I would have found that off-putting too. I ran into that with a “skindiver” that I purchased recently. I replace all of my spring bars with the “fat” Seiko ones and wasn’t able to do that with the watch in question. I’m sure it wouldn’t matter to 99% of buyers, but It annoyed me.

 

I would have found that off-putting too. I ran into that with a "skindiver" that I purchased recently. I replace all of my spring bars with the "fat" Seiko ones and wasn't able to do that with the watch in question. I'm sure it wouldn't matter to 99% of buyers, but It annoyed me.

It definitely seems counterintuitive given the mission statement of the watch.

 

I tried to pull a watch bracelet out of the watch, that I was struggling to remove with a normal tool, and would have been happy to break the pin. Couldn't do it. Marc on long Island watch tried weights on a look and learn video, and his testing device failed before the spring bar failed. I don't see the difference between a thin and fat bar. The weak point is the bar flexing and "springing" the pin end, and I think that horizontal force is unlikely to do that.

 

Interesting. Does this, in turn, imply that Seiko's FAT spring bars have no real advantage over standard ones?

 

Personally, I have 2 Pelagoses that I’d send off IMMEDIATELY if I could find someone who’d drill the lugs. That’s the one feature missing from an otherwise ideal tool watch.

 

That's an interesting observation. I never noticed when I had one. It does seem a little odd. I agree about the drilled lugs. It would really add something to this watch.

 

I see a business opportunity for someone with the proper equipment

 

Interesting observation, thank you for sharing. Though like others have pointed out, much more important are things like tip diameter, proper width, and periodic inspection of compression/extension.

 

As mentioned, the weak point is where the tips insert into the case. Fitted into the bracelet, the springbars are effectively as thick as the endlinks It’s a different matter on a say a fabric strap though.

 

FWIW, I am a total convert to Marathon spring bars, even in my dive watches w/o drilled lugs. Sure, they're more $, but they are made in the USA of what seems to be a higher grade/quality of stainless steel, and they are boringly consistent in their manufacturing tolerances. Of course, if you use them on watches w/non-drilled lugs, you're gonna have to sacrifice a pair of them every time you need to remove whatever strap/bracelet is on there. Having said that, the higher confidence level that I have in them "doing their intended job" in protecting the watch from quitting my wrist at a most inopportune time is worth the price of admission. For those interested, you can find 'em on that big company founded by that bald-headed bubillionaire dude who somehow couldn't manage to hold onto that GORGEOUS wife of his...

 

Interesting discussion! I mentioned in another thread, I'm growing less concerned about the two spring bars on the case, and more concerned about the often ignored tiny spring bars in the clasp portion of straps/bracelets. I guess that's the beauty of a nato-style strap.

That being said, I've been most impressed with the spring bar setup on my Scurfa, which from my cursory research, is basically a rolex spring bar (longer, wider diameter tips, and a barrel that is very close to the width of the lugs)

 

I would expect any good spring bar to hold in place with no issues. Anything below that I would consider inferior and avoid on my watches.

 

Agree with drilled lugs and also for all sport watches period.

I do have to agree with a few not concerned with the diameter at all. One thing for sure is all of the Tudor Spring Bars I've had are strong as hell. Must be the spring or over all quality as they are not normal spring bars at all!

 

Following up on this (I had a previous comment regarding not liking that the OE spring bars can’t be changed out for HD ones). I won‘t go into detail, but I’ll say that I had a mishap with my Pelagos a little while back. The bracelet “failed” (due to no fault of the watch). The spring bars and end links didn’t budge. To say that I was surprised would be an understatement.

Based on my experience, I’ll say that the chance of having a spring bar failure with this watch in the normal course of your lifetime is pretty much zero unless you happen to screw-up the spring bars.