Surprisingly, one of the more visited posts on this site is the Ownership Report for the Bonetto Cinturini Zuludiver 328 Rubber NATO Strap. Being that I had only just taken delivery of the strap when I wrote that post 9 months ago, I thought it might be good to check in and update my findings, and I'm happy to report the strap is as good or better than I had hoped.
Especially once I picked up a Seiko SKX013, this strap has seen almost constant weekend duty, every bit of yard and pool work I've done all year, any bit of swimming, including a sweat and sunscreen covered weekend on a house boat for a bachelor party, and plenty of camping, hiking, and gym time. I recently went to change the Seiko back to its bracelet but couldn't bring myself to do it knowing I had more yard work to do the coming weekend. It's difficult to really sing praises of such a passive accompaniment to a watch, but the wear-ability and clean-ability of this strap is fantastic. When overseeding my lawn (we actually have to switch to winter grass in Arizona, it's weird), I was absolutely filthy and covered in dust, grass clippings, mulch and sweat for two days straight and I slipped the grime-caked strap off the watch and rinsed it off, rubbing a few areas with my thumb and it was as good as new.
With plenty of chlorine and sunscreen pool time the strap hasn't discolored, dried out, weakened or really shown any signs of wear. There isn't any stretch or scuffs or even any indentations from the buckle, it really just keeps going strong. I know it's only been 9-10 months, and it really is just a watch strap, but the next time I'm in the market for another rubber strap, Bonetto Cinturini's options will be the first I seek out.
The only thing that I would maybe change has more to do with the watch it's on, and that's that it does cause the already thick Seiko to sit high on the wrist being double backed as a traditional NATO. This is pretty minor, and at least it serves the function of keeping the watch on my wrist while swimming should a spring bar break. If you want something slimmer BC does offer plenty of single pass or two piece options as well.
The rubber definitely sits a little thicker than a traditional nylon NATO making a thick watch sit even higher.
So, if you're in the market for a good, versatile NATO or rubber strap, look no further than the Bonetto Cinturini options. As always, thanks for reading, and if you have any questions or comments, please leave them below.