Vietnam War Diver's Watch Style: The Olongapo Band

One of the coolest compliments to any vintage diver's watch is the "Olongapo" bracelet.  These custom made, stainless steel watch bands were and are associated with the Philippines and Olongapo City in particular.  If you're into collecting watches from the Vietnam War era such as old Rolex or Tudor Subs, the classic Seiko 6309 or 6105, Benrus Type Is and IIs, or the often under appreciated Zodiac Sea Wolf, then you've probably already seen some of these Olongapo bands.

Royal Australian Navy Clearance Diver just casually using an underwater chainsaw, wearing a Kirby Morgan 17, and rocking the Olongapo.  This is perhaps the coolest photo that ever was.  

A Royal Australian Navy Clearance Diver wearing an Olongapo.  

USN UDTs in Vietnam.  

Various specialized military units (UDTs, SEALs, Rangers, Special Forces, Navy divers, etc...) spent a great deal of time on or near the Subic Bay Naval Base (decommissioned in 1992) while on leave from the war.  Olongapo City is in close proximity to Subic Bay and service men visiting the city began commissioning local artisans to produce stainless steel watch bands for their service watches which were customized with various military insignia.  At some point, a trend developed and many jewelry makers in Olongapo were soon producing these bracelets for the US and other military members.  Many of these bands, being built like a brick shit-house, have survived and assist in telling the story of the watches they accompany and the brave men who wore them.  

This is a screen grab from a movie about Air Force Pararescue men.  They too were rocking the Olongapo.  

In fact, there is still at least one highly talented maker of this style of watch bracelet.  His name is Jaffy Jurado and he runs an online business producing Olongapo bands mostly for collectors.  For a reasonable sum he'll make you a custom made watch band for your exact wrist size and particular watch.  As a Coast Guard veteran, I was interested in having one made with some insignia from my service.  Jaffy seems to have already used every insignia you can imagine but the Coast Guard's coxswain insignia (think pilot's wings for a boat driver) were a new one for him.  I wanted that on one side of the watch band and for the other I wanted the crossed anchors which signify my rate, Boatswain's Mate.  I don't mean this to be a commercial for Jaffy's work but he really is something else.  I was extremely impressed with the fit, attention to detail, and accuracy of my band and he even engraved the inside at no additional charge.  I'll put his email at the end of this post.  Here is a bunch of cool pictures.

And here a few pictures of mine!  I really couldn't be more pleased.  I went with the 22mm lug spacing to enable the band to be used on my many Seiko watches.

Pictures from Jaffy's workbench.  You can see the attention to detail is very impressive.  

It's a pretty nice watch bracelet for desk and or bar diving as well.  

As I promised.  Here's the email address for Jaffy:  olongapobands@gmail.com.  You can't go wrong!

Thanks for reading!