Likely it was modified to be single-pass - then you can loop it under your wrist.

The clutter is grinding at my soul. Why do I have so many straps anyway? And why do I feel compelled to buy even more?

I'm asking myself the very same question. No answer, though! 😂

No one talks about the ancilliary cost and madness of accumulating straps that begets collecting watches.

Indeed. I've probably paid 1000+ EUR on nylon straps alone. It's another expensive aspect of the hobby.

But based on comments I've read for years around this issue, I get the impression most people feel the opposite way, taking Seiko to task for problems on $400 watches while giving luxury brands costing several thousand dollars a pass.

That's an interesting take. I'm guessing another reason why problems with cheaper watches get discussed more is that those are sold in a lot bigger numbers.

The more we spend, the more we have to convince ourselves we made the right choice, and the more we will rationalize away even the obvious flaws and find ways to turn them into positives, saying things like "this is a finely tuned piece of engineering that needs more attention than a mass-market appliance" despite it not actually performing any better than mass-market appliances. We're funny that way...

True that. Almost every time I watch reviews of more expensive watches I'm amused by some of the "virtues" extolled by the reviewers. Everyone's trying to justify why something's quite expensive for no objective reasons, other that people are willing to pay the asking price...

When I think about it, I've had some (small) issues with almost every watch I've bought since I got into watch collecting and I'm often wondering is this just one giant waste of time and money. 😂

Don't get me wrong, though. I still like Seiko and in this particular instance I was amused that they managed to mess up 3 things on the same watch. None of them are particularly obvious, so I don't care much. And returning a cheap what I bought online from the US simply doesn't make sense - between the import fees I paid and the shipping from Europe to the US I'd rather keep the watch as it is. I was aware of the risk, so that's OK.

I also had to return a brand new Tudor once, so I can totally relate. (in my case the movement was very problematic)

I think Erika's are absurdly overpriced. But it's more than I'm comfortable spending to compare it against cheaper MN straps. 😬

Almost everything in the watch hobby is quite overpriced. 😄 I do have 3 straps by Erika and I totally love them, though. After trying a few cheaper vendors I'm confident that no one has the same high-quality materials at a lower price point. Before I tried her straps I was perfectly content with "The Watch Steward", though.

The best nylon material I’ve tried comes from Crown and Buckle (standard and premium natos), Singular Straps (nato premium), and Phenomenato.

I'm a big fan of C&B and Phenomenato (now Phenome Straps). C&B have broader selection, but Phenome makes the best seatbelt natos (they are almost Omega quality), and more importantly for me - they have the nicest dimensions. As their straps are longer they buckle normally sits exactly in the center on your wrist, which I love. (Omega does the same with their natos)

WatchBandit / WristPorn also have great nato straps - I'd say they probably have the best price / quality ratio (and the most fun hardware).

I don't like ribbed and tubular nylon - to me it feels and looks very cheap and I think there you're getting more or less the same quality at every price point, with the only difference being the hardware. I wear seatbelt natos almost all the time and occasionally nylon + cotton natos, which are softer to the touch than ribbed/tubular nylon.

All-in-all premium nylon straps are definitely very expensive, but the prices of watches and Apple (with Apple Watch straps) have conditioned me to pay more for them than I'd have ever paid 5 years ago. 😂

Natos and MN straps are definitely my go-to straps, especially in the warmer months of the year.

Mine has a pretty low amplitude so I'm guessing it's not just a matter of regulation, but I'll sort this out at some point. Not a big drama - just a part of the hobby. :-) If we didn't want to deal with such stuff we'd all be wearing Casios and smartwatches, right? 😀