Leather Strap -> G-Shock Mod
Posted: Mon Jan 21, 2019 2:25 pm
As noted elsewhere, being able to change out the strap can make a watch more versatile, comfortable and cool. G-Shock, however, doesn't make this easy.
Today I took a blade to a 22mm leather Fossil strap I recently purchased on sale for $8 (still available here). The challenge was to trim the ends down to 16mm to fit my G-Shock G-2300F. With a little prep and good tools, I am pleased with the results.
I first slid out the quick release (QR) bars after making small slits from the QR hole to the edge.
I took the strap piece with the buckle. I cut a notch 3mm wide (22mm - 2 x 3mm = 16mm) by 4mm long from each corner to see how that worked. It fit very well. It turns out that the gap left by the QR bars is very handy when fooling with the spring bars. I then repeated this with the other strap piece.
After wearing it a little I realized that the squared-off notches I made didn't conform well with the G-Shock lug shape. This is actually due to my smaller wrists pulling the strap nearly 90 degrees to the case. I made one side of my notches angled by shaving a wedge off of one side. The result is that on the top side of the strap, the notches measure the original 3mm x 4mm. On the back side of the strap they are more like 3mm x 5mm. The resulting strap has more play and doesn't strain when I wear it.
Here are some photos:
(update: re-uploaded photos due to old corruption)
Today I took a blade to a 22mm leather Fossil strap I recently purchased on sale for $8 (still available here). The challenge was to trim the ends down to 16mm to fit my G-Shock G-2300F. With a little prep and good tools, I am pleased with the results.
I first slid out the quick release (QR) bars after making small slits from the QR hole to the edge.
I took the strap piece with the buckle. I cut a notch 3mm wide (22mm - 2 x 3mm = 16mm) by 4mm long from each corner to see how that worked. It fit very well. It turns out that the gap left by the QR bars is very handy when fooling with the spring bars. I then repeated this with the other strap piece.
After wearing it a little I realized that the squared-off notches I made didn't conform well with the G-Shock lug shape. This is actually due to my smaller wrists pulling the strap nearly 90 degrees to the case. I made one side of my notches angled by shaving a wedge off of one side. The result is that on the top side of the strap, the notches measure the original 3mm x 4mm. On the back side of the strap they are more like 3mm x 5mm. The resulting strap has more play and doesn't strain when I wear it.
Here are some photos:
(update: re-uploaded photos due to old corruption)