Welcome back to our magazine, dear friends of IWS! Today I am here to tell you a story, or rather “the story” of a piece of fabric that has become an icon of contemporary design, a flash of genius in a sad period that has marked history, a stunt that took place in a rather “unusual” sphere, that is, outside of any watchmaking laboratory, where those crazy watchmaking engineers who design, experiment and build work!
How can we define the word design? We can explain it by the following definition: “to achieve the maximum result with the minimum use of energy.” This case is a lapidary example of design.
Those who created this were not wearing white coats and latex gloves, but camouflage and amphibians. In short, you may have guessed that we are talking about the famous NATO strap. Well, today we are going to come across a rather interesting story, as if we were about to go inside a hostile forest, with our faces painted green, tight amphibians and a rifle drawn, hunting for information, clues, dates and secret codes.
Here, the imagery must be this!
The origins
I will warn the reader that this will be a somewhat aleatory narrative, reconstructed through testimonies, photos and of course found watches while the officially documented history, refers the birth of this strap back to 1973!
But let’s jump back in time, stopping in the early 1940s as World War II rages on. We are in Europe, and while the fighting is going on, the first technical tests and trainings are being initiated to establish the first special amphibious corps, which will have to operate in the shadows and whose task will be to sneak across enemy lines so that they can plant explosive charges at the bows of ships in order to sink them and thus weaken the enemy.
Famous were the “Frogmen” (a term coined by the British Army), who wore on their wrists the first subaqueous watches such as the Milsub (MIL-itary SUB-mariner), not fitted with a leather strap or a steel bracelet, but with a special elastic and very durable fabric, also used in parachutes of the time.
We are almost at the end of the wartime event when the U.S. military is equipped with wristwatches such as the infamous Hamilton Khaki or the Bulova A-11 Avigation, and guess equipped with which famous strap? The NATO you will say! Great, you guessed it, but it still does not have this name, rather it had a code by which it was called, namely, it was designated with 6B/2617. We can say that the style and mode of production was the same, single piece of fabric, heat-sealed and with metal buckles.
We come to 1954 when, the British Ministry of Defense, decided to equip the wrists of its troops with an IWC Mk11 “Navigator” (also called Pilot Watch), obviously with a 6B/2617 strap.
Later, the 6B/2617 strap is replaced with a new model, designated as A.F.0210. This new type of strap consists of a different, more durable fabric, as it was to be used in the jungle.
Before we get to the birth of our beloved NATO strap, we cannot fail to mention the strap called the VB Hygienique! Similar in workmanship to the NATO, it is made from treated cotton and without the brass buckles, which were supposed to hold the strap tab. The details that differentiate it from previous models and the classic NATO are the finish, i.e., it has stitching at the edges and not the classic heat-sealing. It also does not go through the lugs, covering the case back, but is anchored to them.
It is 1973, at the height of the Cold War, when the British Ministry of Defense, decided to employ a new type of strap for the watches that troops were to wear, namely the G-10. Of course, it was not the first of its kind, but the first to be officially documented. The first version of the G-10, was in “Grey Admiral” coloration, made of nylon with brass buckles.
You would certainly think that the name “NATO,” would have something to do with the North Atlantic Treaty, forged between the various member countries of the alliance, but that is not quite so! Actually, the name “NATO” comes from the alphanumeric code used in the British Ministry of Defense to identify all standardized material supply items, and thus to a coincidence due to the acronym NSN, or Nato Stock Number (NATO Assigned Unique Coding Number).
The design
We mentioned that its code name within the British armed forces was G-10, this was because soldiers had to fill out a form called G-1098 (later shortened to G-10) and therefore that form gave them the right to receive the strap and employ it on their timepiece.
Made from a single piece of gray nylon fabric, it has a width of 20mm and a length of 280mm. With chrome-plated brass fibers, it was intended to be indestructible, to absorb and retain liquids (water, sweat, blood, etc.), to be repellent against sand and soil, not to reflect sunlight, and to provide double security with the possibility of being extended if necessary, in case one had to wear a diving suit. Many soldiers also used it on the cuff of their uniform, in short, unknowingly imitating the unmistakable style of the Lawyer!
Final Thoughts
In short, it is quite evident that the NATO strap was intended only for supplying troops, thus for technical use only, but with the passage of time, given its high functionality and given its negligible cost, it began to be used in civilian settings as well. It quickly spread all over the world, in various shades, so that it could be matched with any wristwatch, to be used in any season, in any sphere and for any purpose, even going to the moon!
The NATO strap not only revolutionized the world of watchmaking, but also launched several fashions, such as vintage and secondhand military clothing, a trend that has persisted for more than 30 years. Many people wear camouflage jackets, olive green shirts, nylon belts, “aviator” sunglasses and black amphibians. In short, this style has brought the masses closer to the military, but not in a warlike sense. On the contrary, it made this aesthetic a testing ground for technical and stylistic innovation; for example, many military uniforms were revisited with peace symbols, flowers, and various ornaments sewn on the back.
Curiosities
The NATO strap made its first appearance on the silver screen in 1963 on the wrist of Sean Connery, playing secret agent 007 in the service of His Majesty, in the film “Goldfinger.” We mentioned that the strap in question is not officially documented until 10 years after its appearance in the said film. But how come?
So, it is believed that it was an attempt to imitate the famous “Frogmen” of the Royal Navy, as in one scene of the film, the secret agent 007, had to wear a diving suit and therefore the Rolex Submariner 6538 he had on his wrist was equipped with a steel strap, which was impossible to widen and wear over the wetsuit. Well, here was the flash of genius of a man who was part of the cast! The idea was to exchange the Rolex Submariner’s steel strap for his own (it was probably a watch previously used in the armed forces, consequently equipped with a “NATO” strap).
So, it was then chosen to continue to use the NATO strap for later scenes in the film; in fact, if we take a closer look at the film, James Bond wears the Rolex Submariner with NATO strap even with an elegant suit such as a white tuxedo, adorned with a red rose in the buttonhole. Pair it with everything? Absolutely!
Let’s not forget another James Bond who wore a NATO strap for the second time! We are talking about the very elegant Daniel Craig, who wears an Omega Seamaster 300 SPECTRE Limited Edition (with Lollipop seconds sphere), in the 007 SPECTRE movie of the same name.
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