List of products by brand BNO TROPIC

The Tropic watch strap was born in the 1960s for instrumental diving. We carry its exact drawing — basket weave, notched border, embossed back — in contemporary FKM rubber. Two families, microperforated Classic and three-hole Sport, in 20 and 22mm. Flash spring bars for tool-free fitting, brushed stainless steel buckle.

Original Tropic or Tropic-type: what you are buying

The Tropic company developed its rubber strap during the 1960s, at a time when diving watches came on steel only. The straps we carry do not come from that historic workshop: they are Tropic-type straps that reproduce the drawing faithfully. We write it that way on every product page, because it is accurate.

Three details mark fidelity to the original: the basket weave across the top, the notched border running along the strap, and the embossed pattern on the back. Our models carry all three.

The four Tropic straps of the period

Tropic did not make one strap but a range. Four families followed one another:

• The Tropic Classic, made for diving watches — the collectors' reference.
• The Tropic Sport, with large openings, closer in look to motor racing but designed to clear water.
• The Tropic Star, whose surface evoked leather.
• The Tropic 2000, the most forward-looking drawing of the series.

Our range revives the first two, the ones that made the history of the diving strap: the microperforated Classic and the three-hole Tropic Sport.

Tropic watch strap in FKM rubber

The drawing is period, the material is not. FKM is a new-generation fluoroelastomer, the same family used in watch sealing gaskets. It is hypoallergenic, stable under UV, heat and cold, and supple in a way that takes nothing away from its tensile strength.

It contains no silicone, so it does not hold dust. That detail shows on a strap worn through a summer.

Vintage Tropic strap: the watches that wore it

The Tropic was offered by the watch brands themselves, as an alternative or a complement to the original steel bracelet. It is found on the Tissot Seastar, the LIP Nautic-Ski, the Yema Yachtingraf, and on the Swiss side at Blancpain. For collectors of diving watches it has become a standard, much like the NATO.

The neo-retro wave has put it back on the wrist: the reissues and vintage-inspired watches of recent years have given it its place again.

Choosing your Tropic strap width

Lug width is measured between the lugs with the strap removed. The Tropic strap in 20mm covers cases from 38 to 42mm, which is to say most divers and classic-sized chronographs. The Tropic strap in 22mm suits diameters of 42 to 45mm, where the basket weave reads from a distance.

If you are weighing FKM rubber against another material, the 20mm rubber watch strap page brings together every option in that width, including the more restrained Hirsch Pure in black.

Six colours, two registers

Black and grey go with any watch, from a dress chronograph to a technical diver. Navy blue answers blue bezels and dials. Khaki suits military-inspired watches. White, orange and red are summer colours, to be worn as such.

Every strap is photographed and filmed in-house: flat, submerged, and on the wrist.