Tudor Ranger Straps: What Fits, What Suits, and What I'd Leave Off
The 39mm Ranger takes a 20mm strap. The 36mm takes 19mm. Get that right first and the rest is taste.
The 39mm Ranger takes a 20mm strap, and all three of our dedicated Ranger straps are 20mm. The 36mm Ranger takes 19mm, so those three won’t fit it, but we have 19mm straps that will, and they’re further down. For the 39mm, the choice is easy: woven nylon for everyday and travel, sailcloth with a deployant clasp if you want something sturdier, herringbone tweed if you want the Ranger to look like it’s been in the family. All of them sit in our Tudor Ranger strap collection.
The Ranger is a field watch with no bezel and nothing to prove. It doesn’t want a flashy strap, and it punishes a stiff one. That’s why most owners end up in fabric, and why it’s worth knowing which fabric.
Check the lugs first: 19mm or 20mm
This is where Ranger strap advice gets sloppy, because the two case sizes look alike and take different straps. The 39mm takes 20mm. The 36mm takes 19mm. A 20mm strap won’t go into 19mm lugs, and a 19mm strap in 20mm lugs leaves a gap you’ll notice every time you look down.
Here’s how it breaks down.
| Ranger case | Lug width | Our Ranger straps |
|---|---|---|
| 39mm | 20mm | All three Ranger straps, plus our 20mm sailcloth and FKM rubber deployant straps |
| 36mm | 19mm | Not our Ranger straps. Use the 19mm options further down |
If you’re not sure which one you have, measure. I’d rather you spent two minutes with calipers than heard about it from a returns label.
Measure between the inside edges of the lugs, where the spring bar sits, using calipers or a steel rule. Don’t measure the old strap. Straps taper towards the buckle, so the number at the lug end is the one that counts. Round to the nearest millimetre, and if you land between two sizes, measure again. Calipers cost less than a wrong strap.
[ANECDOTE NEEDED: a real MGB returns or fitting story about a Ranger or 19mm versus 20mm mix-up.]
Woven nylon: the one I’d buy first
The Ranger has the clean dial and legible numerals of a watch built to be used, and a single-pass woven nylon strap suits that brief without any fuss. Ours is 1.4mm thick, so it sits closer to the case than a doubled-over NATO, and it has a brushed steel buckle with a shield shape that matches the Ranger’s utilitarian look. It comes in brown and red, or black, blue and cream, in one size that fits up to a 24cm wrist.
It’s also the cheapest way into a Ranger strap at £42, which matters if you’re not sure you’ll like fabric. I’d go brown and red on the beige dial and black, blue and cream on the black dial, but you’ll see what I mean when you hold them against yours. Yes, we make this one. No, that isn’t why it’s first in the list: it’s first because it’s the least risky.
Our woven nylon Ranger strap is the one to start with.
Sailcloth with a deployant: for the Ranger you actually wear hard
This is the strap I’d choose for a Ranger that does everything. Black sailcloth with white contrast stitching echoes the white numerals on a black dial, and the stitching reads the same way on the wrist as the dial does on the face.
The trade point most strap pages skip: fabric straps fail at the notches. The pin pushes through, the fibres fray, and the hole stretches until the strap won’t hold its position. Ours is bonded with FKM rubber at every adjustment hole, which is where it earns the extra money. The deployant clasp then means you’re not stressing a hole at all every time you put the watch on. It folds shut in one motion and stays out of the way of a shirt cuff.
At £85 it costs twice the nylon, and it’s worth it if you wear the watch daily. If you wear it twice a month, buy the nylon. The size is listed as Standard (105/100), fitting an 18.0cm to 21.5cm wrist. If your wrist is outside that range, this isn’t the strap for you, and I’d rather say so than have you guess.
Our sailcloth strap with deployant clasp comes in black and white only. If you’d rather have another colour, khaki included, our universal sailcloth deployant strap is the same idea in more colours, and it comes in 20mm for the 39mm. If you want to understand what sailcloth is and isn’t, we’ve written a plain guide to it, and the clasp is covered in our deployant guide.
Herringbone tweed: the one that sounds wrong and isn’t
Tweed on a Tudor sounds like a joke until you see it on a beige dial. The Ranger has no bezel, no chapter ring and no dive-watch baggage, so a heritage fabric looks intended rather than eccentric. The brown herringbone pulls the warm tones out of the cream lume and the brushed steel.
It’s heavier than nylon and has a leather-lined underside, which makes it comfortable over a long day. It has a silver pin buckle, so it’s a proper strap-and-buckle job rather than a clasp. At £110 it’s the most expensive of the three, and I’d call it the most characterful. The listed size is Standard (120/75), for a 17.0cm to 20.5cm wrist.
I wouldn’t wear it in the rain, and I wouldn’t wear it to the beach. Fabric of this sort wants a dry autumn and a good pair of boots. If your Ranger is a daily wearer that goes everywhere, buy the sailcloth.
Our brown herringbone tweed strap is listed for the 39mm Ranger. It’s 20mm, so it’s a 39mm strap only.
Got the 36mm? The 19mm straps that fit
Our three Ranger straps are 20mm, so they’re not for you. These are 19mm, and they’re the ones I’d pick for a 36mm Ranger:
- Sailcloth with deployant clasp, £85. The same FKM-bonded notches as the Ranger sailcloth, in seven colours. Khaki is the one I’d pick for a field watch.
- FKM rubber cut-to-size deployant, £85. For a Ranger that gets wet.
- Light brown leather deployant, £85. For the smarter end of the week.
We hold fewer 19mm straps than 20mm, so check your colour is in stock on the page before you set your heart on it.
Rubber, if you want it
We don’t make a Ranger-specific rubber strap. For the 39mm, our FKM rubber deployant strap in 20mm does the job. You trim it to your wrist, so there’s no tail and no loose keeper. It’s the one for a Ranger that gets wet. The same strap comes in 19mm for the 36mm.
Wrist size matters as much as lug width
Lug width decides whether a strap fits the watch. Wrist size decides whether it fits you, and the two get confused. The nylon is one size and fits up to a 24cm wrist, which makes it forgiving. The sailcloth and the tweed are sized more tightly, and a deployant strap has far less give than a buckle strap, so measure your wrist before you choose. Our wrist measuring page takes two minutes with a soft tape. If you’re near the end of a range, go for the strap with the wider one, and check the numbers against the wrist ranges above.
What I’d do if it were mine
If it were mine, I’d wear the sailcloth for most of the year and put the tweed on in October. I’d keep the nylon in a bag for travel, because there’s nothing to lose and it dries in an hour. I wouldn’t put black leather on a Ranger. It goes formal fast, and the watch isn’t.
When to leave it alone
If your Ranger came on Tudor’s own fabric strap or bracelet and you’re happy, leave it. A new strap is a nice thing to do, not a necessary one. The straps in this article are for people who want something different, not people who’ve been told theirs is wrong.
If you’re not sure which Ranger you have, measure before you buy. A wrong strap costs more than a pair of callipers.
Fitting it
[ANECDOTE NEEDED: a real fitting mistake from MGB’s experience, ideally spring bars on a Ranger.] Use a proper spring bar tool. If a bar looks tired, replace it: our straight spring bars come in every width from 6mm to 30mm, 19mm and 20mm included, at £12. Do it on a towel, not over a tiled floor. Check the strap sits flat in the lugs and that both bars have clicked into their holes before you trust it with your wrist.
The Ranger’s a field watch with no airs. Choose a strap that doesn’t pretend otherwise. If you’re also wearing a Black Bay, our best Tudor NATO straps is the next read, and the whole Tudor strap range is there if you want to go further.
Measure the lugs. Pick the strap that suits how you live. Then forget it’s there.
Frequently asked questions
What size strap does the Tudor Ranger take?
The 39mm Ranger takes a 20mm strap and the 36mm takes 19mm. All three of our dedicated Ranger straps are 20mm, so they fit the 39mm.
Will a 20mm strap fit the 36mm Tudor Ranger?
No. The 36mm Ranger has 19mm lugs, so a 20mm strap won’t fit. Our 19mm sailcloth, FKM rubber and leather deployant straps will.
What is the best strap for a Tudor Ranger?
It depends on how you wear it. Woven nylon is the cheapest and easiest, sailcloth with a deployant clasp is the sturdiest, and herringbone tweed is the most characterful.
Is there a rubber strap for the Tudor Ranger?
Not a Ranger-specific one, but our FKM rubber cut-to-size deployant strap comes in 20mm for the 39mm and 19mm for the 36mm.
Which Ranger strap suits a wrist of 20cm?
The sailcloth strap is listed for 18.0cm to 21.5cm and the tweed for 17.0cm to 20.5cm, so both cover a 20cm wrist. The nylon is one size and fits up to 24cm.
Where can I see every strap for the Ranger?
The full set is in our Tudor Ranger strap collection, with the wider Tudor strap range beside it.