I suspect I know the answer to this, but my new (old) house has a lot
of surface wiring due to stone walls, oak beams and so on. The wiring
is held in place with metal cable straps which are secured with a nail
and then, rather like a belt, one end slots into the other and is
pulled tight round the cable then the excess is folded back and tucked
behind.

By now you're wondering where this is leading, but I much prefer the
look of these old metal straps than modern plastic cable clips which
have a raised profile to accomodate the captive nail along one side.

So assuming I can no longer get the metal straps, what else is there in
the way of a surface fixing that is easy on the eye ?