Journal
The TROPIC® Story: A History of the Original Dive Strap
July 14, 2026
Some products earn a history page; very few earn a legend. The TROPIC® strap has been in and out of the water for seven decades, on the wrists of navy divers, explorers and collectors. Here is how the original rubber dive strap came to be, disappeared into myth, and came back.
1955: rubber joins the dive watch
In the mid-1950s the dive watch was new and the strap question was unsolved. Steel bracelets were tough but heavy, cold and awkward over a wetsuit. The answer arrived in 1955: a soft, waterproof rubber strap with a perforated basket-weave surface that breathed on the wrist and drained water as fast as it arrived. The name TROPIC® was registered as a Swiss brand from the start, and every strap left the factory with that name embossed inside.
Standard issue for the golden age
As recreational and military diving boomed, the TROPIC® strap became the rubber option offered with the defining tool watches of the era, among them the Rolex® Submariner, the Blancpain® Fifty Fathoms and the Omega® Seamaster 300. The French Navy fitted it to its Tudor® Submariners as official equipment. If a serious dive watch of the 1960s wore rubber, the odds are it wore a TROPIC®.
The blue packaging era
In the United States, distribution ran through BestFit, and it is BestFit that gave the strap its signature blue packaging. That blue became part of the TROPIC® identity, and the blue of this website is a quiet tribute to it.
Imitated into a generic word, almost
Success invited copies. So many basket-weave straps flooded the market over the decades that the word tropic started being used for the pattern itself. But TROPIC® never stopped being a registered trademark, and the original never stopped being a specific strap from a specific maker, with the name embossed on the inner side to prove it.
2003: Synchron brings the original home
In 2003 Synchron acquired the TROPIC® brand outright, together with its assets, original blueprints, tooling and the remaining old strap stock. That acquisition is why the strap sold here is a true continuation of the 1955 original rather than another reproduction of its look.
Today: the same strap, made better
The current TROPIC® strap is produced in Italy from a proprietary vulcanised natural-rubber compound that is silicone-free, PFAS-free and hypoallergenic, in 20mm and 22mm widths. The weave, the taper and the embossed name are exactly where they have always been. New to the strap? Start with what a TROPIC® strap is, or learn how to spot a genuine one.
Shop the genuine TROPIC® strap
Your questions, answered
When did the TROPIC® strap first appear?
In 1955, as the modern dive watch was taking shape. The name was registered as a trademark from the beginning.
Who owns TROPIC® today?
Synchron, which acquired the TROPIC® brand together with its assets, blueprints, tooling and remaining old stock in 2003.
Is the strap still in production?
Yes. It is made in Italy from a modern vulcanised natural-rubber compound while keeping the original basket-weave design.
What was the blue packaging?
In the United States the strap was distributed by BestFit, whose blue boxes became the signature TROPIC® packaging of the era and remain a collector favourite.
TROPIC® and ISOfrane® are registered trademarks owned by Synchron. Rolex®, Blancpain®, Omega®, Tudor®, Zodiac®, LIP®, Aquadive®, Aquastar® and DOXA® are trademarks of their respective owners. These companies are not affiliated with tropicstrap.com and do not endorse the TROPIC® strap.