Finally got my first good quality rep! IWC Mark XX. Now which strap you think it its better?

[DerDotkom]

Hi everyone,

After patiently waiting for a few weeks, a couple days ago it finally arrived, my very first good quality rep.
To start my way into the rep world, I wanted to stay a bit away from Rolex and, upon doing some research, I decided to go for a V7F Mark XX that I got from Steve (The One Watches).

What can I say? It's definitely a beauty.
I never owned a watch with a leather strap before and the only automatic watch I've ever touched is a shitter that I got a couple weeks ago, so I don't have any point of comparison.
That being said, the feeling of winding the watch is quite nice, definitely much, much better than the shitter.
The strap doesn't feel like it's the same level of quality as the watch itself; it has a "clickety" sound and some minor but noticeable play due to the quick change system (or whatever is called) that I want to believe wouldn't be present in a gen 5700€ piece. I've read that even the system in the gen ones isn't great either, but I have to believe that it's vastly superior to this.
The case feels really high quality, I'm quite happy with it. Once again, I've never even touched a gen, so I have no idea how it compares to the real deal, but still this one feels incredible.

Some pictures:








Now, I knew beforehand that the leather straps in reps are not particularly good, but I didn't bother about it because I was planning to get some nato straps to pair with the watch, at least for the summer months. And here are the few options that I got that thought would pair well with the green dial:






Which colour do you think looks better?

 

[ChaplinTz]

Tossup between the brown and gray but I think the gray suits it best

 

[ChaplinTz]

Looks great on the leather too, best overall

 

[millklones]

my personal view. The leather straps from the factory are not so good. i would go for a better leather strap. its a "expensive watch". Or you buy better nato straps. This beautiful watch does not deserve to be on a $3 strap. But its your watch. you can do what you want.
Hirsch

 

[dmatt]

Of the cloth straps, gray looks best to me.
I prefer deep brown leather for this simple and attractive watch. I would buy a better one with less prominent stitching. I have one on a gen Tudor that is authentic snakeskin and looks/feels great - but it was $150. Silver linings are that 1) I have other watches that use same size and 2) it has high quality easy off/on system.

 

[DerDotkom]

my personal view. The leather straps from the factory are not so good. i would go for a better leather strap. its a "expensive watch". Or you buy better nato straps. This beautiful watch does not deserve to be on a $3 strap. But its your watch. you can do what you want.
Hirsch

I already have the Hirsch straps on my watchlist, they have some beautiful leather straps and at some point I will buy one, but I would preffer to avoid leather during the summer, as my wrist sweats a bit and I think leather wouldn't be the most comfortable option.

Can you recommend a brand that makes good nato straps? Preferably an European brand, as I live in Germany. I saw Hirsch has some nato straps, but I was not very impressed by the colours they offer. I ordered mine from a German website (although their business is in the Netherlands), and they claim they are "premium natos from the brand natos.com".

 

[dmatt]

Of the cloth straps, gray looks best to me.
I prefer deep brown leather for this simple and attractive watch. I would buy a better one with less prominent stitching. I have one on a gen Tudor that is authentic snakeskin and looks/feels great - but it was $150. Silver linings are that 1) I have other watches that use same size and 2) it has high quality easy off/on system.

Here's my example...gen Tudor BB 58 on a new lizard from Vietnam. It's great qulaity.

 

[DerDotkom]

Here's my example...gen Tudor BB 58 on a new lizard from Vietnam. It's great qulaity.

Looks good, but isn't it too hot for the summer? I would be okay spending 150€ in a strap, as long as it is high quality, but with the current temperatures I kinda prefer to stay away from leather.

 

[dmatt]

Looks good, but isn't it too hot for the summer? I would be okay spending 150€ in a strap, as long as it is high quality, but with the current temperatures I kinda prefer to stay away from leather.

You are correct about seasonal feel and look; this isn't a beach look, and the latter doesn't work in bitter cold. The leather isn't actually hot for me.

 

[turbienchen]

Get an FKM strap from Aliexpress for about 7€. Also, majority of EU NATO strap vendor is most likely just an AE reseller. You are overpaying for Marketing.