When it comes to pioneering new materials, the famous biggest brands in watchmaking have always pushed the boundaries, Biosteel is the latest one. Since manufacturers strive for a further step ahead of rivals across a fiercely competitive marketplace, it’s certainly a constant thing to look for innovative uses for different metals or fabrics in the industry.
From the latest news in this never-ending battle, we are told that Omega has cooperated with German company, AMSilk, which is the first supplier of synthetic silk biopolymers in the world. AMSilk has produced Biosteel fiber finally after more than ten years of research and development, which has been blended with polyamide to create a NATO strap for the luxury Swiss fake watch brand exclusively.
It’s Omega’s strap that represents the radical new material has been put into full-scale consumer production for the first time. Sportswear firm, Adidas previously announced a prototype pair of sneakers woven from Biosteel, and outdoor apparel brand, The North Face has released similarly short-run pieces in synthetic silk from competing manufacturers, such as US-based, Bolt Threads. Nevertheless, AMSilk remains at the forefront of the technology, and it was named as one of the 50 most innovative companies worldwide lately.
It has long been something of a ‘holy grail’ for utilizing spider silk in the textile industry, as the material is famous for its combination of strength, elasticity, and light weight, anyone who has ever wandered unwittingly into a web will know. Even if Biosteel isn’t made from actual spider’s silk, it was the German lab that used ferment techniques originally on E. coli bacteria to replicate it.
It’s well known that as an innovation, Biosteel is already generating a large number of buzz. AMSilk has begun to cooperate with Airbus recently, as the aviation giant continues its move away from traditional materials (such as steel) into composites for greater efficiency. It’s reported Biosteel is so strong that a web made up of pencil thick fibers would be able to support one of Airbus’s fully-laden A380s. Sounds awesome! it looks like a perfect partnership.
It’s undoubtedly Biosteel’s unique qualities that also make it the ideal choice for Omega to use in their latest strap, which is an element often ignored on a replica watches for sale in usa, but one tasked to withstand more wear and tear than most.
Aside from its robustness, it has several other key attributes. It is utterly hypoallergenic and anti-bacterial, so as to it has also found to apply in the medical sector as a coating for surgical implants. Biosteel is naturally breathable, resulting greater comfortable on the wrist ( the AMSilk website describes it “moisture management”), it has a silky smooth texture, and it is 100% biodegradable.
Ethical sustainability is focused greatly by more and more and starting to sweep across the watchmaking industry, and the major players are beginning to notice it. Since Biosteel made from all-natural materials, it is more environmentally conscious than polyester or leather, both of which require the use of chemicals in their production. It’s significantly a better choice.
There is only one available Biosteel strap to choose at present. A pleasantly neutral cream color, it’s obviously produced to match with as much watches in Omega’s portfolio as possible. You can try with the customizer to see which model wears it best if you go into the brand’s website. My personal favorite is the Speedy ’57, but it’s really very difficult to find anything that makes the watch look less pretty.
This strap has already rolled out in Europe crazily and is going to land in the U.S. sometime this year. At $270, it’s surely not the cheapest strap when it comes to wearing an Omega timepiece, but this reflects any new product that enters the market. And we have enough confidence that prices will become more and more reasonable once the industry scales up.