# Strap suggestions for BM8180-03E



## Sir-Guy

Hey all,

I recently grabbed one of these 37mm field watches and I like it. Its lug width is 18mm. Anyone have thoughts on what would be a good strap(s) to check out for it?

I like water resistance, so I am open to water resistant leather, rubber, or silicone.



















Thanks for your thoughts and for those who suggested this one!


----------



## Man of Kent

I had one on a 20mm nato. Doesn't look too pinched. If you can find 19mm that would be great. 18mm straps are too narrow for most guys.


----------



## arogle1stus

Sir Guy:
I'd go with an 18mm Silicone.
Planning on buying a Promaster after Christmas. $142.00 at the Zon.
I've made a late course correction, shifting from Seiko autos to Citizen
quartzies. EcoDrive of course. Cornerstone of my Citizen is the EcoZilla.

X Traindriver Art


----------



## happyjaya

I think Timex has a lot of strap in 18mm size. you can browse in the bay


----------



## Munchie

I just put it on a black leather strap.


----------



## Sir-Guy

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I like the leather, @Munchie. I'm glad the dial on this is black, which I think helps with versatility with straps.


----------



## EpochClock

The BM8180-03E was my go to watch for a while, and I've got a few different NATO straps for it. They all have a base color of black, and then have either grey, red, or both stripes mixed in. The red paired well with the second hand.

Old picture of mine as an example here:
https://www.watchuseek.com/f905/citizens-members-lets-see-your-citizen-348783-203.html#post43706159


----------



## Sir-Guy

Interesting NATO choice, thanks for the idea! All of my NATOs are 20mm, so I have a bit of shopping to do for 18mm straps for this thing.


----------



## longsk8

At $63.99 that's about the best deal in the watch world. I always wear mine on 18mm nato straps, but I've seen it on all sorts around here. I have black, blue, red, and grey straps for it, all work well. I do wish it had 20mm lugs, but otherwise a solid watch.


----------



## Sine80

I went 1mm up, but I'm not sure if you can go 2mm up. I like leather, but if you want something water resistance maybe it's better to go with silicone. It looks good with the original one.


----------



## BabyJoe

I would personally try a black perlon or a black silicon/rubber strap.

FYI, here's what it looks like on a bond nato:










http://imgur.com/cH68ars


----------



## Sir-Guy

That looks pretty good @BabyJoe. I think I want to lean away from a NATO for this one, but I’m having trouble finding a good casual black leather strap that doesn’t dress up this watch more than it ought! Any suggestions for a brand of silicon or rubber?


----------



## Sir-Guy

Hey guys,

I ended up going (for now, anyway) with a Barton silicone quick-release. Seems nice for summer. Initial impressions are that it's a nice value!

The package even came with two different lengths on one side, which was cool of them.










Thanks for the suggestions, guys. Leather is in the future but I will try this for now. Honestly, I think the main reason I wanted to change was to get away from the green to black. The green was a bit too loud and wasn't as versatile with clothes.


----------



## dgaddis

I've got mine on a NATO from NATOStrapCo dot com. I have three, a green (pictured), black, and a gray.


----------



## Sir-Guy

This watch seems fairly versatile with strap changes.

I put it on this brown leather today. Changes the look quite nicely, I think!

Here with its cousin, a hand-winding Hamilton.



















I think it looks okay, but I welcome any feedback!


----------



## fish70

I've gotten my Dad two of these (he lost the first one.) He loves the OEM strap


----------



## Bobo383

Nice looking watch & strap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro


----------



## Hautbois

I changed the strap on mine to a black leather NATO, slicing off the second part of the strap so it's a single strap under the case. It really changes the look and feel of the watch; I reckon it's sufficiently monochrome like this that it would look ok with a suit. I'd now grade it level 7 on my Clothing Formality Scale where 1 = gardening / painting and 10 = morning suit / ceremonial uniform.

I also added an adhesive face protector, which is pretty much invisible.


----------



## Sir-Guy

Thanks for the comment, @Hautbois. That looks pretty good to me. Mind sharing the info on the screen protector? I have two of these 8180s and one already has a little scratch on the crystal.

Right now I have one on a black leather strap, and the other on a NATO.


----------



## Hautbois

Screen protector - if you search online for 30mm watch screen protector you'll see what's available. 
There seem to be 2 types: tempered glass ones, 0.2-0.3mm thick, a similar material to what you'd get for a mobile phone screen; and adhesive film ones which are very very thin. 

I bought some of the latter, made by a brand called Savvies - less than £3 for a pack of 6. I've only had the watch for a week so I've no idea how long the protector will last before it starts looking tatty, but hopefully it'll stop the smaller scratches from day to day wear. We'll see. I doubt it would stand up to more acute impacts though - you'd need a thicker glass one for that.


----------



## EcoMyDrive

Man of Kent said:


> I had one on a 20mm nato. Doesn't look too pinched. If you can find 19mm that would be great. 18mm straps are too narrow for most guys.


I put a cool looking green Nato strap on mine. It cost around £8 UK. Also worth investing a a screen protector as it's not as scratchproof as some.


----------



## EcoMyDrive

dgaddis said:


> I've got mine on a NATO from NATOStrapCo dot com. I have three, a green (pictured), black, and a gray.


Iv got a similar strap in mine. Looking good dude....


----------



## EcoMyDrive

Hey peeps I got this watch brand new for just over £15 and the strap on e bay for around £8


----------



## Sir-Guy

Thought I'd pop back into this thread with an update. Since my original post I grabbed another BM8180-03E, on an even better Amazon sale price than the first one.  (I actually got a third one at that time, and gave it to a friend.)

So. Here's how I have them these days. I keep one on a two-piece leather strap (Barton, quick-release), and the other on a one-piece strap (Eulit perlon). If I want to change straps, it's easier to swap on the one whose spring bar situation is already set up. (So if I want another one-piece, I changed the one that's already on it, as an example.)

Anyway, this particular pair is working for me right now. Great little watches for sure, and highly recommended.


----------



## VidentCælum

I beat the living crap out of this watch and I kept breaking bands. I didn't want to lose it, so I went steel. It's hard to match metal, but I found one that matches well enough. Four straight years of daily, all-activity wear and going strong.


----------



## raptorx

VidentCælum said:


> I beat the living crap out of this watch and I kept breaking bands. I didn't want to lose it, so I went steel. It's hard to match metal, but I found one that matches well enough. Four straight years of daily, all-activity wear and going strong.
> 
> View attachment 16667212
> 
> 
> wow how do you manage to have so many dings/scratches on the fixed bezel and not a scratch mark on the mineral glass?


----------



## VidentCælum

Oh, there are plenty of scratches. The lighting just hid them in the photo. If they made this watch with harder glass, it would be a "buy it for life" situation for me.


----------



## nuhobby

VidentCælum said:


> Oh, there are plenty of scratches. The lighting just hid them in the photo. If they made this watch with harder glass, it would be a "buy it for life" situation for me.


And if you want to replace that crystal, it's diameter 31.8mm. Great watch!


----------



## VidentCælum

nuhobby said:


> And if you want to replace that crystal, it's diameter 31.8mm. Great watch!


Um... I never considered that I could replace the glass! Thank you for the suggestion and measurement!


----------

