THE PEARSON STRAP – THE NATO GRANDFATHER
E.J. Pearson and Sons became the largest watch strap maker in England by the end of WW1. They registered design number 529337 with the British Board of Trade on 27 August 1908. The design is below, it is a two piece leather strap, with the shorter flap passing behind the watch, and the longer strap passing through the lugs of the watch.
The name NATO describing a watch strap derives from the late 1970s, and is a colloquial reference to the NATO Stock Number (NSN) for the issued military strap. It has evolved to mean any two part strap, not necessarily military issued. And, earlier two part “NATO” straps existed before the slang term developed.
A range of names, Simplex, Climax, Victor, and Premier were used for various versions of the Pearson two part “NATO” watch strap.
The Victor Reg. No. 529336 provides all the necessary DNA to the much later military NATO Nylon strap NSN 6645-99-124-2986. The grail strap, a NOS Victor model 529336 below is 205mm long and 9mm wide.
Here it is on a silver watch with shrapnel guard.
Image courtesy: Auckland War Memorial Museum
