly: a NATO will, over time, put fine marks on a polished case back. On a Tudor Black Bay or a Submarinerthat is part of the watch's life. On a precious-metal dress watch, use a leather strap instead — or a leather-backed NATO, which is the compromise that keeps everyone happy.