I’m taking a stand for Bund strap wearers everywhere. There are dozens of us.
Alright, this is serious business and you should treat it as such. Some malcontents, miscreants even, are saying that the Bund strap is ugly and does not deserve a place in the pantheon of watch straps.
I shan’t stand for this criminal injustice.
I am determined, or at least marginally resolved, to stick up for the rights of the much-maligned Bund strap and talk about what I believe to be misplaced negativity. Of the two primary military-style straps, the other being our beloved NATO, the Bund certainly gets the short end of the stick. Let’s dive into a little history and discuss why the Bund strap deserves more affection.
The History Of The Bund Strap
If you’ve been around the watch game for a minute, chances are strong that you are at least familiar with the Bund strap. It isn’t that involved as a concept – a leather pad, or Bund, integrates with a regular watch strap to provide a layer of material lining between the watch caseback and the wearer. There are generally two styles, a tapered / rectangular pad design or a full cuff. However, they come in a variety of flavors and some versions, like those in the pictures below, can straddle or incorporate a mix of features.
Gramp’s bumper-automatic Tissot and my former Omega Speedmaster. Grandad is the left man of the trio; his cousin, Deacon, was an ace and the pilot pictured in the war bond advertisement.
The purpose behind the Bund strap is multi-faceted, born out of a desire to enhance a pilot’s comfort and safety while enduring extreme temperatures. Icy cold while drifting through the skies? The leather pad will stop the watch’s caseback from freezing to your wrist. Fire erupting in the cabin? That same leather pad should prevent a theoretically hot caseback from melting into your wrist – a small silver lining given your cockpit is literally on fire, but one less thing to worry about. Cool idea, but who made it and for what reason?
The origin lies in the name – Bund. Post-WW2, Germany was separated into eastern and western-bloc sister states. The westernized democratic half, the Bundesrepublik Deustchland (or Federal Republic of Germany), was formed in 1949. West Germany eventually reformed its military in late 1955, creating the Bundeswehr as the successor to the now defunct Wehrmacht; this naturally led to the creation of specific branches such as a new air force in the early days of 1956. The aviators of said air force needed appropriate gear all the way down to their wrist watches, and the Bund strap was issued as part of a standard ensemble. While the Bund strap was issued during WW2 and existed in small doses before the war sans nickname, the 50s anecdotally represent the proper beginnings of modern military pilot usage.
Bund straps reached the height of their popularity in the 70s and 80s, often accompanied by a slew of punk rocker attire. The most famous example of a celebrity wearing their watch on a Bund strap is Paul Newman, who wore his 1968 Rolex “Paul Newman” Daytona ref. 6239 (an engraved gift from his wife Joanne) almost religiously on a black crocodile Bund strap. That watch eventually sold for $17.75MM in October 2017 at a Phillips auction led by the maestro himself, Aurel Bacs.
Beyond Newman, there are a plethora of other famous celebrities who also theoretically armed themselves against the perils of last century aviation. Motorsports icon Nina Rindt wore a panda Universal Geneve Compax, a gift from her husband and F1 champion Jochen Rindt, on a cuffed Bund strap. Similar to Newman, the Compax reference she wore is now aptly nicknamed after her. Orlando Bloom, a more contemporary example of a celebrity who collects vintage, wears his Rolex Explorer II ref. 1655 on a cuff-style Bund as well.
The enthusiasm around Bund straps has permeated the wardrobe departments of Hollywood as well. A great previous-century example is Robert Redford in the 1975 movie Three Days of the Condor, where he wears a Doxa Sub 300T on a tapered Bund strap. My personal favorite is Brad Pitt in Quentin Tarantino’s 2019 Once Upon A Time In Hollywood, where Pitt’s Cliff Booth wears a Citizen 8110 Bullhead chronograph on a brown leather variant. Both are excellent movies with excellent choices in both timekeeping and the straps to show them off.
Eventually, the Bund’s presence in pop culture evaporated and it was left behind as style trends and fashion evolved. I liken the Bund strap’s trajectory to another 70s-centric icon in the C3 Corvette – it defined the Malaise years and then promptly exited stage left as society shifted towards less eccentric tastes. Despite that, there is still a serious element of macho ruggedness and old world idealism that comes packaged with the Bund strap. This is a leather strap that was issued to active military personnel; it then became co-opted in the civilian world and was worn by many of Hollywood’s greats (which is a fairly attractive history of use). I’m not saying you should strive to co-opt Newman’s style as your own, but there is certainly something to be learned and appreciated around the Bund strap’s journey.
Addressing The Haters
So why all the bund-shaped vitriol? I think the criticism comes from a reasonable place amongst watch enthusiasts, and can be boiled down into roughly two big pain points:
- Bund straps can err on the bulky side. For the slender wristed, this makes the look difficult to pull off. Watch enthusiasts are vocal online about favoring small watches more than the average consumer; large, bulky straps do not fit with this memo.
- The same leather pad that offers an attractive option for extreme heat protection to pilots actually causes discomfort for regular people, particularly in humid weather.
In fairness to the watch-nerd proletariat, these are valid points. I grappled with each item above before I ultimately settled on a few Bund straps that I liked. To that end, I’m going to try to mitigate these aforementioned concerns instead of outright discredit them.
Sizing is certainly the biggest issue. Most Bund straps will swallow up a smaller wrist and tend to give watches added height. My advice is to spend time shopping for tapered Bund straps, or at least those where the leather pad is narrower. My personal pick from several years ago was the full Bund watch strap from EatSleepPlay, which has the strap and Bund integrated as a single piece of leather. $165 isn’t cheap, but this is a high quality option that provides a contoured shape. I still own this strap now, and it has patinated wonderfully while holding up to some serious outdoor activities.
The Full Bund Watch Strap 019 from EatSleepPlay.
If you want a traditional rectangular Bund, another brand I am supportive of is Joseph Bonnie. These particular Bund straps (priced at ~$133 USD) retain the separate leather pad, but are exponentially narrower and thinner than any other online options I have identified. I own the Bund pictured below and can attest that JB’s leatherwork is very impressive. Note that, depending on your watch’s case size, you will get some overhang with this option.
Addressing objection #2 – heat and humidity can be certainly be problematic. This is a reasonable concern, although I’d argue that a regular leather strap fares poorly under the same set of conditions. For those brave souls who deal with naturally sticky weather year-round, the Bund strap may be more aspirational. For the rest of us who enjoy varying levels of climate diversity, however, there is some potential to utilize the Bund strap in a properly seasonal fashion.
To me, Bund straps are most at home in the fall and winter. Their larger profile and enhanced presence compliment a layered outfit that might be more at home in those seasons – think vintage watch, jeans, boots, a button-down and a nice jacket or sweater. A casual suit or sports coat combo may be a stretch, but I’ve tested the hypothesis and not found myself wondering if I overdid it or not. Think of the Bund strap the same as a watch – select the right tool for the job at hand. Skip summer, lean in on the cooler months.
Side-note: if you are looking for modern production watches that come with OEM Bund straps, there are a few choices for consideration. MontBlanc offers their incredible 1858 Geosphere on a stock Bund. Hanhart is also an option with their 417-series pilot chronographs, which was actually Steve McQueen’s choice for Bund-based festivities. Be warned that both of these watches are decently sized, so buyer beware if you are looking to avoid the sizing pitfalls previously discussed.
Final Thoughts
You have probably sensed my bias towards the Bund strap seeping through, and I won’t pretend that a post like this would have gotten written without that love being mixed into the prose. I do recognize that not everyone will come around to said enthusiasm – the uniqueness and quirkiness of the Bund that makes me love it may give someone else an allergic reaction. I have opined enough and I’m honest in appreciating whichever way you as the reader personally feel.
Regardless, I do believe this watch strap deserves a spot in your uniform rotation (even if the Bund’s utility is limited by locale and weather). It’s the strap equivalent to an eccentric vintage watch, where the watch may not be for everyone’s tastes but will usually strike up a conversation. I can’t guarantee the context of said conversation will be positive… but there will be one nonetheless. Trust me.
All in all, the Bund strap is a really fun option for those of us blessed with a spark of blind confidence and a home with cooler temperatures. Go out there and experiment until you find an option that suits your style. Then maybe buy a few more watches after that to fully maximize your choice. You know how it is.
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