How to Wear a Rolex Submariner on a Rubber Strap, the Milanese Way

Sit at a bar in Brera at seven in the evening and count the Submariners. There will be several, and most will be on the steel bracelet they left the boutique on. Then notice the ones that are not: the man just off the train from Portofino, black rubber strap, linen shirt, whose watch somehow looks lighter, younger and more expensive than everyone else's. That is the Submariner worn the way it was designed to be worn, and Milan has been quietly doing it for years.

The Submariner was introduced in 1953 as a diver's instrument: a bezel that turns to count the minutes, a case sealed against the sea, a dial you can read at depth. The bracelet turned it into a status symbol. A rubber strap turns it back into a watch. On the wrist, matte rubber against brushed steel does something the bracelet cannot: it makes the case look smaller, the wrist look leaner, and the whole thing look like a choice rather than a default.

It changes the outfit more than the watch

A Submariner on rubber is the watch for the unstructured navy blazer, the open collar and no tie, which is to say the Milanese uniform from April to October. It goes with linen in summer and a turtleneck in winter. It works under a suit cuff, because a black strap reads as fine leather from across the room and only reveals itself up close. It works with sneakers and it works on a boat, and it is the one version of the Submariner that does not look like it is trying.

Match the color to the reference

The classic black dial and black bezel takes a black strap, the purist's choice, or navy for a shift only you will notice. The green-bezel Submariner takes black, or green if your wrist and your confidence can carry it. The two-tone Bluesy, with its blue dial and yellow-gold accents, wants navy or blue with a gold-toned buckle so the metals agree. The white-gold Submariner with the blue bezel is the one to put on a light blue or white strap for the summer, and then back on black in September. For anyone who wants the strap noticed, there are two-tone straps with a contrasting line down the center; for everyone else, one plain color is the elegant answer.

Keep the clasp, or do not

There are two ways to close a rubber strap on a Submariner. The first keeps the watch's own Oysterlock clasp: a deployant-style strap made to accept it, so the part you touch every morning is still Rolex. This is the Milanese option, because the clasp is part of the watch and because it makes the swap back to the bracelet a matter of minutes. The second is a pin buckle in steel, yellow gold, rose gold or black, which is lighter, simpler and the better choice for a strap that will spend the summer in salt water. Match the buckle to the case: steel with steel, gold with the two-tone.

The fit is the whole point

Most rubber straps fail on a Submariner for a reason that has nothing to do with style. The flanks of the case curve between the lugs, and a flat-ended strap sold by width alone meets that curve with a gap, which is what makes a cheap strap look cheap. The 40 mm case takes 20 mm ends and the 41 mm case takes 21 mm, and the shapes differ even where the widths match. Submariner rubber straps from Helvetus are molded for both cases with curved ends that meet the case flush, and the deployant version supports the original Rolex clasp. The material is FKM, a vulcanized fluoroelastomer that does not go sticky in a hot car, does not tear, and is guaranteed for life; the price is $99, the right spring bars are in the box, and it ships free to almost every country with the import duties already paid. Helvetus rubber straps for Rolex cover nineteen model lines, so the GMT-Master II and the Datejust in the same drawer get the same treatment, and the brand's customer base now runs past 65,000.

Living with it

After the sea, rinse the strap under the tap. That is the entire maintenance. Rubber does not need the polishing cloth, does not stretch and does not care about sunscreen. When October comes and the blazer gets heavier, the bracelet can go back on in five minutes, though nobody in Milan will think less of you if it does not. The Submariner was made to go in the water. The rubber strap is what lets it go everywhere else.

Images courtesy of Helvetus, which is not affiliated with Rolex.