Decided to pick up a few straps during Panatime's Labour Day sale, and I'm glad I did. I'm absolutely overwhelmed after getting 3 new watches and 3 new straps in the past 2 weeks. I feel like I have 6 new watches at once.
I picked up a Hadley Roma 22/22 black "genuine" gator leather for my A. Lange & Sohne Datograph, another gator for my Bell & Ross BR03-92, and an olive NATO w/black PVD rings for my Seiko SNZG17.
First up is the Hadley Roma 22/22 black genuine gator leather. I was being very careful about picking my straps on the Panatime website. There were some straps called "Gator Genuine Leather" and others named "Genuine Gator Leather" so I made sure I ordered one that said "Genuine" in front of gator. Seeing as how this was a name brand strap as well (not a high end name, but still a name brand) I was expecting the real deal.
The strap is thick, but I found it a bit too stiff for my tastes. It wasn't comfortable and was difficult to bend around my wrist at first, and it only got about halfway to where I would want it in terms of comfort after a day of wear. Hopefully I'll be able to work it in more after a few more days. I'm no expert, but the detail in the leather between the tiles doesn't seem to be there, which makes me believe this is a stamped gator pattern. The back of the strap also just says "GENUINE CALFSKIN". The stitching is much whiter than I expected from the website pictures as well. That all said, it's still a pretty good value for the $44.99 price it's at right now, and an excellent value after the weekend discount.
Next up is the Bell & Ross Black Gator Genuine Leather Strap. Notice the "Genuine" after "Gator" in that name? I fully expected to get a stamped strap, especially since this seemed to be a generic no-name strap.
Again, I'm no expert, but that detail between the tiles makes this look like the real deal to me. The strap is also very soft and pliant, and was comfortable within 15 minutes of wear. There's no stamp anywhere on the inside of the strap, but it sure looks, feels, and smells genuine. The buckle is unbranded with a nice brushed finish, and it looks like I might be able to swap my branded buckle from my rubber strap without a problem. The only complaint I have is that the strap is about .5mm too wide for the buckle (or the buckle is .5 mm too narrow) and it was too difficult to slide the strap through. I'm really impressed with this strap.
Finally, the 22mm 5 Ring PVD Nylon NATO for my Seiko SNZG17. I've never had a NATO before, so I decided to try this out as it seemed like a pretty decent price. When I got it, I even had to google "How to use a NATO watch strap" just to figure out how to get it on. As soon as it was on my wrist (properly) I fell in love. I probably could have read a million posts about why people love their NATO straps, but I never would have understood until I tried one. I regret not taking advantage of the sale to buy this more expensive tan leather one, but I think that might be my next purchase. The olive color of this strap was a bit too bright green for my tastes, but it still matched well with my olive jacket and olive cargo shorts and pants. Yeah, I just typed that sentence, and wondered why the hell it took so long to buy a NATO. lol. I swear I don't dress like a military wannabe all the time.
In all, I'm extremely happy with my purchases from Panatime. The sale let me get all three of these straps for under $90 with standard shipping and taxes, and shipping only took 3 days to random bordertown North Dakota.
I ordered the white stitching on the leather straps not knowing if I'd like it in person, and I still haven't decided if the high contrast is my style. The straps seem to try to be the star of the show, when I feel it should really be the watch itself. I think for the Datograph at least, I will probably be buying a black dye marker from a craft store and dyeing the stitching while quickly wiping it off the leather afterwards. I'll post results if I decide to try it out.
I picked up a Hadley Roma 22/22 black "genuine" gator leather for my A. Lange & Sohne Datograph, another gator for my Bell & Ross BR03-92, and an olive NATO w/black PVD rings for my Seiko SNZG17.
First up is the Hadley Roma 22/22 black genuine gator leather. I was being very careful about picking my straps on the Panatime website. There were some straps called "Gator Genuine Leather" and others named "Genuine Gator Leather" so I made sure I ordered one that said "Genuine" in front of gator. Seeing as how this was a name brand strap as well (not a high end name, but still a name brand) I was expecting the real deal.
The strap is thick, but I found it a bit too stiff for my tastes. It wasn't comfortable and was difficult to bend around my wrist at first, and it only got about halfway to where I would want it in terms of comfort after a day of wear. Hopefully I'll be able to work it in more after a few more days. I'm no expert, but the detail in the leather between the tiles doesn't seem to be there, which makes me believe this is a stamped gator pattern. The back of the strap also just says "GENUINE CALFSKIN". The stitching is much whiter than I expected from the website pictures as well. That all said, it's still a pretty good value for the $44.99 price it's at right now, and an excellent value after the weekend discount.
Next up is the Bell & Ross Black Gator Genuine Leather Strap. Notice the "Genuine" after "Gator" in that name? I fully expected to get a stamped strap, especially since this seemed to be a generic no-name strap.
Again, I'm no expert, but that detail between the tiles makes this look like the real deal to me. The strap is also very soft and pliant, and was comfortable within 15 minutes of wear. There's no stamp anywhere on the inside of the strap, but it sure looks, feels, and smells genuine. The buckle is unbranded with a nice brushed finish, and it looks like I might be able to swap my branded buckle from my rubber strap without a problem. The only complaint I have is that the strap is about .5mm too wide for the buckle (or the buckle is .5 mm too narrow) and it was too difficult to slide the strap through. I'm really impressed with this strap.
Finally, the 22mm 5 Ring PVD Nylon NATO for my Seiko SNZG17. I've never had a NATO before, so I decided to try this out as it seemed like a pretty decent price. When I got it, I even had to google "How to use a NATO watch strap" just to figure out how to get it on. As soon as it was on my wrist (properly) I fell in love. I probably could have read a million posts about why people love their NATO straps, but I never would have understood until I tried one. I regret not taking advantage of the sale to buy this more expensive tan leather one, but I think that might be my next purchase. The olive color of this strap was a bit too bright green for my tastes, but it still matched well with my olive jacket and olive cargo shorts and pants. Yeah, I just typed that sentence, and wondered why the hell it took so long to buy a NATO. lol. I swear I don't dress like a military wannabe all the time.
In all, I'm extremely happy with my purchases from Panatime. The sale let me get all three of these straps for under $90 with standard shipping and taxes, and shipping only took 3 days to random bordertown North Dakota.
I ordered the white stitching on the leather straps not knowing if I'd like it in person, and I still haven't decided if the high contrast is my style. The straps seem to try to be the star of the show, when I feel it should really be the watch itself. I think for the Datograph at least, I will probably be buying a black dye marker from a craft store and dyeing the stitching while quickly wiping it off the leather afterwards. I'll post results if I decide to try it out.
