Vostok Classic 090 on GasGasBones Strap

This is a post more about the watch strap than the watch. The watch is one of my favourites, a Vostok Amphibia Classic 090 with a matt body and a nice matt, satin bezel (dial reference 090913). The strap is from GasGasBones.com. I had been admiring the GasGasBones straps online for a couple of years but it took me a while to get round to purchasing one. After all most people, do not spend more money on the watch strap than they do on a watch. However, this would not be the first time I spent more money on a strap than the watch it is fitted to and we are not talking about your normal nato or zulu style nylon straps here.

The person behind GasGasBones (GGB) is ex Royal Air Force man Carl Evans who has been making bespoke nylon watch straps for over 10 years. As a survival equipment fitter in the RAF, Carl was very well accustomed to working with nylon straps in harnesses, parachutes flying clothes et al. So, when he acquired an Omega Speedmaster Pro, it was only natural for him to want to make his own high quality strap for it. All the straps are handmade in a purpose built workshop in Surrey. As well as making bespoke watch straps, GGB also makes nylon straps for three well-known watch brands (including Bremont, I believe). As a one man band it would seem the Carl is very busy and the GGB website is often closed to orders whilst Carl catches up (don’t worry, one can sign up to be notified when he is taking orders again). As well as straps, Carl also produces a range of watches under the 6B Watch brand and a range of other goodies too.

If you take a look around the website one can see there are a lot different designs with a host of customisable options for watch sizes, lug widths, laser cut buckle engraving and embroidered patches. There are also different colours to choose from for the straps and stitching. Some of the straps are a bit more specific than others: there are straps designed to fit the wid lug width of Bell and Ross watches and seven different styles for Speedmaster, for example. However, most of the straps will fit many different types of watches. There are lots of interesting designs, including the SPV1 which is an improved version of that original Speedmaster strap.

GasGasBones Black Cat Strap

The strap I eventually decided upon is the flagship GGB Black Cat. I originally bought it with the intention of fitting it to my bronze Amphibia 1967, but I never did got round to doing that it. Instead I fitted it to this 090. The GGB Black Cat is designed for larger watches, I don’t think it would look any good on a smaller Vostok, perhaps it might be okay on an Amphibia 710 “Ministry”.

The strap is available in four military-inspired colours available: Nato Green, Light Olive, Beige Tan and the colour that I picked, which is Coyote Brown. The stitching on my strap is brown and matches the strap, but I think you can choose the stitching colour too. The strap is available for watches with a 22mm or 24mm lug width. The Vostok Amphibia Classic 090 featured in this review has a lug width of 22mm.

For Carl to make the custom strap, he requires the lug to lug distance of the watch (the 090 is approximately 48mm) and the wearer’s wrist size. My wrist is 7 ½ inches around. The bulky size of this strap means that one really needs to have a larger wrist. In fact GGB recommends it for people with a wrist of 7 inches and above.

The main part of the strap is 40mm wide whilst the straps that hold the buckle and velcro are 25 mms across. The lug keepers on the 22mm strap are black in colour. On the buckle side there are three layers of nylon with a depth of approximately 5mm and. There are three layers on the velcro side too but, with the velcro closure, the depth is around 7 or 8 mms. So the strap is pretty thick in places – this is not really a watch to wear under a shirt cuff! There is only one layer of strapping under between the watch the wrist which means that the watch does not sit too high on the wrist.

The GasGasBones Black Cat strap comes with GGB’s standard nickel plated steel buckle which can be customised with a laser cut engraving. I chose “Vostok” for mine. Ordinarily the strap also features a Union Jack patch, which I asked to be left off . I did ask if there was a Soviet flag option, but to no avail!

The nylon and the stitching work is of the very highest quality. Initially the strap was very firm and solid but, with a bit of wear and movement, the strapping has softened up nicely and has started to mould to my wrist shape. It has become much more comfortable with wear. The length of the velcro closure has a little bit of movement in it too, so you wear the strap a little bit tighter or loser, as required. I fitted the strap with the velcro on the outside of the wrist to stop it catching on pockets and clothing etc.

The GasGasBones Black Cat is an extremely high quality nylon strap. The strap was not cheap to buy they are handmade to the highest quality, of which I do not begrudge paying for at all. I am now trying to decide on my next purchase.

I wonder if anyone else has a GGB strap on a humble Vostok?

The GGB Black Cat cost £55 at time of purchase from GasGasBones.com in 2018.