The Watch Appreciation Thread - Part two (Rolex, Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger LeCoultre,

[TheFoo]

Cool. I just feel odd paying more than $200 for a strap. What kind of strap are you looking for ?

More like $400-500!

Olive alligator with square scales and off-white stitching.

 

[Bronze Age Sartorial]

Not bespoke but Veblenist offers several customization options at reasonable prices.

VEBLENIST | Leather & Canvas Watch Straps | NATO Bands

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www.veblenist.com

 

[ronscuba]

More like $400-500!

Olive alligator with square scales and off-white stitching.

I have several straps/bracelet for my Speedmaster 57 and old Seiko. $50-$150 range I feel like I am getting adequate quality to value ratio. I don't have any urge to to change the strap on my other watches. Not sure why. Maybe it is because the Speedmaster and Seiko have a vintage vibe.

Do you plan to see the alligator hide and select the section used ?

 

[DavidLane]

@Keith T thank you for the rec. I do make custom straps and can confirm the quality of OEM is sometimes great, and sometimes not so much.

Here is a very worn Patek strap a local doctor brought in and it has layers of non-leather inside. Some of which are likely stiffeners and padding as the alligator is very thin and has rolled edges.This one was literally hanging on by a thread.

We don’t do rolled edges and can add padding, but tend to make two layer straps for the most part. All are hand stitched. Here is the replacement on the watch:

-DL

 

[NakedYoga]

@TheFoo Have you considered forum affiliate @Equus Leather ?

Equus Leather

Looking for Equus Leather? Us too.

www.equusleather.co.uk

 

[TheFoo]

@Keith T thank you for the rec. I do make custom straps and can confirm the quality of OEM is sometimes great, and sometimes not so much.

Here is a very worn Patek strap a local doctor brought in and I has layers of non-leather inside. Some of which are likely stiffeners and padding as the alligator is very thin and has rolled edges.This one was literally hanging on by a thread.
View attachment 1597417 View attachment 1597416

We don’t do rolled edges and can add padding, but tend to make two layer straps for the most part. All are hand stitched. Here is the replacement on the watch:
View attachment 1597418
View attachment 1597421
-DL

Your olive gator looks awesome!!!

 

[NakedYoga]

Which actually reminds me I need to get back to them about a card case/wallet I'm having made...

 

[DavidLane]

Your olive gator looks awesome!!!

Appreciate it, green is a good color and works with a ton of watches. It’s often passed on despite my recommendations.

-DL

 

[ecerratic]

Apologies as I’m generally just a lurker in this thread, but does anyone have experience with the Tudor BB36? I’m looking for a solid every day watch and even though the snowflake hands aren’t exactly my favorite, everything else is hitting the wants.

I‘m leaning towards that or a vintage Rolex like the 1501. I‘ve never been really moved by the Explorer until recently, but the 36mm is quite tempting even if it’s stretching the budget a bit.

 

[venessian]

Really? I don't have a watch with Dauphine hands, but I quite like them. Certain stick hand watches do seem rather insipid to me, though. If going by the hand design, I feel like the first of the following three more accurately could be described as 'lacking vigour or interest' (the insipid definition). Do you prefer that first watch over the following two?

Spoiler: 3 watches

View attachment 1597374

View attachment 1597375

View attachment 1597376

Of course "different strokes...", etc., and of course some watches do same-family hands much better than others, but yes I do not like dauphine hands. I often do not like the proportions, the crease, and how they resolve themselves at the center post.

But, I do not necessarily prefer that Piaget over the other two watches, even though it has stick hands, although I like alot of Piaget designs. Of those three watches specifically I perhaps actually like the IWC hand/dial integration the best, but I would not buy any of the three for myself. To me, bombé lugs on any watch, as on that IWC 89, are pretty hideous. IWC made many 89s with lance, stick, syringe hands, all of which I would prefer.

I really like leaf hands a lot (my general favorite); modified (ie belted) leafs; lots of syringe/bund, alpha, and lance hands; many batons/sticks; some Breguet; some swords; some spade; some plongeur. The only ones I really do not like are: dauphine, arrow, cathedral, Mercedes, and the ones GO use. Fortunately there are plenty of styles to keep us all happy.

 

[venessian]

I can definitely see how some might prefer that Piaget, as I tried to find an actual good version of a stick hands watch (it didn't seem fair to offer up a Skagen or the like).

Do you like any of these, with batons?

Spoiler

 

[Kaplan]

Do you like any of these, with batons?

Seems like there's a mix of hand styles here. The only one I like of them is the Vacheron, after that the IWC - but neither of those seem to have plain stick hands?

Olive alligator with square scales and off-white stitching.

I did some searching, as I've considered a dark grey or black alligator strap for myself. Found this olive one from an US shop (that I have no experience with) - it's made by Jean Rousseau in France. Tone on tone stitching though, but they may have custom options (Jean Rousseau does offer bespoke).

But are you sure about olive? I would think that bottle green would jive better with Hermès green ;-)

Btw, I would be going for a flat, unraised strap, like in David Lane's nice example above, but it seems rather hard to come by in ready made straps. What's your preference here?

 

[Neville Southall]

@Keith T thank you for the rec. I do make custom straps and can confirm the quality of OEM is sometimes great, and sometimes not so much.

Here is a very worn Patek strap a local doctor brought in and it has layers of non-leather inside. Some of which are likely stiffeners and padding as the alligator is very thin and has rolled edges.This one was literally hanging on by a thread.
View attachment 1597417 View attachment 1597416

We don’t do rolled edges and can add padding, but tend to make two layer straps for the most part. All are hand stitched. Here is the replacement on the watch:
View attachment 1597418
View attachment 1597421
-DL

Curious as to why you don’t do rolled edges. Please elaborate.

 

[TheFoo]

Seems like there's a mix of hand styles here. The only one I like of them is the Vacheron, after that the IWC - but neither of those seem to have plain stick hands?




I did some searching, as I've considered a dark grey or black alligator strap for myself. Found this olive one from an US shop (that I have no experience with) - it's made by Jean Rousseau in France. Tone on tone stitching though, but they may have custom options (Jean Rousseau does offer bespoke).

But are you sure about olive? I would think that bottle green would jive better with Hermès green ;-)

Btw, I would be going for a flat, unraised strap, like in David Lane's nice example above, but it seems rather hard to come by in ready made straps. What's your preference here?

I tend to like flat better, but think it depends on the watch. The sportier the watch, the more appropriate padding can look. But on a slim dressy watch, I think flat is the way to go.

Any of the big three French makers (CF, JR, ABP) will let you specify profile/padding, stitching color, etc.

 

[DavidLane]

Curious as to why you don’t do rolled edges. Please elaborate.

The edges of the skin need to be very thin to roll around the inner leather. You can hand skive the edges, but unless you do that work all the time, which I don’t, it’s not very consistent.

I paint my edges which is fairly common. Hermès paints their edges on most watch straps and they are definitely one of the better OEM makers out there.

A bell skiver will do this much better and more evenly, I just don’t get many requests for it to justify buying a machine.

-DL