Horological Meandering

Safari and PloProf Summer Strap changes :-)

I received a couple of straps today and wanted to share some pictures and how to's

First make sure you have a proper working surface and all the right tools - like this:

I have started with my AP Safari and wanted to switch from the standard hornback strap to one of the rubbers pictured below - quite a selection isn't it

Make sure you have a soft surface (in my case a large case cushion) that you can put your watch face on and 2 x 1.4mm screwdrivers

The Royal Oak Offshore straps are help by one long screw and a a nut the also has a screw head, as mentioned before both have a 1.4mm head - carefully place the watch on a soft surface and hold one screw in place with one screwdriver while you unscrew the nut on the other side...it would come in handy if one had three hands, what worked for me is holding the watch in place with the hand that you hold the screwdriver that you don't move...if that makes any sense ;-)

the end with the nut will come out far enough that you can pick it up with your fingers or tweezers - than push out the screw with a pin push - usually a spring bar tool has one - e voila the strap is off - do the same thing on the other side

next up the AP deployment clasp - the bar that holds the clasp in place is secured by a small screw as pictured below - again you can use a 1.4mm screwdriver to unscrew and push out the bar

Now that you have the strap and clasp of you can attach a new strap - basically reverse order of the above

well, I started with the white rubber - and while I wasn't sure about that color on the Safari I have to say I really like it...especially for summer, shorts and T-shirt kind of scenarios

next up the black strap - the first picture was taken half way thru the change process and I guess you would really have to be courageous to pull that off - LOL

while the black rubber absolutely works on the Safari I found it a little boring - so I moved on to the brown rubber strap, which I think is the best looking rubber strap for the Safari

Next up was my Omega PloProf and just looking at it I was a little intimidated by how the mesh was attached to the case with spring bars with very little room for error that might result in scratching the lugs - the space to fit in the spring bars is quite narrow so you need a small tip spring bar tool and a steady hand. The buckle on the other hand is very easy since there are holes where you can push the spring bars out. I like the fact that the mesh and the rubber share the same buckle

Next you need to cut the rubber to the same or at least similar length than the mesh bracelet - the pictures show the uncut strap, which I think would fit a 12" wrist

After changing it looked like this - again like with the white strap on the Safari - the orange one on the PloProf will be reserved for leisure wear and summer vacation scenarios

Thanks for reading and cheers
Rupert