Lack of availability and desirability of Dirk straps overshadows 'ristis urge to call and label it as a rep/fake.
7-8 years ago Dirk simply decided to use his know-how from the days of his employment under original OP, and by re-creating the "original" PAV styled straps, fill the void and lack of good quality straps that became evident soon after Vendome bought the OP company in '97.
One has to remember that he came out with his PAV straps "replicas" at the time when Panerai replica watches were nowhere to be seen, and the only ones available (first attempts you could by on Canal street at the time) were low quality low cost "watches" laughed at by both Paneristi enthusiasts and OP/Richemont, so no need for a concern over decent good replication of the original watches.
Dirk went on his own and started producing PAV straps lookalikes, using the same leather waterprofing Kodiak method original pre-V PAV straps of the early '90es came with. He also replicated 1:1 the pre-V bottle opener type sewn-in buckle from PAVs originals. The reason he stopped making these straps eventualy was simple and understandable - he was approached by OP/Richemont and asked to cease the production of so called Dirk PAV straps as it breached copyright and trademark rights. This actually happened roughly at the same time Guangzhou started churning out good quality Pam replicas and straps at an alarming rate, and it's no wonder OP/Richemont acted the way they did.
He obliged, thus avoiding a legal charge and potentialy expensive and tedious court proceedings that were to follow.
Dirk is a very approachable person, I advise anyone that wants to know/hear more about this from the horse's mouth to send him an email. His contact details can be found on Paneristi.com.
cheers,
babola
