**** V5 - What AP are you wearing today??? ****

[Picasso74]

 

[flying-tommy]

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[C Master]

beautiful.....hand made strap??

It is a Vic aka SMP_Lover strap. Unfortunately it is old and has seen better days. One of the lugs is badly worn. Fortunately I picked up a new black GP strap off him. Great straps and so comfortable, even better than the gen strap may I dare to say.

 

[legend]

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I vote this AP Franken of the year 2020.


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[legend]

It is a Vic aka SMP_Lover strap. Unfortunately it is old and has seen better days. One of the lugs is badly worn. Fortunately I picked up a new black GP strap off him. Great straps and so comfortable, even better than the gen strap may I dare to say.

Vic straps have significant advantages over gen AP leather ones:
- the quality of stitching is better and looks better
- the leather does not peel off at the edges and corners after prolonged use (a common issue with AP leather straps)
- the lining makes it more comfortable to wear for me. This is subjective though.

The quality of the hornback and crocodile leather used by SMP_lover is on par with if not better than the gen AP straps. And I am picky about leather straps. It is not often that independent vendors produce something better than the brand makers but the man has done it time and again. I have a set of vic straps for almost every gen AP I own. Another guy who does it as good as/better than gen is Jacob. Gen AP leather straps are also outsourced I believe and the stitching can be uneven or crooked at times. There is nothing really impressive about them especially after prolonged wear or extended periods of use.
I’ll recommend anyone who wants leather straps for their APs to give smp_lover a try. The man is a master of his craft.


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[C Master]

I have a set of vic straps for almost every gen AP I own.

Lol I have put a Vic Strap on a cheapo quartz as they are such a pleasure to wear and wasted sitting in a box.

 

[C Master]

 

[C Master]

 

[Swiss_goupil]

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[dabestone]

 

[C Master]

 

[C Master]

 

[C Master]

 

[jcguo0516]

hella beautiful

 

[flofas]

Vic straps have significant advantages over gen AP leather ones:
- the quality of stitching is better and looks better
- the leather does not peel off at the edges and corners after prolonged use (a common issue with AP leather straps)
- the lining makes it more comfortable to wear for me. This is subjective though.

I think I should emphasise this post by legend , I'm a huge fan of SMP_lover aka Vic's products. In fact, I just realised, in 2020 i spent more than €2.020 on his creations. I upgraded most of my watches' straps with him, and he made me two incredible custom made Jordan 1s that I feel are way better in quality than any other custom shoe I've ever seen (up close or in photos). They ways he uses to treat & protect the leather before it reaches the customer are out of this world and I feel his straps will last 10 times longer than any other leather strap I've owned. This comes from a person that has a box full of leather straps, either genuine AP products or made by the other "usual suspects" of strap making. I don't think I should mention their names cause I don't want to suggest that their products are bad, but let's say that I used to prefer rubber straps before I handled my first Vic strap. This made me reach deep in my pocket and spend way more money than I should on custom leather shoes. Let me take the freedom and post a couple of pictures of the Jordans he made for me, just to celebrate his craftmanship:

 

[C Master]

 

[flofas]

 

[Swiss_goupil]

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[C Master]

 

[Shylock Eins]