As much attention as design and mechanical engineering receives, bracelets, straps and clasps, crucially important parts of any wrist watch, often appear to be taken for granted... Ignoring the impressive innovation and attention to detail that is dedicated to these components that can make or break a watch wearing experience. Today we look at the Rolex Oysterflex, more commonly known as the "rubber strap" by Rolex – currently exclusively fitted to the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master and Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona in gold.
We used quotation marks there because everyday wording we know can at times describe things in an undeservedly simplistic way – and, once again, that applies in this instance as well. You see, the Oysterflex is special because it is a strap that combines the robustness and reliability of a metal bracelet with the flexibility, comfort and aesthetics of an elastomer strap.
Your ordinary rubber straps are injection molded and are perhaps cut to a more exacting shape. This, however, results in straps that fail to offer the same wearing comfort, elasticity, security and overall feel that carefully padded leather straps or highly engineered metal bracelets provide.
Rolex has once again taken the challenge at hand to its very limits and has not settled for anything less than a complex and complete solution to it.
What's the solution? The Oysterflex strap, constructed with a superelastic metal blade in its core, overmoulded with high-performance elastomer. Add to this a patented cushion system on the inside of the bracelet and you end up with an elastomer strap that offers extraordinary comfort and security in the way it fits and wears – even in the long run.
Particular attention was dedicated to the elastomer exterior of the strap: the material had to be soft and pleasant to the touch, feel right on the wrist in the scorching summer heat as well as in the freezing winter colds, all the while proving to be durable by resisting the deteriorating effects of sweat, heat, abrasives, chemicals and more.
Equipped with an Oysterlock safety clasp, the Oysterflex strap closes securely around the wrist. The perfect fit is achieved in our Rolex boutique, where our staff is happy to assist with finding the correct length of each Oysterflex end. Made available in a wide variety of sizes, the two ends of the Oysterflex strap can be chosen with great care and accuracy so as to allow a great overall fit – whereas the Oysterlock clasp itself allows for very finetuning of the length of one end of the strap to achieve the very best fit possible.
With its superelastic blades on the inside and a superbly comfortable and durable elastomer exterior, the Oysterflex strap, painstakingly developed and produced by Rolex, offers a new, bold, sporty look, accompanied by a wonderful fit and outstanding wearing comfort.
You may check out and try on Rolex models fitted with Oysterflex – namely the Rolex Oyster Perpetual Yacht-Master and Rolex Oyster Perpetual Cosmograph Daytona in gold – in any of our Rolex Petite Geneve Petrovic boutiques in Budapest, Belgrade and Porto Montenegro.
