Aaron Bespoke Straps

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Viognier
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Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by Viognier »

Part of what is fantastic about this forum is sharing our finds and experiences. Here's a brief story on my recent excellent strap experience!

With the recent acquisition of my Panerai PAM512 and having larger wrists, sourcing longer length straps was proving difficult.

Panerai wishes a King's Ransom for their OEM straps and the lead time to order one of their long straps is close to two months (I required the less common 22mm/20mm size which is not at any AD's or Boutiques).

Cue the strap search. Lots of misses on amazon and eBay due to strap length, so I started looking at the custom/bespoke route.

I found Aaron Bespoke Straps on the Canwatchco forum (recommended by my Panerai seller) and reached out to speak with him. The website has plenty of stunning strap images but I wanted to chat with Aaron and get a better feel for strap material types,corresponding durability and also determine buyer flexibility in creating my own strap.

Flexibility to create was easy, as Aaron said he'd make whatever I liked! Prices, whilst not inexpensive, were better than other custom strap makers, I was able to 'Shop Canadian' (based in Montréal) and he required only two weeks lead time.

I created a list and provided Aaron with this information:

Material
Colour
Strap width and taper
Buckle type
Strap Length (long and short sides)
Stitching colour
Stitching pattern
Hole pattern (also # of holes)
Number of Keepers (and keeper material)
Strap thickness

His communication was outstanding and two weeks later my strap arrived!!

I wanted to replicate the Panerai OEM strap on my 512 (however it was Alligator on the OEM and that was out of range price wise for me). What I selected is an absolutely stunning Black Ostrich Leg strap with Patina Tan stitching to bring out the Lume on the 512. Aaron did a brilliant job!

Here's Aaron's website (https://www.aaronbespoke.com/) and a few pictures of my strap.
B9BF03C1-DBC0-498E-BC1B-E82A72257330.jpeg
8B121753-0224-4900-AC26-87087587B888.jpeg
103DAE4D-81FD-4059-B62B-D17BC8B6215F.jpeg
864AB923-8570-43A7-84AC-55FEA7F67F3B.jpeg
Comments welcomed!
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Thermexman
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by Thermexman »

What a lovely strap! The quality looks superb and it is the perfect companion to your Panerai. Well done on your successful quest.
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nbg
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by nbg »

That looks splendid! :thumbup:

What I particularly like is how the pattern of the hide is matched for both the 12 and 6 sides. The mark of a quality strap maker. Too often I have seen straps made from hide, where there isn’t uniformity between both parts of the strap, e.g. mismatch of the scale pattern.

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AdDaMan
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by AdDaMan »

He is the best i have come across. Some of his pieces are amazing.
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TigerChris
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by TigerChris »

Wow! That’s one gorgeous looking strap. As someone who has spent every day of the last week looking for my ideal leather for my new acquisition and still not found anything I’m off to look at his website now. That looks fantastic. I’ll have the same but in midnight blue/almost black with white stitch please.
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timeonourhands
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by timeonourhands »

Cracking strap!
Thanks for sharing the info.
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gaf1958
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by gaf1958 »

That looks superb Lance, really matches it well. IMO it definitely looks better than the standard black&white alligator strap.
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by gaf1958 »

Someone on the forum was looking for a quilted strap a few days back - I see that he does them...
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Soporsche
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by Soporsche »

Lovely strap OP, really like the texture and pattern!
gaf1958 - Re the quilted, thanks for the heads up. Im off to take a look now....! :-)
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StrapMeister
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by StrapMeister »

Wow :shock: that is simply amazing, absolutely fantastic, a spot on combination :thumbup:
I like that...ALOT :D
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Boydesian
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by Boydesian »

Very attractive combo.
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Thegreyman
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by Thegreyman »

Fabulous looking strap...darn seeing this will probably cost me some money :problem:
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by blowfish89 »

I have heard great things about him, and will likely buy one in the future, especially now that I’m in Canada.
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Viognier
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by Viognier »

Appreciate the feedback and comments....absolutely love it and it's insanely comfortable to wear!!
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Viognier
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Re: Aaron Bespoke Straps

Post by Viognier »

….and time to start saving for my next Aaron Bespoke strap now
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