2026-05-31
Best Watch Straps for the Squale Sub-37 Legend
Best Watch Straps for the Squale Sub-37 Legend
The Squale Sub-37 Legend is the most intentional watch Squale has released in decades. Where most contemporary watch launches chase scale — larger cases, more features, more presence — the Sub-37 Legend goes in the opposite direction. Thirty-seven millimetres. Eleven millimetres thick. Forty-five and a half millimetres lug-to-lug. A matte black dial with no date window, no complications, no concessions to convenience. Just hours, minutes, seconds, and a unidirectional bezel with a domed K1 glass insert that catches light the way bakelite bezels did in the 1960s.
Squale was founded in Neuchâtel in 1959 by Charles Von Büren — a case maker who supplied watch cases and movements to over thirty brands during the golden age of dive watch manufacturing, including names that now sell for multiples of what Squale charges. The Squale logo appearing at 6 o'clock on watches of that era was a certification of water resistance and reliability, not a brand identifier. The Sub-37 Legend is named in direct reference to this heritage: the "Legend" designation acknowledges a lineage of professional diving instruments that Squale's own CEO Andrea Maggi describes as "the roots of our story." Free divers Enzo Maiorca and Jacques Mayol wore Squale. The Italian Navy's Diving Corps wore Squale. The Sub-37 Legend is the 2026 expression of what those watches were.
The Two Broke Watch Snobs reviewer who handled the Sub-37 Legend described it as feeling "like a watch designed for people who appreciate vintage Squale but don't necessarily want to deal with vintage ownership" — capturing precisely the brief. The box-shaped sapphire crystal recreates the visual depth of vintage acrylic. The Old Radium SuperLuminova on the hands and indices introduces warm amber glow without pastiche. The Sellita SW200-1 in Elaboré grade — modified to remove the date complication — runs at 28,800vph with approximately 38-41 hours of power reserve. Swiss Made, reliable, serviceable. The case is polished 316L stainless steel with screw-down crown and caseback providing 300m water resistance.
Squale Sub-37 Legend Strap Size
The Squale Sub-37 Legend uses 19mm watch straps lugs — confirmed by Squale's own official product specification page ("Lug width - 19 mm"), Long Island Watch authorised dealer specification ("Band: Vulcanized Rubber, Made In Italy. 19mm"), Watch Nation product specification ("Lug Width: 19mm"), and multiple independent European retailers.
SUB-37BKBK.RBK (black dial, black bezel) — 19mm watch straps. 37mm case, 11.2mm thick, 45.5mm lug-to-lug.
All Sub-37 Legend variants — 19mm watch straps.
The 19mm advantage: 19mm is one of CNS's speciality odd sizes — stocked specifically for watches that the broader strap market ignores. Most retailers don't carry 19mm seriously. CNS stocks 19mm watch straps across nylon, leather, and canvas — giving Sub-37 Legend owners access to quality aftermarket options that most competitors cannot supply.
Note on 20mm: Some flexible rubber and nylon straps at 20mm can be fitted to the Sub-37 Legend's 19mm lugs with minor compression. The factory Bonetto rubber strap itself is listed at 20mm lug width in some sources — suggesting Squale's own rubber is slightly oversized at the lug end to fit the 19mm opening. For the closest fit and best finish, 19mm watch straps are the correct size.
What Squale Ships With
The Sub-37 Legend ships on a Bonetto-style vulcanised rubber strap made in Italy — a ladder-construction design in black with a polished pin buckle. Vulcanised rubber is denser and more durable than silicone, developing its own character with wear. It is the correct material for a professional dive instrument — Squale's own validation of rubber as the primary Sub-37 material.
The Bonetto strap is genuinely good. But the aftermarket opportunity is significant — the 19mm lug width is unusual enough that most strap retailers don't serve it, which is precisely why CNS's speciality odd size stocking matters for this watch.
Best Rubber Straps for the Squale Sub-37 Legend
Tropical style FKM at 19mm watch straps — the most characterful Sub-37 rubber upgrade. The vintage basket-weave and honeycomb patterns reference the same professional dive watch culture the Sub-37 Legend inhabits. On the matte black dial with Old Radium lume, black tropical FKM creates a unified vintage combination that extends the watch's own aesthetic into the strap.
Classic FKM rubber in black at 19mm watch straps — the most practical upgrade from the factory Bonetto strap. Premium FKM is waterproof, sweat-resistant, UV-stable, and odourless — properties the vulcanised factory strap doesn't always maintain over time.
Best Nylon Straps for the Squale Sub-37 Legend
The Sub-37 Legend's vintage brief and compact 37mm case suit single-pass nylon well. The watch's own character — restrained, functional, historically coherent — connects naturally to military fabric strap heritage.
Single-pass nylon — Original at 19mm watch straps with the CNS solid buckle. Most appropriate Sub-37 colourways:
- Black — the most unified and most factory-coherent. Continues the watch's own all-black palette.
- Olive / khaki — for the most specifically vintage field and dive watch-appropriate combination. Warm earth tones against the polished steel case create a warm-cool vintage contrast.
- Navy — for a maritime, professional diver character coherent with Squale's Italian Navy heritage.
- Admiralty Grey — the most composed operational colourway.
Marine Nationale elastic at 19mm watch straps — the most comfortable Sub-37 daily wear option. The French Navy professional dive heritage connects directly to the Sub-37 Legend's own Italian Navy diving corps lineage. Navy or black.
RAF single-pass nylon at 19mm watch straps — for the most specifically European military dive heritage combination.
Canvas at 19mm watch straps in olive — the most vintage-coherent fabric for a watch that explicitly references 1960s professional dive instrument culture.
Paratrooper elastic at 19mm watch straps — the most comfortable daily option.
Best Leather Straps for the Squale Sub-37 Legend
Leather on the Sub-37 Legend creates a compelling transformation — the professional dive instrument becomes a versatile sport-dress piece. The 11.2mm case thickness and 45.5mm lug-to-lug make it one of the most leather-compatible dive watches available at any price point. Flat leather at 2-2.5mm is ideal for the slim profile.
Leather watch straps in dark brown flat calfskin at 19mm watch straps — the most characterful Sub-37 leather combination. Warm brown against the polished steel case and matte black dial creates a warm-cool temperature contrast that references the professional dive watch leather combinations of the 1960s and 1970s — the era the Sub-37 explicitly invokes. The Old Radium lume's warm amber tone connects tonally with warm brown leather.
Leather watch straps in black flat calfskin at 19mm watch straps — the most minimal and most formally correct combination.
Leather watch straps in tan suede at 19mm watch straps — the most relaxed leather option. Warm tan against the polished case creates a casual vintage combination that suits the Sub-37's own warm-toned aesthetic.
Leather watch straps in dark brown suede at 19mm watch straps — for smart-casual contexts.
Thickness note: The Sub-37 Legend is 11.2mm thick — impressively slim for a 300m dive watch. Flat leather at 2-2.5mm is ideal proportionally. Avoid padded constructions above 3.5mm — they create visual height imbalance on a case designed specifically to sit low.
The Vintage Compact Diver Context
The Sub-37 Legend occupies a specific and growing niche — vintage-proportioned Swiss dive watches that reject the size inflation of modern dive watches. The Two Broke Watch Snobs reviewer described it as "your one-and-done vintage-inspired dive watch" — a single purchase that replaces the need for multiple watches across different contexts.
Comparable watches in the same niche include the Baltic Aquascaphe (39mm, different lug width) and the Oris Divers Sixty-Five 36mm (36mm, different lug width). The Sub-37 Legend at 37mm and 19mm lugs occupies a specific size point that neither alternative shares exactly.
Recommended Combinations
Most vintage-coherent rubber — black tropical FKM at 19mm watch straps — vintage rubber on the vintage Swiss diver.
Most factory-coherent upgrade — classic FKM rubber in black at 19mm watch straps.
Most characterful leather — leather watch straps in dark brown flat calfskin at 19mm watch straps — warm leather on the professional dive instrument.
Most vintage fabric — olive canvas at 19mm watch straps.
Most comfortable daily — Marine Nationale elastic at 19mm watch straps.
Most minimal — black single-pass nylon at 19mm watch straps.
Frequently Asked Questions
What size strap does the Squale Sub-37 Legend take? 19mm watch straps — confirmed by Squale's own official product specification, Long Island Watch authorised dealer specification, and multiple independent European retailers. 19mm is one of CNS's speciality odd sizes, stocked specifically for watches the broader market ignores.
What is the best strap for the Squale Sub-37 Legend? Black tropical style FKM at 19mm watch straps for the most vintage-coherent active combination. Dark brown leather for the most characterful dress-sport transformation — the warm leather and Old Radium lume create a tonally coherent vintage combination.
Can I use a 20mm strap on the Squale Sub-37 Legend? Some flexible rubber and nylon straps at 20mm can be fitted with minor compression at the lug end. However 19mm watch straps provide the closest fit and best finish. CNS stocks 19mm across nylon, rubber, leather, and canvas — giving Sub-37 Legend owners the full range of quality aftermarket options at the correct size.
Why does the Sub-37 Legend have no date window? The Sellita SW200-1 movement in the Sub-37 Legend has been modified by Squale to remove the date complication. This is a deliberate design decision — Squale CEO Andrea Maggi has stated the Sub-37 Legend is about returning to "the roots of our story" where professional dive instruments prioritised legibility and function over convenience. A clean dial without a date window is a statement of intent, not a limitation.
What is the Bonetto strap on the Squale Sub-37 Legend? The Bonetto strap is a vulcanised rubber strap made in Italy using a ladder-construction design — a series of horizontal bars across the underside that create air channels for breathability and flexibility. Vulcanised rubber is denser and more durable than silicone, developing character over time. Squale fits Bonetto-style straps to several of their professional dive watches as the factory standard.
Where is Squale made? Squale is a Swiss Made brand founded in Neuchâtel in 1959, now family-owned by the Maggi family. All watches are assembled in Switzerland and use Swiss Made movements. Squale supplied cases and movements to over thirty watch brands during the 1960s-1980s golden age of dive watchmaking, including luxury brands that now sell for multiples of Squale's price.
All CNS straps for the Squale Sub-37 Legend are available at 19mm watch straps. Standard delivery worldwide. 30-day returns.