Everest Watch Strap for Rolex
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Everest on A Blog to Watch |
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Everest Watch Bands produces a replacement Rolex watch strap made of thermoplastic rubber that is much more durable than silicon replacements and designed to work with Rolex sport watches exclusively. I have used various pre-production renditions of the Everest EH-1S strap on my Rolex GMT-C and reviewed the strap on Ariel Adam's A Blog to Watch back in September, 2012. The review on A Blog to Watch is posted here. A .pdf of the review is posted here. |
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The Thermoplastic Everest Strap |
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A quality rubber watch strap designed for Rolex sport watches is much better than other replacement straps such as NATO straps. The problems with other Rolex replacement straps are chronicled on the RubberB review page. Everest moved from silicon rubber to thermoplastic rubber on the EH-1S because it is much more durable, has more elasticity, and is not prone to weathering. The EH-1S strap will keep its color and elasticity much longer than silicon. |
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Another advantage of thermoplastic is that it does conform after some use. The top strap is a pre-production EH-1S thermoplastic model worn for a little more than a month. The bottom one is a new production Everest EH-1S thermoplastic rubber strap. |
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The production version of the Everest EH-1S strap also has a slight modification whereby the thermoplastic is slightly thicker where it connects to the Rolex clasp. The top strap is a pre-production version and the one below is the production version. |
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Even Rolex is eying Thermoplastic |
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Coincidentally while Everest was designing their EH-1S watch strap, Rolex filed for a patent on a thermoplastic strap published on October 3, 2102. Everest agonized whether to stay with a silicon rubber, or to move to thermoplastic. Rolex's patent certainly adds validity to Everest's decision to use thermoplastic. A .pdf of Rolex's thermoplastic patent documents is posted here. As illustrated in the drawing on the right, a thermoplastic strap requires design for tight tolerances and precision manufacturing. A mis-designed rubber strap is just as noticeable as a mis-designed stainless strap. Everest spent much design time insuring that the Everest design fits a Rolex watch head precisely. |
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Many people believe that these types of straps made by Everest, RubberB and other Swiss manufacturers just pop out of a mold. In fact, quality rubber straps are injected and every strap component requires some sort of handiwork. Every Everest EH-1S strap is hand finished, buffed, and inspected before release from production. After using a few pre-production versions of the Everest strap for Rolex, the release version EH-1S hits the mark. The Everest EH-1S strap is durable, does not show weathering, conforms to the wrist over time, and the black color looks like it was meant for the black face and black bezel of a Rolex GMT or Submariner. An Everest EH-1S watch strap for Rolex is orderable online here. |
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Update November 2013 |
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After a year producing Thermoplastic straps, Everest decided to have the straps made in Switzerland moving from Thermoplastic to vulcanized rubber. Vulanized rubber is more standard in the Swiss watch industry, and Thermoplastic was slow to produce in the United States. |
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The vulcanized rubber straps feel a little softer than Thermoplastic yet feels as durable. The vulcanized rubber will get a little patina on it after a few months, and the strap can be heated and molded to the wrist. The strap works and looks great on my GMT-C, and yes, it is fitted with a Glidelock clasp. |
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