Straps are the single easiest way to customise a watch. Forget dropping serious money on a bespoke diving bezel with your family colour and personal font all over it, you can make a bigger change in the five minutes it takes you to switch from a stainless-steel bracelet to a funky-coloured NATO strap. And while there are almost as many strap options out there as there are watches, one of the most underrated is, in horological terms at least, one of the newest: the sailcloth strap.
The idea of a sailcloth strap is to offer the kind of rugged utilitarianism you most generally associate with NATO and Zulu canvas numbers, but in the form of something, you know, comfortable. While it’s not actually made from ship sails, it’s pretty close. It has all the innate benefits of the same material – waterproofness, practicality and a distinctive, textured look – but without potentially rubbing on your delicate wrists.
The fact that sailcloth straps are also shaped like their leather counterparts also means they suit a much, much wider variety of watches. Basically, if you want that fine balance between adventure-ready ruggedness and wearability, sailcloth is a particularly tempting option. But where did it come from? Sailcloth doesn’t have a storied history like many bracelets or straps. In fact, it was only created in 1970 by the same watchmaker that all but defined the modern dive watch: Blancpain. The Swiss maison was looking for a material that wouldn’t discolour, wouldn’t fray and, given the innate elegance of the Fifty Fathoms, would look good at the boat club, post regatta.
Their solution? A two-part strap made of woven Kevlar. Yes, the same Kevlar that’s often used in bulletproof vests – although you can also find it in things like bicycle tyres, so its element-resistant properties aren’t limited to life-or-death situations. It became an instant success, in its own (admittedly smaller) circles as influential as the Fifty Fathoms it was accessory to. It helps that you can still find original Fifty Fathoms from the 1970s with their Kevlar straps alive and well. If that’s not an endorsement of its utilitarian credentials, I don’t know what is.
These days sailcloth straps are more popular than ever. They’re still a pocket pick compared to, say, a calfskin or rubber number, but they’re popular enough that there are even ‘sailcloth-effect’ versions where that textured pattern is stamped into rubber, rather than genuine sailcloth. There are versions with leather backs for comfort, woven of various rugged materials and in almost as many colour combinations as the humble NATO. Needless to say, many a strap maker will dabble in sailcloth these days.
But given the particularities of the material, not all are created equal. Which brings us to Northstar Straps.
Founded all the way back in the halcyon days of… 2023, Northstar Straps have carved a niche for themselves by specialising in sailcloth. And honestly, I’ve not come across better, which, as a big fan of these kinds of straps, is saying something.
Take their purest form, the aptly named Classic. The strap is made from Oxford sailcloth fabric with its signature woven texture, combined with prominent stitching to both keep everything tight and looking great doing it. The backing however is made from natural rubber – caoutchouc, better known as latex – which keeps your wrist cool, perfect for warm weather. It’s a solid combination, but could it go even further? Apparently so.
The Hybrid.FKM has the same sailcloth upper as the Classic, but amps up the rubber. Not only does it have a natural rubber lining, but the edges are also protected by the same material. Even the keepers are rubber. Essentially, every part of the strap that might touch your skin is in cool, tactile rubber, amping up the comfort while keeping the signature sailcloth look.
Both the Classic and the Hybrid however opt for a simple pin buckle, which personally I always prefer. But if you’re more into the safety and ease of a deployant clasp, the Northstar Deploy range has you covered. With reinforced pinholes on top of everything else and a perfectly machined clasp, it’s the next level up in both practicality and prestige.
Finally, if you just want to go full rubber, there’s the FKM deploy, which stamps the texture into a full FKM strap and throws in a deployant clasp. The result is a great-looking, incredibly flexible strap in a range of brighter, sportier colours than most true sailcloth pieces.
There’s a reason a watchmaker as renowned in the diving sphere as Blancpain came up with the sailcloth strap. The balance of practicality and comfort, adventure-laced aesthetics and wearability has made it one of the most versatile (and tragically underutilised) straps out there. And if you’re thinking sailcloth, there are far, far worse places to start than Northstar.
More details at Northstar.
