# Amfibia strap suggestions?



## Jason89 (Mar 8, 2018)

Hi everyone,

the most recent addition to my small watch collection is a Vostok amfibia. Not much to say other than its brilliant! My only concern is it seems the spring bars don't appear to be great quality. I'm debating about purchasing another strap (18mm width) and I am open to suggestions. It's currently on a rubber strap, whilst I do like the strap I'm happy to change it up to add a personal twist to the watch.

Does anyone have any suggestions? And also do new straps tend to come with spring bars? apologies for my potentially naive questions. Up until now I've only ever bought watches, I've never replaced straps.

This is the amfibia currently


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## Cutting edge (Jan 26, 2018)

NATO straps can look good on the Vostok Amfibia. I like the ones made by Phoenix, which are good quality if a little bit more expensive than some others (but still not costly). They usually come with spring bars, but these are often of doubtful quality. Most high street watch shops will have decent spring bars for not very much, or get some of the ones on Amazon that get lots of good reviews.


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

Sorry @Jason89 your pic is not working for me. Some of the Amphibian models have sharp edges on the underside that are quite close to the spring bars, so unless you file them down a bit they can catch on a thicker strap. Here's some of mine.






































The last one required filing to get the strap to fit.


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## Jason89 (Mar 8, 2018)

Hey guys, thanks for your replies. @WRENCH I'm not sure why my picture hasn't worked. I've not had much luck posting images ha, I started with photobucket and then post image having found out that photbucket didn't work :-/

You have some lovely examples tho so thanks for sharing them. One thing I'm curious about is the bezel. The bezel on my watch doesn't click as I rotate it, is this the case with all of them?


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

Jason89 said:


> Hey guys, thanks for your replies. @WRENCHthe bezel on my watch doesn't click as I rotate it, is this the case with all of them?


 The bezel is "friction" as opposed to a click ratchet type in most dive watches. It works well, and bezel changes are easy.


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## hughlle (Aug 23, 2015)

I'd personally go with a NATO even though I am not a fan of them at all. I have tried numerous options, but just don't feel that leather works with the 18mm lugs, while natos look much better.


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## relaxer7 (Feb 18, 2016)

When buying a Vostok I always stick it on a NATO and swap the bezel (easiest job ever. Pop off, click on) :thumbs_up:


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## Chromejob (Jul 28, 2006)

Jason89 said:


> This is the amfibia currently


 Welcome, Jason. The pic didn't work, try looking through this thread for some tips:

http://xflive.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?/topic/103087-how-to-post-a-picture-on-the-forum-new-for-2016/&do=embed

Generally, the "free" spring bars provided by some are going to be worth about what you pay for: little or nothing. Fear not, there are vendors like Cousins and O. Frei who sell first quality spring bars.

I have a thread on a DIY conversion of a G10 ("NATO") strap to an old fashioned single strap with cloth keeper. If you find one you like but you don't like the secondary strap (and the buckle ends up on the side of your wrist), a conversion is pretty easy. Practice on some cheap straps you don't care about before converting a good one.

http://xflive.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?/topic/81588-making-a-1960s-raf-style-strap-from-a-modern-g10-nato-style-strap/&do=embed

I also recommend *Phoenix* (Mickie500 on ebay) for first quality straps. Phoenix was and I believe still is a MoD supplier. He/they also offer bunches and seconds on eBay that can save you some money; also overruns from private contracts. I have some lovely ones fr. an Italian contract. *Maratac* is another good brand.

Another type of nylon strap gaining popularity are thicker, "seatbelt" weave straps.

Beware of all the cheapies on eBay, may are from abroad, seem to have craptastic dying/printing on them, and barely satisfactory hardware.



hughlle said:


> I'd personally go with a NATO even though I am not a fan of them at all. I have tried numerous options, but just don't feel that leather works with the 18mm lugs, while natos look much better.


 Entirely possible to go with leather. What helps is "notching" the strap by cutting off a wee bit from the lug area so that you have a "fitted" appearance. Here's a before and after of my original, an attempt with a Timex-type replacement strap, and another cheap strap I bought at Target that makes my Vostok look much more substantial.


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## Jason89 (Mar 8, 2018)

Thanks for everyone's input it's much appreciated, the video regarding bezel changes was great and I may just have to do a bit of experimenting. Time to find myself a nato strap I think too!

Its a shame about the pictures, I managed to upload a few on an introduction thread. I thinking the hosting sites must be a bit temperamental. Nevertheless I shall have a read of the images thread for some tips and try again :biggrin:


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## Foxdog (Apr 13, 2011)

Heres mine on yellow


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## Jason89 (Mar 8, 2018)

Just a quick update- after a little thought I have opted for a handmade leather strap from a seller on eBay called lawr389. The straps he had for sale unfortunately weren't the right size for my amphibian so I sent him a message to see if he could make one for me. He replied quickly saying that it was no problem and he would be in touch when it was ready. That brought me to yesterday when I received a message saying it was ready. This is the finished product:



















When it arrives I will post a picture of it on the watch.

This is the watch at the moment. I'm hoping the blue thread on the strap will compliment the second hand nicely


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## Jason89 (Mar 8, 2018)

The handmade strap arrived and this is how it looks, I think it works well.


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

Chromejob said:


> I have﻿ a ﻿thread ﻿on a DI﻿Y co﻿﻿nv﻿ers﻿ion﻿ of a G﻿10 ("NAT﻿O")﻿﻿ str﻿a﻿p﻿


 Good tip using the coin to finish off the end. Simple ones are always the best. :thumbsup:


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## Jason89 (Mar 8, 2018)

Following on from this topic, now that I have changed the strap I'm going to have a go at changing the bezel. @WRENCH posted a very informative video on how to do so. Can anyone recommend a good place to purchase bezels? I've had a look on meranom and zenitar on eBay but not really seen anything that's grabbed my attention. Ideally I'm after a brown/bronze colour which will match the strap.

Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated.


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

Jason89 said:


> Any﻿﻿ recommendati﻿ons﻿﻿ would﻿ be greatly﻿ appreciat﻿ed.﻿


 Have a search on eBay and etsy. I was looking recently, but the usual sellers don't seem to have them. Also, if I can find it, the bezel you have already in your watch may be chromed brass. I polished the chrome off and it turned out ok. I'll post a pic of I find the bezel. :thumbsup:

Here's one someone else did.


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## Jason89 (Mar 8, 2018)

WRENCH said:


> I polished the﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿ chrome off and it turned out ok. I'll post a pic of I find the bezel. :thumbsup: ﻿﻿﻿﻿


 That looks fantastic, exactly the look I'm after! Might be a stupid question but how did you polish the chrome off? I'm guessing just an abrasive of some sort?


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## scottswatches (Sep 22, 2009)

Just in addition a wrist cuff can cover the puny 18mm lug width nicely


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## WRENCH (Jun 20, 2016)

Jason89 said:


> That looks fantastic, exactly the look I'm after! Might be a stupid question but how did you polish the chrome off? I'm guessing just an abrasive of some sort?


 I did it with a red scotchbrite pad, it took around half an hour or so.










It's polished slightly, but if you leave it to oxidize it will go the same way as the one in the previous post.


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## Jason89 (Mar 8, 2018)

WRENCH said:


> I﻿ did it ﻿with a red scotchbrite﻿﻿﻿ pa﻿d, it took around half an hour or so.﻿


 Ok thanks I will get hold of some and give it a go. Hopefully it turns out as good as yours did, if not then it looks like I'll be purchasing a new bezel :laughing2dw:


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## Jason89 (Mar 8, 2018)

Long story short, I got hold of some scotch brite and some 600/400 grit sandpaper. Spent a bit of time trying to remove the chrome finish on the bezel with little success. After 30-40 minutes of elbow grease I moved onto using a dremmel but still not much luck.

I lost all faith that I was going to find brass underneath in the end and resorted to just trying to salvage the bezel ha. I've used some metal polish and the bezel has come up quite nice, so all I've lost is a bit of time having a go at it.

I've ordered a spare so when that arrives I don't mind giving it another go, if I trash it at least I'll have a brand new replacement. I'm slightly disappointed with the outcome, according to meranoms website the bezel is chromed brass but hey ho. Maybe I should just stick to buying instead of tinkering :laughing2dw:


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