You would really need to be tugging at your watch with a focused intent to rip the strap off it to have a spring bar fail ….
In my 30+ years of watch wearing from cheap TIMEX to Middle of the range OMEGA’s all the way to daily wear and extreme rough handling G Shocks, I’ve never had a spring bar break or fail. I’ve had some Plastic G shock straps perish and snap but never a spring bar.
Most top end deep dive analog watches still use spring bars and I imagine if you’re ever gonna worry about losing a watch, deep diving would be the epitome of extreme anal twitch action.
In saying all that, I appreciate that brands like TUDOR need a degree of product separation and identity so having something like this in their portfolio allows for that. It is a nice looking watch but as some others have stated, the FXD ( Fixed bar ) design is just impractical in the real world and disallows strap choice and ease of use. For those that love NATO’s. ( I hate them with a passion ) I can see how exciting this product is for them. Horses for courses….
Two in combat. I think one was hung up on exit of a vehicle under fire and one in a clearance op. I also lost one in a selection course while messing around in heavy woods. I think a tree wanted it more than I did. Could have been a buckle issue, but only the tree knows.
I'm part of another tool watch forum and you see spring bar failures from time to time. I have police friends that lost watches while fighting suspects and getting caught jumping fences.
I am not a fan of the NATO strap. I have seen many places that make the single pass 22mm FXD strap, Zealande, Bulang & Sons, Erika's, and more.
I do enjoy many of my watches with spring bars but think the fix bar is just something that provides a peace of mind when pushing the limits. Now that I am in an office job, the only time I push the limits is when doing yard work!
