Endurance Unleashed: Guest Authors Push the Limits of the Endurance Extreme

Charlotte – Endurance Extreme Terra Nova fitted to Boldr Venture Wayfarer

Endurance Extreme Terra Nova fitted to Boldr Venture Wayfarer - Credit Guest Author

I don't have many outdoor watches. In fact, most of my collection consists of classic dress watches. I do have a few field watches, however, and one is my Boldr Venture Wayfarer. This is one of those timepieces I reach for when I'm having a more hands-on day. Whether it's spending it in the garden or tackling an eight-mile hike around my local countryside, it's a great watch. I love it, but the clean cream nylon strap it arrived on is now looking a little worse for wear.

I've always found that white-dialled field watches look their best when paired with straps of dark green or khaki, and so when it came to swapping out its original nylon band for a new one, I knew it would look smart on Zuludiver's Endurance Extreme in Terra Nova. I definitely wasn't wrong. The tough-looking sailcloth exterior and its colouring pairs perfectly with the overall adventurous spirit of my Boldr.

The Zuludiver Endurance Extreme feels resilient and sturdy. It has the sailcloth exterior, which in my case is finished in a lovely dark khaki, and a rubber lining allowing for both water resistance and comfort. Due to its robust nature, I wasn't sure if it was going to feel a little unadaptable to my wrist at first, but after just a few hours of wear it quickly moulded around my arm and felt near invisible paired with the Boldr Venture Wayfarer's titanium case.

Endurance Extreme Terra Nova fitted to Boldr Venture Wayfarer - Credit Guest Author

There's plenty of attention to detail when it comes to the Endurance Extreme strap too. The stitching is matched perfectly to the rest of the sailcloth strap in khaki green while the strap loops are finished in black rubber, joining in with the rubber lining and the black hands on the Boldr's dial. Completing the band is a stainless steel pin buckle which is perfectly brushed to pair with the matte finish of the watch's case. All in all, the Zuludiver Endurance Extreme feels like the perfect companion for the Boldr, matching its overall aesthetic and mission.

Richard – Endurance Extreme Discovery fitted to Rolex Explorer II

Endurance Extreme Discovery fitted to Rolex Explorer II - Credit Guest Author

It's no secret I love tool and outdoor watches, and my go-to is still my beautiful Rolex Explorer 2, which my wife bought me when we lived in an altogether more rugged environment. I was given the watch because it worked and because, at the time, Rolex still had affection for those of us with a deep spirit of adventure and exploration. One of the lesser-known benefits of Rolexes is that they look wonderful on different straps and my Explorer rarely spends time on its original Oyster bracelet. It lives on a combination of military nylons, rubbers, fabrics, all of which sport the ZULUDIVER label. The original Endurance Strap is one of the best creations from the ZD brand so when we were a party to an even tougher version being produced, it was quite exciting.

The Endurance Extreme takes two of the bestselling straps that ZULUDIVER make, rubber and sailcloth, and combines the two. Several colours with wonderfully evocative names are available. For this test I grabbed the red Discovery strap because it would match perfectly with the red 24-hour hand on my Rolex.

The combination has proved to be a match made in heaven, with the tough material accenting perfectly against a watch that was built to travel to the ends of the Earth. The red colour, as I had hoped, matched the 24-hour hand perfectly, and the black keepers and black strap edges complemented the dial. The superior ZULUDIVER buckle and brushed metal are superb against the brushed metal on the Rolex fixed 24-hour bezel. For the last couple of years, my Explorer has been on multiple straps but to be honest, I cannot see me taking it off this ZD Discovery anytime soon, so wonderfully do the strap and watch head sit in harmony.

Sophie – Endurance Extreme Nimrod fitted to Sinn 556

Endurance Extreme Nimrod fitted to Sinn 556 - Credit Guest Author

I don't usually wear a watch because I have quite small wrists; however, the 38.5 millimetres Sinn 556 is one that I feel I can really pull off. If you wear it on the original brushed steel bracelet, it does give the watch a chunky feel however, when there was the opportunity to swap it over for one of ZULUDIVER's latest straps it was an opportunity not to be missed.

The 556 is the entry-level watch from this brand and it has a solid military and outdoor look so what better strap to compliment it than the ZULUDIVER Endurance Extreme? The Sinn case is heavily brushed so I felt the Nimrod variant of the strap in grey would be the perfect match and it certainly proved to be the case.

The name Nimrod is inspired by Shackleton's Nimrod Expedition to the Antarctic in the early 1900s, and the combination of this tough watch and strap made me feel like I could take it anywhere. The grey colour perfectly matched the heavy matte finish on the watch case, and the buckle on the Endurance also really cemented a strong 360° look.

Putting this watch and this strap together made me appreciate how you can further reduce the signature of a tool watch by careful strap selection. This combination is so good that we will certainly use it on PR images of the watch and the strap from now on.