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Old 28 February 2020, 01:19 AM   #1
beshannon
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Rubber B strap for Tudor Black Bay Bronze

I have always had a love hate relationship with the Tudor Black Bay Bronze.

I love the way it looks, my wife really loves the way it looks, it performs great, winds superbly, love the movement, power reserve, lume . . .



And yet it feels too big for my arm. The leather strap that comes with it is too short to be comfortable on my 6 5/8" wrist.



The NATO strap is great but the watch is heavy and never felt right on my wrist. While it did not move the cotton NATO feels overwhelmed by the weight.



So what to do? I purchased several third party straps from various sellers, my favorite being SNPR straps. Super high quality but expensive. The boars hide strap was the best and softest of the ones I have tried.



But the watch never felt right. Still, so I was rarely wearing it. That immediately makes it a candidate for the chopping block.

Finally I saw that Rubber B had released a strap for this watch and in Espresso Brown. I ordered based on their return policy and it arrived quickly, very well packaged with instructions, an eraser to restore color and warranty card.



The first thing I notice is that the strap is not as thick and lighter than it looks and what I thought it would be. For me this is a good thing. The color is subtle not too far toned in either direction, some might consider it boring.



The Tudor buckle fits perfectly and looks great. I am using my springbars (23mm) as none come with the strap.



The test fit on both sides is tight, perfectly tight. It took about 20 minutes of patient movement and a Bergeron tool to get the springbars to pop into place.



The fit is perfect, curved to the watch case with no play or gap at all.



Finally, the strap feels and wears great. For the first time this watch feels balanced on my wrist, the strap is comfortable, not stiff. The tail of the strap is a bit long but not overly so.



This strap from Rubber B may have saved this piece for my collection, I need to give it some additional wear time but I like what I have so far. For the money I feel this is a high quality addition to the watch. One of the reason I purchased this besides the looks (and my wife ) was the ability to change straps.

I recommend Rubber B based on this purchase.

Thanks for reading.
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Old 28 February 2020, 01:52 AM   #2
Flybak
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Hi Brian,

The strap looks great. Nice subtle colour that complements the colours of the dial, case and bezel insert nicely.

Thanks for the photos and write-up. One question, once the strap is firmly secured in, do you have direct access to the springbars when you want to remove them, or will you need to be careful about wedging the tool between the lug and strap to reach them? I'd like to see how the underside looks now that the straps are in place if you could post one
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Old 28 February 2020, 01:55 AM   #3
beshannon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Flybak View Post
Hi Brian,

The strap looks great. Nice subtle colour that complements the colours of the dial, case and bezel insert nicely.

Thanks for the photos and write-up. One question, once the strap is firmly secured in, do you have direct access to the springbars when you want to remove them, or will you need to be careful about wedging the tool between the lug and strap to reach them? I'd like to see how the underside looks now that the straps are in place if you could post one
Thanks

Yes you can see the small area to access the side of the springbar at the top (and bottom), there is a clear area to work, no wedging the tool unseen on the side like some straps

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Old 28 February 2020, 01:57 AM   #4
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Interesting!! It looks great!
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Old 28 February 2020, 02:10 AM   #5
kieselguhr
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Thanks for sharing Brian

I have been considering a rubber B or Everest strap for my own BB. I have the same wrist size as you and after a year of wear, it’s safe to say the fit of the BB oyster bracelet is a miss for me.
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Old 28 February 2020, 02:14 AM   #6
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Tudor makes an XL version of the leather strap for the BBB. I got one pretty quickly from the AD.
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Old 28 February 2020, 02:16 AM   #7
beshannon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jona View Post
Tudor makes an XL version of the leather strap for the BBB. I got one pretty quickly from the AD.
Yes correct and I originally thought about that. My frustration was with the original that was too short for a 6 5/8" wrist on a 43mm watch?

I did not feel like I should reward Tudor for such a poor merchandising choice.
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Old 28 February 2020, 02:40 AM   #8
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Looks good. The only other thing I’d add is to check out Combat Straps if you want anything else. They will make a strap out of anything you can imagine and fully custom to you as far as length and thickness.
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Old 28 February 2020, 03:53 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by beshannon View Post
Thanks

Yes you can see the small area to access the side of the springbar at the top (and bottom), there is a clear area to work, no wedging the tool unseen on the side like some straps

That's great, a simple design choice but so practical compared to some alternatives.

Enjoy the new look
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Old 28 February 2020, 03:57 AM   #10
beshannon
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Originally Posted by ArtNouveau View Post
Looks good. The only other thing I’d add is to check out Combat Straps if you want anything else. They will make a strap out of anything you can imagine and fully custom to you as far as length and thickness.
Thanks I am done with straps for this one.

If this does not work then I will move on.
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Old 28 February 2020, 04:01 AM   #11
moorery2001
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I think the black bay 58 band is brilliant also!
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Old 28 February 2020, 04:06 AM   #12
beshannon
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Originally Posted by moorery2001 View Post
I think the black bay 58 band is brilliant also!
Looks great
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Old 28 February 2020, 04:17 AM   #13
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Great write up. I can't really tell that it's a color other than black from the pics thoigh; I'll have to check it out on the Rubber B website. I'm a fan of Rubber B straps as well, despite the price. Owned a few. One thing I've found is that over time, the matte finish tends to turn shiny.
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Old 28 February 2020, 04:36 AM   #14
beshannon
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Quote:
Originally Posted by imperio View Post
Great write up. I can't really tell that it's a color other than black from the pics thoigh; I'll have to check it out on the Rubber B website. I'm a fan of Rubber B straps as well, despite the price. Owned a few. One thing I've found is that over time, the matte finish tends to turn shiny.
Well it is called Espresso Brown, not sure how else to display the color other than in the images I already posted
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Old 28 February 2020, 09:12 AM   #15
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Well done review, I am now very tempted to buy one, before this review I had never heard that there were rubber options for the BB Bronze.


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Old 29 February 2020, 04:02 AM   #16
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Well done review, I am now very tempted to buy one, before this review I had never heard that there were rubber options for the BB Bronze.


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I'd recommend! I own a very different Rubber B strap and I love it. However, just know that there are other good options for volcanized rubber straps with curved lugs that fit Tudor and Rolex watches.
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Old 21 June 2020, 08:09 PM   #17
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That leather strap!

Great review. The original leather strap that came with the original brown dial BBB is a bust. I’m on my second fabric strap now. Fit of the watch on a 7.5 inch wrist is great, but bronze is heavy and the fabric strap is, well fabric. And so it doesn’t work for some applications (like golf!). To actually liberate the amazing dive watch the BBB could be, you must go rubber.

Any photos of a brown dial BBB with a black strap?
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Old 22 June 2020, 02:54 AM   #18
MickCollins1916
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That espresso color looks very nice against the bronze. Good pickup and detailed review.
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Old 22 June 2020, 03:24 AM   #19
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I wear my bronze on a Barton beige strap which gives a good contrast.
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Old 22 June 2020, 09:22 AM   #20
Driftwood
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Op What is wrong with the oem leather strap it comes with? I wear mine all the time with this strap, I agree with the nato strap assessment..
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Old 22 June 2020, 09:07 PM   #21
beshannon
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Op What is wrong with the oem leather strap it comes with? I wear mine all the time with this strap, I agree with the nato strap assessment..
The OEM strap is too short for my wrist and IMHO it is too short for the diameter of the watch. I indicated this in my opening post.
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Old 22 June 2020, 11:47 PM   #22
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The rubberb and that color goes very well with that watch. Hope its a keeper now!!
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Old 31 August 2020, 10:14 AM   #23
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Anyone have a picture of the Rubber B navy blue strap with the Bucherer Black Bay Bronze? It says it’s navy blue on the website but on some of their pictures, it appears to be bright blue. Just wondering if somebody has seen in the flesh on their BBBB?


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