Last Saturday I went to the AD to check out the new Omega Nato straps and they only one they had in was from the new model Speedmaster with the presentation box. The salesman reaches beneath the counter and pulls out a giant box that was probably a foot and a half wide! This thing was huge. It was so big that another couple that was looking at Tissot's came over to ask why the box was so large. After the salesman removed the paper sleeve we had a look at the outer box.



That monster opens up to revel this box



Inside are all the straps I was interested and some other goodies.



On to the straps....

I really wanted to see the black coated nylon like this:


The only Nato they had was an all black version of this strap:


I really like the look of the coated nylon better and nylon keepers wouldn't scrap against my desk the way the five ring Natos do. That said it was a really nice Nato strap. The strap felt just as strong as any other Nato I've felt before, however it felt much softer to the touch. Is that softness worth $200+? It's hard to say. I'll probably pop for the coated nylon when it's available (back ordered until June 2015) but only because I haven't found a similar strap like it that's just right. The cheap Natos don't quite do it for me. I have a GasGaBones strap on another watch but I don't really like the Velcro closure. I really liked the Hirsch Kevlar strap but it didn't seem to be very high quality. The black started wearing off the leather keepers really quickly and the deal breaker was how fast the edges started to fray. I also tried a Hadley Roma Cordura strap. It didn't have any fraying issues but it was never very comfortable.

We have a Omega boutique on the other side of town and I'll see if they have the strap I'm after in stock.