NATO straps in formal situations, yay or nay?

No.  /thread. 

I try to stay away from all "formal" situations, but I can't see how it would be acceptable if you care about those things.

No. Also, the bracelet is nice and quite adjustable and quiet if you want to dress this watch up a bit, as a suggestion. (Adrian at B&J hates it because if doesn’t taper like a Rolex bracelet, but keep in mind his job is to shill NATO straps which also don’t taper. He’s subtle about his product placements, so it’s hard to pick up if you’re not listening closely…)

yes, 99.99% of normal people will never look at your wrist.

remember, you are asking watch people who make wrist contact before eye contact. Out in the real world no one cares. 

Wrist contact before eye contact 😂

So true.

I would say that it looks weird with a suit and that’s the reason people will notice. I’d prefer it not to be on a nato. But hey. That’s just one man’s opinion. 

I think it highly depends on the Nato strap. I could maybe see a toned down single pass nato work in a formal situation. 

Too thick under the cuffs I think might be a bit uncomfortable, but thats me…

Traditionally no, but in today's day and age, probably exude big watch energy?

For me, formal situations mostly involve clients, co workers, presentations, conventions, etc. I would choose to not wear a watch at all vs wear one on a NATO with that crowd. They are more apt to notice details. If it was a nephew’s wedding or something with family…no, still wouldn’t do it. 😂

Nope, but NATOs are great for summer! Grey NATO & White dial = 🤩

Here is what I'm wearing today:

Technically no, but I have seen wedding photos with the bride wearing an apple watch so I don't think it matters any more. 

If it matches the colors of your outfit, why not?
As the people here say, most of them won´t notice. But if you follow a color scheme, like brown shows, brown belt and brown Nato f.e., imo it shows, you know what you do ;)

Do what you want and own it.  

I've said it before, but I used to have a consulting partner who wore a giant white GShock with a navy suit.  His energy/personality/confidence made it totally work.

Honestly, that grey nato on the white SMP300 looks SO cool. It all works together great. I don't know about others here, but I came away from the pandemic with the priority of ignoring other people's opinions about my happiness (obviously within reason). I used to search for pics online to see if models had tried a "look" or watch/strap combo before I had--If you like it, go for it. If you feel good, that should be validation enough!

Under most circumstances, most people won't notice your watch unless they are into watches themselves, or there is something that makes the watch stand out. If the watch looks out of place for any reason, people who otherwise may not notice it may end up noticing. I very seldom notice what clothing someone wears, but if someone is wearing clothes that obviously don't fit them, are extremely colorful, or that seem inappropriate for a situation, I'm much more likely to pay attention. I think it would be the same with watches - an obvious tool watch may go unnoticed on one person wearing jeans and a T-shirt, but may be what the eyes are subliminally drawn to if the person is otherwise formally dressed, and the watch seems to clash with the rest of the outfit.

With that said, it all depends on how comfortable you feel wearing something that is not considered "normal". There's nothing to stop you from wearing shorts with a suit jacket and tie, but if you do, be prepared for the reactions. There's a fine line between expressing your own individuality and looking like a weirdo.   I don't think that a NATO on that Omega would be out of place in a semi-formal setting, but the more formal the setting, the less appropriate it becomes.

Perhaps if you think it this way:

• Combat boots in formal situations YES / NO?
• Tactical trousers / jeans in formal situations YES / NO?

Everything has a place and a time.

It's funny, I put my watches on a nato when I go formal to dress them up because that's how I see them. Perhaps I have no class. 😁

If you had beach sandals that match the colours of your outfit would you wear them?

I assume you would say "Why on earth would I wear sandals with this outfit?"

Same applies to a NATO strap. In my personal opinion NATO straps with a suit are a big no no, unless you work in security and that's your work suit.

I must add, that outfit looks nice, even a simple not-too-expensive brown leather strap would do wonders in this situation.

Yep even with a Nato that is not the right size.  Probably depends on the person (or the watch). 

Sean Connery can pull it off but fat bald old guy in a Tux doesn't need one more thing that doesn't quite fit.

Would a dress watch on leather look better? Yeah, probably. 

Does it matter what watch "looks better"? Probably not. 

People wear no socks and/or white sneakers with suits these days. as long as 'you' can pull it off, who care. 

I wear grey nato with my grey/charcoal suits if I want to and with confidence :) 

Wear what you want.  It's your wrist.

That said, I always wonder what specific occasion the original poster is thinking of when they say suit and tie.  If we're talking after work drinks, wearing a nato with a suit is probably not going to matter one way or another.

But I can think of plenty other occasions where it's probably less reasonable to approach it from the perspective of "It's my wrist, I'll do what I want."

If it's my best friend's black tie wedding and he tells me to show up by his side suited and booted, wearing a Seamaster on a NATO in tails is going to get, at the very least, a couple of funny looks (unless of course he's into that kind of thing, then go hogwild).  

If I'm going in front of a university endowment finance committee to try and convince them to invest $100M in my investment firm, the last thing I want them looking at and thinking about is whether or not there's a seatbelt on my watch.

In the above cases, the sin isn't the NATO strap per se.  It's the fact that you're taking attention away from the actual business at hand (your friend getting married, you landing a massive career changing deal).  And for those who say that the watch should never matter that much...you're absolutely right, but for many scenarios that could go either way, sometimes it makes sense to not do anything to draw attention away from the thing you're actually trying to accomplish.  Only you can know whether that risk is worth it for the personal expression.

And you know what?  Some people can just roll with it with no impact.  Sean Connery can roll with it.  I once knew a guy with movie star good looks and no need to please anyone who could roll with it.  I'm neither of those guys.  Maybe you are.  If so, I'm envious.

So I guess maybe the modifier is, wear what you want but realize that what you want isn't always the point.

In my opinion, it depends on the quality or style of the NATO. I really like that bark And jack one you have, but perhaps a Haveston parade strap, which is a finer weave and is shiny. it can look pretty fancy! 
 

alternatively, you can put a Perlon nato strap on a watch and it can look classy too. Choose an all black or navy blue and it could look good! 

here is a seiko Alpinist on a perlon NATO - I’d wear it with a suit Tbh

You're exactly right on that. Style counts. People who notice details will understand the combo was intentional and coordinated. 

I also think that, if a watch is appropriate at all, then one's own regimental strap would always be acceptable.

I’m a yes.. everything has its place but I’ve seen some great examples of natos dressing really well with a suit / formal wear.. it’s all about how you wear it, and the colour is all important to making it work!

I will say nay. nato is fine for non dress watch.

What make/model grey NATO strap is that? It looks great.

I bought that one from EspritNATO/Select'Heure, since they were among the very few webshops that had standard NATOs for the Spirit's odd lug width of 21mm