Last year, the folks at Panatime introduced a new line of watch straps made by the venerable German firm, RIOS 1931.
They cover a range of styles, sizes, and prices, but all share a
particular form of old world, hand craftsmanship, and deliver it at an
exceptional price. For this review, Panatime
provided four straps: navy, mocha, and cognac "Louisiana"; and a cognac
"Havana." I put them through their paces here at Time Bum Labs, and
came away very impressed.
RIOS 1931 is a family run enterprise in Augsberg, Germany. Their artisans are trained on site in the traditional rembordé,
or full-bugg method, a 140-step process in which the upper leather is
wrapped over a layer of cotton padding and glued under the lining
leather below. All three layers are then stitched together. The next
manufacturing level is what RIOS calls "art manuel,"
a 172-step process that adds additional layers, sanded and
heat-smoothed edges, hand stitched keepers, and five coats of edge dye. Their highest quality straps also employ a saddler's seam, in which a single thread is alternately drawn through with two needles.
The Louisiana series is an art manuel strap made from embossed alligator grain leather with matching stitching and a matte finish that displays just a hint of sheen. Edges are smooth and seamless. The lining is soft and stamped with the width, material, and brand information. The
straps are are available in even widths from 18-22mm and they taper to
16-18mm stainless steel pin buckles that are signed and drilled. My
samples were the standard 114/84 length and I found them to be just a
touch too long. I generally wear a 115/75 and even cinched to the
tightest hole, the Louisiana was a loose fit on my 6.5" wrist. For those
of my size or smaller, I would definitely suggest ordering the 104/72
short version.
The
padding is very thick, measuring 6mm at the lugs and 3mm at the tail.
It is a luxuriant look that works beautifully on a slim dress watch, but
also proved ideal for dressing up sport watches. I have several
automatic "dress divers" like the Armida A6 and Christopher Ward C60
Trident that cry out for something tailored, but are too beefy to carry
off a thin dress strap. On these watches, the Louisiana's heavy padding
provided a proper balance.
Color
is rich and deep, with appealing variation that highlights the grain.
The cognac strap paired beautifully with the rose gold case of my
Brathwait. The intensely dark brown of the mocha strap was fine
accompaniment for black dials, and an earthy background for the olive
green bezel on the Trident. The navy absolutely rocked the midnight dial
and blue lume on a Hager Commando Professional. If you want this strap
in a sportier style, the New Orleans model is identical save for
contrasting white stitching.
The Havana shares the art manuel construction, but is otherwise quite different from its more formal, gator grain cousin. It is made from pig skin, or as it says on the strap, "softpig",
which is much more fun to say. The leather does indeed have a
pleasantly soft surface and a unique grain that is quite different from
cow. In contrast to the Louisiana, this model is only lightly padded to
about 3.5mm, and is far more casual, as evidenced by both its
contrasting cream stitches, and the hand drawn guide lines around them.
The
cognac color on the pigskin is lighter and more muted than on the
Louisiana, appearing more tan than gold. The edges are finished in
black. It looked good on many watches, but it was a knockout with a PVD
case like this Seiko SNDA65 chronograph.
If
you head over to the Panatime site, you will see RIOS 1931 replacement
straps organized by watch brand, but the straps in this review are
actually catalogued by size. Choose your width, then "Classic Design,"
"Vintage Design," or "Exotic Skins." Once you have navigated to these
pages, you will find a huge selection of RIOS models, including the
Havana in Vintage, and 13 colors of Louisiana and New Orleans in
Classic.
The
RIOS 1931 for Panatime straps are an easy recommendation because they
are meticulously constructed and look fantastic; but when you consider
they cost less than $40 each, they are a no-brainer. The Louisiana is $39.99, and the Havana is $34.99. For handmade straps of this quality, that is a hell of a bargain.
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