watch strap question

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kennethpf
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watch strap question

Post by kennethpf »

I'm quite impressed by my finally arrived C8 M2.04. Looks amazing in person. Very cockpit like.
Not so hot about the strap. The band is pretty wrinkly when I straighten it and after wearing it just once, you can see the crease quite clearly, with the top layer seeming to separate a little. My other watch bands, including the C60 Bronze Trident GMT with the vintage oak leather strap didn't do this. Is this normal?
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Essex Paul
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Re: watch strap question

Post by Essex Paul »

Sorry, doesn’t look right.
A cheap and nasty look to it.
You get creases as with any leather strap but the separating of the layers noooooo.
I’d give CW a call or email. I’d send the strap back and ask for a replacement. :thumbup:
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Re: watch strap question

Post by vokeyuk »

I agree with Essex Paul, certainly looks a little off. use the 60 return and ask for another, shouldnt get that sort of creasing after just one wear
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Re: watch strap question

Post by Rob s »

yeah shouldn't be coming apart
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TigerChris
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Re: watch strap question

Post by TigerChris »

It doesn’t look right to me, but I don’t own one of those straps. Is that just how the ‘soft feel’ straps are? Maybe a few others that own that style of strap can comment more?
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Re: watch strap question

Post by Kip »

I would expect wrinkles/creases, but not separation.
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Re: watch strap question

Post by H0rati0 »

I have one of the soft touch leather and it's been for a total of some weeks, on and off. The strap displays some flex wrinkles around the buckle but no separation.
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Re: watch strap question

Post by MarkingTime »

Those two straps are different materials. They won’t wear the same.

...and I’d say that looking at the OPs strap, it’s what is likey to happen with synthetic composite straps.
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Re: watch strap question

Post by TigerChris »

Maybe a comparison with Guys identical strap would be the most useful?
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Re: watch strap question

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

TigerChris wrote: Tue Feb 12, 2019 8:21 pm Maybe a comparison with Guys identical strap would be the most useful?
Snag with that Chris is that I've got it tucked away for a rainy day. :lol:

However, I have a spare (bought to use on a different watch but never got around to it) which I'll pop onto my M2.04 tomorrow and see how we go. :thumbup: :thumbup:

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Re: watch strap question

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

I've had a spare, new/unused, Soft Touch leather strap on my C8 M2.04 LE today.

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In wearing it all day, I have taken it off/on my wrist at least half a dozen times to accelerate the flexing of the strap that would occur in normal wear.

Sitting on my wrist, the surface is nice and smooth.

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Tongue out of the keeper, ready to take off, you can see a few slight wrinkles.

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Laid on a flat surface, with the natural shape from my wrist, the slight wrinkles are still visible.

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Pressed flat on the surface the wrinkles are more prominent.

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I then smoothed the strap out by massaging a finger over the surface. The wrinkle are far less visible.

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Back on the wrist and all smooth again.

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My viewpoint on this strap is that the smooth, top surface stretches slightly when curved around the wrist which then accounts for the wrinkles when laid out flat. I do not feel that the layers of the strap are separating, merely flexing against each other (the stitching holds them in place).

Overall, in the great scheme of things, one day's wear, even with being taken off/on multiple times, is not the most severe of tests.

There are also other factors that might come into play such as how tight the strap is worn (I wear mine fairly loose) and to what degree the strap is bent backwards in the process of taking it off / on the wrist.

Just my observations / experience.


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Re: watch strap question

Post by kennethpf »

Thanks Guy for this testing and everyone for your input. Based on the discussions of the thread, I emailed CW - and I got a reply that they will send a replacement strap over. Sounds like then that it's almost the nature of this strap to be wrinkly when straightened or lie flat - and now, I'm trying to be extra careful to keep it curved, and minimize laying it flat or bending back when wearing it... I prefer the "regular" leather straps that don't have this property because the pop-up wrinkles along all the holes do make it look unsightly.
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Re: watch strap question

Post by Bahnstormer_vRS »

kennethpf wrote: Wed Feb 13, 2019 10:18 pm Thanks Guy for this testing and everyone for your input. Based on the discussions of the thread, I emailed CW - and I got a reply that they will send a replacement strap over. Sounds like then that it's almost the nature of this strap to be wrinkly when straightened or lie flat - and now, I'm trying to be extra careful to keep it curved, and minimize laying it flat or bending back when wearing it... I prefer the "regular" leather straps that don't have this property because the pop-up wrinkles along all the holes do make it look unsightly.
Thanks for the update and top notch response from CW. :thumbup:

Hoping you will get on better with the new strap.

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Re: watch strap question

Post by H0rati0 »

Interesting.

Guy, It does look as if the two examples of the yellow soft touch have more of a tendency to wrinkle than my older red version, which dates from mid last year. I wonder has the supplier recently changed the construction somewhat?

Do you have any older versions (different colour scheme obviously) in your extensive collection that you could compare directly? I am rather fond of mine and recently put it back on my Trident.
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Re: watch strap question

Post by iain »

Here are some photos of my blue soft touch strap. I bought this as it was advertised as being waterproof and wanted something to wear on my bronze trident in the pool on holiday.

I assumed the deterioration was due to the chlorine as this is the state of the strap after just one week permanently on the wrist in Cyprus last year. I took it off when I got home and was that disappointed by how it had become worn, I’ve just left it in my strap box ever since.

Note how the glue has come away next to the keeper, which again I had assumed was due to being submerged in a chlorinated pool.
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