Best watches for swapping straps

A standard 20mm lug width on a 38mm case with a published 47mm lug-to-lug, which means every strap decision is a choice rather than a search. 20mm is the most widely made size in watches: Barton, Crown & Buckle, Erika's and ZULUDIVER all produce it in nylon, leather, suede, silicone and rubber.

The reason it tops this page rather than merely appearing on it is the dial. A plain white-on-black field layout with no bezel and no theme is the most strap-agnostic design there is — it reads correctly on a green NATO, on brown leather and on black rubber, which is not true of a diver with a colored bezel.

Who it is for: anybody building a one-watch rotation, which is the whole case for restrapping. Who should skip it: somebody who wants a bracelet — this is a strap watch and Hamilton's steel bracelet option is a separate purchase.

Also worth knowing: 47mm lug-to-lug means shorter straps work. A Barton standard length covers 5 to 8 inch wrists, which this case suits across its whole range.

Mechanically identical to the Murph and usually cheaper, because it does not carry a film's name. 47mm lug-to-lug on a 38mm case is a genuinely versatile footprint.

The quick-release bracelet is the detail worth paying for and almost nobody at this level offers it: the bracelet detaches with a lever under the end link, by hand, in about thirty seconds, with nothing to scratch and no tool to buy. One of the very few Swiss automatics at this money you can restrap on the way out of the door.

The watch underneath is the strongest specification sheet on this page too — sapphire, 100m, an 80-hour Swiss automatic, an open dial, and Tissot's published $210 US complete mechanical service price.

Who it is for: somebody who wants a bracelet most of the time and a leather strap for occasions, without owning a spring bar tool. Who should skip it: anyone who wants a wide choice of straps. The fitting is 21mm, which is the awkward size — Barton's Alligator Grain and Elite Silicone lines are made in it, and much of the market is not.

So this is the one genuine trade-off on this page: the easiest bracelet to remove, attached to the second-hardest width to shop for.

The quick-release bracelet is the detail worth paying for: this is one of the few Swiss automatics at this level you can re-strap in thirty seconds without a tool.

A proper dress watch on the most universal lug width there is, which is a rarer combination than it sounds — dress watches drift to 19 and 21mm more than any other category. 20mm means the full range of leather is available, which is the material a dress watch actually wants.

Seiko publishes both the lug width and the lug-to-lug — 47.5mm on a 40.5mm case — and a flat $176 to overhaul the 4R35 inside it, so the long-term cost is known as well as the strap options.

Who it is for: somebody who wants one watch that can go from a suit to a weekend by changing a strap. The box-shaped Hardlex crystal does a lot of the work here. Who should skip it: anybody who will swim in it — 50m is handwashing — and anybody who cares about the crystal, because Hardlex cannot be polished out.

Worth knowing: a dress watch on a slip-through NATO adds about 2mm of height off the wrist. If the point of the watch is sliding under a cuff, use a two-piece strap.

The same 4R35 and the same $176 published overhaul as the rest of the Cocktail Time line, with the lug-to-lug published — 47.5mm — so you can check the fit before buying. 50m and Hardlex are the dress-watch trade.

It arrives on a steel bracelet, which needs links removed to fit, and it takes standard 20mm straps, which do not. For anybody who finds a bracelet a nuisance, that combination is the useful one: a bracelet for the days you want it and the whole 20mm market for the days you do not.

Sapphire and 200m mean the watch itself tolerates whatever strap you put it on — a rubber strap on a 200m case is a genuinely usable swimming setup, which is not true of most watches on this page.

Who it is for: somebody who wants one watch for the office, the pool and the weekend. Who should skip it: anybody who wants to know what servicing it will cost. Timex does not publish the caliber, which means nobody can look up an overhaul price.

Against it: 14mm thick, and a one-year warranty that excludes the crystal, strap, case and battery by name. The strap situation is the best thing about it.

Sapphire and 200m for the money is real. What Timex does not publish is the caliber — which means you cannot look up what an overhaul costs before you buy, and that is exactly the number this site exists to check.

A 200m diver's case on a 20mm fitting, which is unusual — most divers at 44mm take 22mm, and 20mm straps are both cheaper and more widely made. It means rubber for water, nylon for summer and leather for the office are all one-click purchases.

Being light-powered, there is also no reason to ever take the back off, so the only thing you will ever change on this watch is the strap. Five years of warranty and nothing to wind.

Who it is for: somebody who wants one tough watch and several looks. Who should skip it: anybody with a wrist under about seven inches — Citizen publishes neither a thickness nor a lug-to-lug for this 44mm case, which makes it the biggest unknown on this page.

Worth knowing: the mineral crystal is the real cost of this watch, and a strap cannot fix it. It will collect scratches that cannot be polished out.

Identical to the BN0150 in every specification Citizen publishes. Choose on the dial, and on nothing else.

42mm lug-to-lug on a 40mm case is the shortest footprint of any watch on this site, which matters for straps in a way that is easy to miss: short lugs mean a strap curves down to the wrist almost immediately, so there is no gap and no overhang even on a narrow wrist. Combined with a standard 20mm fitting, this is the easiest formal watch here to restrap well.

An openworked 80-hour H-10-S automatic behind sapphire, 11.05mm thick. A skeleton dial looks deliberate on black leather and on a dark suede, and surprisingly good on a plain gray nylon.

Who it is for: anybody with a small or average wrist who wants a dressy watch and more than one look. Who should skip it: a large wrist, where 42mm will read small, and anyone who will swim — 50m is the honest limit on an openworked case.

The most expensive watch on this page by a distance, and the one whose strap choice changes its character most.

42mm lug-to-lug on a 40mm case is remarkable — this is a skeleton watch that actually fits a normal wrist. 50m is the honest limit: an open dial is still a sealed case, but it is not a watch to swim in.

The least expensive way onto this page, and a watch whose published 44mm lug-to-lug is short enough that a standard-length strap suits almost any wrist. 20mm lugs, a named in-house hacking automatic and three years of warranty.

The domed crystal and the classic dial make this the watch on this page that changes most with a strap — on brown leather it is a 1950s dress watch, on a gray nylon it is something else entirely.

Who it is for: somebody starting a rotation on a budget, or buying a first mechanical watch they intend to play with. Who should skip it: anybody who will get it wet. 30m means rain and handwashing, which also rules out the rubber-strap-for-swimming option that the Citizen and the Timex above allow.

Against it: 30m, and the domed mineral crystal that keeps every scratch. Neither is fixable with a strap.

A 44mm lug-to-lug is genuinely small by modern standards, and this is the Bambino to buy if the 40.5mm versions never sat right. The domed mineral crystal is the compromise, and it is the one Orient never fixes on this line.