Received my strap today. While I had hoped these would be a great value proposition, all I can do is express disappointment.
TLDR summary:
- Did I expect these match the quality of bespoke ammo pouch straps like Ted Su or Dangerous 9? No, at less than 1/2 the price that would be an unreasonable expectation.
- Did I expect these to be serviceable and appear half decent? Yes, but unfortunately what I received will never see a watch and will instead be a $99 lesson learned.
----11/20 update - MD reviewed my post here and I am able to return the the strap for a full refund.----
Full version:
The stitching is fairly tight/even, but the strap I received is nowhere near the appearance of the straps shown in the description, nor in the product photos with the Rolex and Panarai watches in the Da-Luca's discussion post. What I rec'd...:
- ... is dry and cracked. The leather was obviously never treated or conditioned prior to production. The leather is cracked at stitches, cracked at holes, and is badly cracked at the buckle fold-over. I would be afraid to lose a watch on this strap.
- ...is much, much thicker. At 4.2mm thick, the tail barely fits through the keeper (with some effort) and is out of scale with the 20mm strap. It is obvious that the leather was never skived.
- ...sheds like crazy. I took photos of the strap over a white piece of paper and the debris shown is purely from that limited handling. While I knew in advance that the back would be raw (ie., no liner), I did expect that they would do something to treat it. My Colareb straps are raw, but very wearable. If worn, I imagine this strap would thin over time from shedding, and would loosen the stitching.
- ...has a skewed buckle. The buckle end of the strap is not square, meaning the buckle itself runs off at a slight screw to the strap.
- ...has a non-symmetrical tail. The cut on the tail isn't even close to being symmetrical. I assume that a pattern would have eliminated this type of issue, but I guess not.
- ...has lips at the lug end foldovers. I don't know if the foldover at the lug end is wider than the strap, or if it is slightly skewed to the strap, but the foldover creates a lip on one side of the strap. This is the least concerning of the bunch as I can just trim the lip with a knife, but I shouldn't have to.
In short, I would put this at roughly the same quality as something I could produce at home (never having made a strap before). My stitching probably wouldn't be quite as even as Da Luca's, but I would hope all other aspects of my homemade effort would be better. A $99 lesson learned...
For comparison purposes, the last photo is a similar color tone swiss ammo pouch strap (stock, not bespoke) that has a leather lining; quick change spring bars; a much nicer buckle and two keepers. Yes the strap is almost twice as much, but in hindsight, is a much better value.
TLDR summary: - Did I expect these match the quality of bespoke ammo pouch straps like Ted Su or Dangerous 9? No, at less than 1/2 the price that would be an unreasonable expectation. - Did I expect these to be serviceable and appear half decent? Yes, but unfortunately what I received will never see a watch and will instead be a $99 lesson learned.
----11/20 update - MD reviewed my post here and I am able to return the the strap for a full refund.----
Full version: The stitching is fairly tight/even, but the strap I received is nowhere near the appearance of the straps shown in the description, nor in the product photos with the Rolex and Panarai watches in the Da-Luca's discussion post. What I rec'd...: - ... is dry and cracked. The leather was obviously never treated or conditioned prior to production. The leather is cracked at stitches, cracked at holes, and is badly cracked at the buckle fold-over. I would be afraid to lose a watch on this strap. - ...is much, much thicker. At 4.2mm thick, the tail barely fits through the keeper (with some effort) and is out of scale with the 20mm strap. It is obvious that the leather was never skived. - ...sheds like crazy. I took photos of the strap over a white piece of paper and the debris shown is purely from that limited handling. While I knew in advance that the back would be raw (ie., no liner), I did expect that they would do something to treat it. My Colareb straps are raw, but very wearable. If worn, I imagine this strap would thin over time from shedding, and would loosen the stitching. - ...has a skewed buckle. The buckle end of the strap is not square, meaning the buckle itself runs off at a slight screw to the strap. - ...has a non-symmetrical tail. The cut on the tail isn't even close to being symmetrical. I assume that a pattern would have eliminated this type of issue, but I guess not. - ...has lips at the lug end foldovers. I don't know if the foldover at the lug end is wider than the strap, or if it is slightly skewed to the strap, but the foldover creates a lip on one side of the strap. This is the least concerning of the bunch as I can just trim the lip with a knife, but I shouldn't have to.
In short, I would put this at roughly the same quality as something I could produce at home (never having made a strap before). My stitching probably wouldn't be quite as even as Da Luca's, but I would hope all other aspects of my homemade effort would be better. A $99 lesson learned...
For comparison purposes, the last photo is a similar color tone swiss ammo pouch strap (stock, not bespoke) that has a leather lining; quick change spring bars; a much nicer buckle and two keepers. Yes the strap is almost twice as much, but in hindsight, is a much better value.