The return of the King in Yellow

One of the better pairing in my collection is the one with the SNA411 and a bright yellow rubber band from Archer. It's a combination that never fails to make me smile, with one small caveat: The Archer strap is made of silicon and not rubber, which isn't the best material to have against your skin when it's hot and you are sweating.

So I decided to find a similar strap made from FKM rubber, and was faced with the usual problem of finding suitable 21mm straps, I did manage eventually, but not exactly.

Well firstly, I found not one 21mm strap but two, both are Dassari FKM straps that I bought from Strapsco. However none of them was what I wanted exactly. The first is very different in style from the Archer but is indeed very yellow, while the other is closer in look but is red.

Those of you who never had the occasion to swap straps on a Flightmaster can get an idea of how much of a pain in the bottom it is. The lugs are not only of an odd distance, they are also ridiculously short, and therefore there are straps that can't fit in despite being 21mm. Luckily this time was not the case and the magic of quick release made it relatively painless.

The first strap that I tried was the one in red. The grooves are there to help keep the skin aired and dry with better ventilation.

The top is nicely flat and smooth.

FKM rubber is a bit weird. It's comfortable to wear despite being a bit less pliable than silicone and closer to vulcanized rubber. However it doesn't feel at all like vulcanized rubber, or silicone and it's not as elastic. It's also slicker to the touch than both. It's a great material for watches' straps, but don't expect it to behave or feel like rubber or silicone.

But IDK if red is a good match, I thought it would tie in but there's not enough red on the bezel to convince me that it does. Let's try the yellow FKM.

The Yellow color of the Dassari FKM is identical to Archer's silicone strap but the design could not be more different.

It's also a lot thicker, even without taking into account the raised central portion.

Does it look more stylish? I'm not so sure because I rather liked the plain and flat look of the Archer.

I'm also undecided about the comfort. FKM is a great material, but did it really have to be so thick?

I'll keep it as it is for today, but I somehow suspect that this is one of the cases where silicone will win over FKM.