Top 5 Watch Straps of 2022: The Thrifty Gentleman Edition

We are fast approaching the end of 2022. With Black Friday and Christmas on the horizon, and eager for inspiration, we have had a number of customers recently asking us what our top selling watch straps are.

You can always keep an eye on our Best Sellers page of course, but today, with some little extras and insight into the "why", we are going to share which of our watch straps have been bought by customers just like you the most often this year (so far)!

So, without further ado, let's get to it - of all The Thrifty Gentleman watch straps, based on sales - What Are The Top 5 Watch Straps of 2022?

Top 5 Watch Straps of 2022 - The Thrifty Gentleman

HONOURABLE MENTIONS - #10 to #6

Before we get onto our Top 5 (where we will share a little bit more about each of the straps) let's take a look below at the watch straps that were super close to the elite list but didn't quite get into our top 5.

10. NATO Watch Strap - Rainbow

9. Silicone Dive Watch Strap - Black

8. NATO Watch Strap - Blue

7. Marine Nationale Watch Strap - Green / Yellow

NATO Watch Straps in Rainbow, Blue and Beige ad Black Silicone DIve Watch Strap and Marie Nationale Watch Strap in Green and Yellow

So far, you can see that our NATO straps have proven to be a very popular choice.

We won't give too much away at this stage (you'll see why shortly), but with it being one of our most cost effective watch strap options, with availability in 13 different styles, across 3 lug width sizes, it doesn't take a PhD to work out why!

With that short diversion though, we can now get onto the topic that you came here to read about - our Top 5.

TOP 5 WATCH STRAPS OF 2022

#5 NATO Watch Strap - Grey

In 5th place, we have another of our NATO Watch Straps - this time in grey. One thing you'll notice about the watch straps in this Top 5 are how adaptable they are! Grey is a colour that tends to go well with most watch styles and dial colours and this light grey option is no exception.

Stuart said it "brought back many happy memories Commanding my Tank in the Royal Tank Regiment" - praise indeed!

NATO Watch Strap in grey on Seiko 5 Mod dive watch

Price - £6.99

Lug Width Availability - 18mm, 20mm, 22mm

Most Popular Size Bought - 18mm

Purchase the watch strap here - NATO Watch Strap - Grey

#4 NATO Watch Strap - Black / Grey

James Bond Spectre NATO Watch Strap in Black and Grey on Invicta dive watch

We are delighted that one of the watch straps from our James Bond collection made it onto the Top 5 list. Check out our earlier article here where we review why these watch strap styles are so popular. The Black and Grey style is synonymous with the watch strap worn by Daniel Craig for Spectre.

Malcolm kindly reviewed the strap and said it was "very stylish". Take a look at the picture Malcolm took of his James Bond styled NATO watch strap looking spectacular against his Invicta.

Price - £6.99

Lug Width Availability - 18mm, 20mm, 22mm

Most Popular Size Bought - 20mm

Purchase the watch strap here - NATO Watch Strap - Black / Grey

#3 Milanese Mesh Watch Strap

Third on our list is the only metal watch strap that we currently sell. Why you may ask? And it would be a good question.

When we founded The Thrifty Gentleman we had 2 key objectives in mind:

  1. To sell affordable watch straps that would be at a price point accessible to all; and
  2. To provide great quality products with as much variety as possible.
Objective 2 is the reason we have not diversified our metal range... yet!
Milanese Mesh Watch Strap on Steeldive automatic watch

We will only sell products that we would wear ourselves and would feel proud enough to attach The Thrifty Gentleman name to. The reality is that a lot of the metal straps we have had manufactured so far at our price point have just not been good enough quality... hence why they have not been available to buy.

Apart from this strap!

This Milanese Mesh loop strap is a juggernaut! An absolutely beautiful strap at a phenomenal price, if we're allowed to say so ourselves. In fact we don't need to say so ourselves as you have spoken up too with your purchases. Coming in third place - the Milanese Mesh watch strap - a watch strap available in a large variety of sizes which has proven itself to be a very popular option.

Price - £9.99

Lug Width Availability - 12mm, 14mm, 16mm, 18mm, 20mm, 22mm, 24mm

Most Popular Size Bought - 20mm

Purchase the watch strap here - Milanese Mesh Watch Strap

#2 NATO Watch Strap - Black

And, we're back with another NATO strap - no surprises there. In similar vain to the grey NATO earlier, this watch strap is also extremely compatible with most watch styles. This black NATO watch strap is as close to a "staple" watch strap that you can get.

One of the topics we touched upon when looking at what colour watch straps go best with a blue dial watch was how watch straps interact with fashion. One of our key messages was you can wear what you want of course, but if we could give any advice:

"Pick a watch strap that works well with your wardrobe and looks great irrespective of the outfit you're wearing"

This is black!

If you're ever in doubt of what watch strap colour to go for, black is always a good option.

HOWEVER, don't think for one second that we're saying this watch strap is just a safe option - the style of the NATO strap more than carries it. And you seem to think so too!

Price - £6.99

Lug Width Availability - 18mm, 20mm, 22mm

Most Popular Size Bought - 18mm

Purchase the watch strap here - NATO Watch Strap - Black

Most Popular Watch Strap - NATO Watch Strap in Green

Drum Roll please... we now get to our champion... the watch strap that has been bought more times this year than any other watch strap...

#1 NATO Watch Strap - Green

In first place, maybe unsurprisingly, we have another NATO strap. Our most popular watch strap (and may we add, by some way) is our NATO Watch Strap in Green.

First, why NATO watch straps? Apart from the price, why are they so unbelievably popular?

  • Comfort - soft, lightweight material and design for a super comfortable fit
  • Ease of installation and change - they are one of the easiest watch straps to put on and take off
  • History - their background in military history make them a cool choice!
  • Security - a spring bar fails - your watch still stays attached to your wrist
  • Versatility - they look great on a lot of watches!
NATO Watch Strap in Green on Longines dive watch

Ok, so it's obvious why NATO watch straps are so popular, but why this one? For fear of sounding repetitive, firstly this strap is super adaptable. Ok, you could argue the colour actually makes it less versatile than the black or grey options and you might be right.

But we think this is another reason it is so popular. It doesn't hide your watch but actually makes it stand out a bit more. Show that wrist candy off!

Secondly, what is more authentic than army green for a watch strap with such a military background behind it? Army green for a NATO watch strap just works, and wow, does it work well!

And, for those this an interest in colour psychology, what does green symbolise? Money, luck and health! Doesn't sound too bad to us.

Price - £6.99

Lug Width Availability - 18mm, 20mm, 22mm

Most Popular Size Bought - 18mm

Purchase the watch strap here - NATO Watch Strap - Green

FINAL THOUGHTS FROM THE THRIFTY GENTLEMAN

Thank you very much for reading today's article and, as always, we hope you have taken some inspiration from it!

Here at The Thrifty Gentleman we are passionate about what we do and the watch straps that we sell. We only sell items that we know you will love!

With that in mind, continue to check out our New Arrivals page for our newest items - these are updated regularly.

Who knows - one of these new straps could be on our next Top 5 List!

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