Seiko 5 (SNK805) watch strap compared to a cheapie strap

I've had the little Seiko 5 for a while now, and have grown fond of not only it but actually also its strap. Having also recently got the Sports 100 going again (now that I've managed to get it working with just a battery) I thought why not see how I feel about wearing it again too?

Now I've only had metal bracelets for so long (I've had the Sports 100 for well over 30 years as my only watch) and wearing this little Seiko has made me find that fabric straps are actually nice. I thought I'd try and find a similar nylon strap for it . So I went off to eBay and bought a new strap for AU$15 (so not much). This is them below. Its perhaps evident that the Seiko 5 has a 18mm strap while the Sports 100 a 20mm strap.

I must say that I immediately found that I preferred the strap that came with the little Seiko 5, which apparently receives some criticism for not having a good strap. Strange that people expect more than a $15 strap when they buy a $130 watch which actually comes with a strap too ...

The differences in quality are perhaps even visible here with the side stitching almost invisible down grooves in the Seiko fabric, and plain to see on the strap on the Sports 100.

Note that the SNK strap curves a little having formed already to my wrist, this is not so with the strap on the Sports 100 which just feels like stiff nylon. The red circle there indicates that the strap that I bought has a "tool less" spring bar which you can just open with a fingernail. I don't mind, but its clear that there was some less than ideal cutting of the fabric which you can see below.

I expect that will fray over time. Also you can see the straight and perhaps even coarse nylon strands in the weave and so you can get the impression that its not as soft feeling (and probably no stronger) than the standard band on the Seiko 5 (and after all its normally not the strap which breaks).

Here I've laid them over each other  and you can see that not only does the Seiko 5 strap look nice it can form to your wrist directly as it comes out of the watch, unlike the other strap which has a section of vinyl (fake leather) on it.

One gets the impression that while the eBay strap is sturdy, and stiff (as it won't flex up there at the fake leather), but indeed may well fall apart before genuine one on the Seiko 5. As I mentioned above the stitching is discrete and safe from abrasion and wear.

As well the buckle pin holes are nicely re-enforced. Lastly I'll say that the new strap feels somewhat sweaty on wrist, while the one from the Seiko 5 not ever.

So to augment this I've added a quick video to show you around both a bit more.

Personally I'm finding that having the new strap on my Sports 100 has given me what seems to be a new lease of life on the old companion, and the strap that came with my Seiko 5 has clarified what I should  expect from a low cost strap (because it can't be expensive given it came on a cheap watch).