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| Joined: | Sat Apr 11th, 2009 |
| Location: | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Posts: | 7504 |
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I have always wondered about the why and when to use the strap "Tubes" (that very rarely come standard on leather watch straps these days). This is just a wild guess on my part, but I suppose the tubes provide additional support to the leather strap by effectively distributing the push and pull of the lug bars against the strap?
I had strap tubes come on a Ted Su that I purchased for my Kampy and removed them as I kind of wanted the wire lugs of the Kampy to hang loose in that strap lug space.
Any of you Veteran WIS's know the why and when to use strap tubes? Do any of you have a preference one way or the other if given the choice of tubes or no-tubes?
Thanks,
Chris
Good question, Chris.
Here is my opinion...maybe not the answer....the tubes add stability to the pins or spring bars in the sense that they minimize excessive play of the spring bar/pins inside the "tunnel". You are right about the distribution. This is particularly a concern because many straps made today that are in excess of 3.5mm thick need to have a certain bend or inward curl at the lug end and with the thickness of the leather, it is inevitable that the "tunnel" created by the curl becomes fat. The tubes are an answer to that.
I just checked some of my straps for my dress watches and all of them have thin or narrow "tunnels" and this requires no need for tubes. I think the thinness of the leather for dress watches and the curl that the strap maker needs at the lug ends novates the need for tubes.
I also checked the spring bars of my Marine Masters and they are all "fatties" that no longer need a tube.
Of course, I can be corrected by anybody on 3T as I could be totally wrong.....this is just my opinion
