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Elliot Brown Rubber Watch Strap | Tested

Our favourite near indestructible watch gets a new outdoors-friendly, pure rubber strap that resists both odour and irritation.

We’ve been using Elliot Brown’s classy and nigh-on indestructible Canford watch for a year or so now and it’s stood up to everything we’re thrown at it – or from. It’s survived ejection from a second floor window, a trip through the washing machine and been used to suspend body weight, but the original webbing strap had one major flaw, it stank after sweaty outings…

So while the chunky watch was more than happy with walking, running and mountain biking, it attracted quizzical, nose-twitching attention in in post-outingpubs and cafes, ooops…

Enter Elliot Brown’s new rubber strap. It’s not just any rubber strap this. It took a year to design. It’s made from EPDM, which is comfortable, non-sticky, hypo-allergenic and resistant to seawater and UV.

‘On the inside of the strap is moulded a set of contour lines from Tyneham Cap on the Isle of Purbeck, complete with spot height figures’

The strap’s moulded to fit the watches perfectly – and it does – the strap ends are invisibly reinforced with moulded nylon inserts to stop the pins tearing through. The upper edges have a 45˚ chamfer to help the watch slide easily under your cuff without snagging.

On the inside of the strap is moulded a set of contour lines from Tyneham Cap on the Isle of Purbeck, complete with spot height figures. They’re there not just for decoration, but to help the strap flex and stop water collecting.

And the buckle was redesigned four times until it was perfectly shaped to meet the strap and sit in line with its curves. It’s held on with screw-in pins rather than the usual spring-bar fitting. Finally, overall length has been optimised to suit the average wrist and minimise the amount of strap sticking out.

The buckle is a work of art in itself. Subtly curved to match the strap and held in by screw-pins for added strength. It's backed up wth two rings and utter secure. Looks great too in a chunky, designed way - image: Jon.

The strap is designed to flow seamlessly into the lines of the watch body giving a super clean look - image: Jon

The inner surface feature moulded contour lines from the Isle of Purbeck, an EB favourite - image: Jon

Elliot Brown Rubber Strap – Performance

We loved the Action Man look of our original webbing strap, but we didn’t get on quite so well with the post-exertion odour. The new rubber strap’s sorted that full stop. Our Olive Drab test strap keeps the restrained, outdoor chic, but with added practicality.

It fits perfectly to the watch – you need a watchmaker’s screwdriver, preferably two to attach it – and is a perfect complement to our average-sized wrist. The buckle (gunmetal in this case) works flawlessly and sits just right on the strap and we found it instantly comfortable, even more so than the webbing version.

All the little touches work. It slips easily under a cuff. The wavy contour lines moulded into the inner surface look great. Everything is super secure, important with a relatively heavy watch that tends to bounce around with movement. We’ve had no issues with itching or unpleasant sweatiness either.

And arguably most importantly of all, our watch strap no longer smells after a long run or mountain bike outing. Result!

Verdict

The Elliot Brown rubber strap certainly isn’t cheap at £50, but it’s one heck of a watch-strap. Superbly detailed, flawlessly practical and available in a choice of colours to suit your watch and tastes, it’s made our Canford even more practical in the outdoors.