Review : First Impression of the Isofrane Rubber Strap

The packaging was alright, actually; and with only a rubber strap in there, it was actually an overkill.

Inside the package, you would find a rectangular box containing the Isofrane and the warranty card, that stated that the product was warrantied for 12 months. A rubber strap with warranty- that's a nice touch actually. I have bought many watch straps and I don't recall any of those offering any warranties, except for replacement in case of defects upon arrival. This gave me even more confidence on Isofrane rubber straps.

In this review, my order was for the 24mm Isofrane Black with IN buckle. I find that the IN buckle was more modern and the curve would match nicely with the protective shroud of the watch that I had in mind i.e. Seiko Kinetic Tuna from Baselworld 2014.

Point to note was that the lug hole on the straps would only accommodate thinner lug pins. If your watch comes with big fat diver pins, you would have a hard time getting them in. The Kinetic Tuna came with just those fat pins that I mentioned. So I made a quick trip to the neighbourhood watchsmith and bought a pair of thinner 24mm pins for just RM5, which fitted as snug as a bug in a rug thereafter.

From the pictures above, you could see that the Isofrane was a good fit between the lugs, and there was no exposed metal pins. So far so good then.

The rear of the strap was marked with the brand and that it was made in Italy. The strap had a very faint vanilla smell and you really had to put it close to your nose to catch a whiff of it. In comparison, the vanilla smell on the Ball Hydrocarbon vulcanised rubber strap that I purchased from Ball Malaysia for RM500, was much stronger. I have no preferences for either the stronger or weaker scent, as was not really too concerned about the strap's smell as long as it's not smelly.

Zooming in, the black on the Isofrane matched the black dial on the Kinetic Tuna so well, that it looked as though the watch came supplied with the Isofrane. The material was nice and soft to the touch. The cutout rectangular holes were more than just designs, they worked to ventilate the strap so that the wearer would feel cool wearing the strap.

I have read from other users that the IN buckle tended to protrude outwards too much from the strap; and from my observations, this was true. The strap had many micro-adjustments and I tried a few different holes, but the buckle still extended out in the same manner. But nevertheless, it didn't affect the wearing and the strap actually gripped firmly on my wrist. The grip was due to the many minute lines lining the rear of the strap.

The Kinetic Tuna was a top-heavy watch, and I knew that it wouldn't be easy to find a decent rubber strap to hold its 48mm size (52mm with crown and protection shroud) nicely-positioned on my wrist. I have tried Nato, which I liked lots and had ordered many from overseas to mix and match my collectible watches; but the Kinetic Tuna proved to be too heavy for the Nato strap to hold it properly.

Another Kinetic Tuna that I had came with the original Seiko silicon strap; and although better than the Seiko Z22 straps, the silicon strap was also not a very comfortable strap.

Wearing the Kinetic Tuna matched with the Isofrane, and typing this review away and not feeling the watch moving about on my wrist, I realised that... the Isofrane was well-worth its premium asking price. It was soft and gripped one's wrist firmly yet gently, and managed to hold a heavy watch in its place such that the wearer felt really comfortable with the watch. Not an easy task for a rubber strap, but Isofrane somehow delivered all these and more.

So to the readers whom wrote in and asked if I thought the Isofrane was value-for-money...

I could only tell you this : I am ordering a 24mm Black for my Bell & Ross, 22mm Black and Orange for my Omega PO, and am thinking of more Isofrane straps for my other collectible watches. So yes, that meant that I'm an Isofrane-convert too!

In a way, this review should really come with a warning. Don't buy your first Isofrane rubber strap, because you may just end up buying more Isofrane straps thereafter. Period.