# Best alligator straps?



## handwound

Looking for a brown gator strap for my Skyland.

What are my best options? What do you all like?

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## CastorTroy3

What price point?


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## handwound

I'm open, as long as the quality is there. Anything from OEM prices on down.

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## 56scooter01

Just as a point of reference Breitling "OEM" straps are made from crocodile. If you are interested in some nice alligator straps then check out the website of Jean Rousseau, Leather watch straps, luxury leather goods: Jean Rousseau Paris they do absolutely beautiful work at a pricepoint of half of what a Breitling strap will cost. I had the following strap done for my Stratos Navitimer and it ran about $300. You pick the color of strap, the color and type of lining, and the color of the stiching with allows for a lot of choices. Good bye white sticking!





This strap was done for a deployant but they do tang as well.


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## 56scooter01

Here are some photos of a custom strap strap that they did for my DSOTM!







Absolutely beautiful work at about half the price!


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## hchj

Breitling makes excellent straps... But their deployant buckle isn't very comfortable. Try Breitling strap on tang buckle, considerably cheaper too. 


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## 56scooter01

> Breitling makes excellent straps


They certainly do, but they are expensive.



> But their deployant buckle isn't very comfortable


I would disagree, I find their deployant to be extremely comfortable, I think it is a matter of personal preference. I stay away from all tang buckles out of fear of dropping my watch while either putting it on or taking it off! Although leather Breitling straps are less you still have to deal with another issue, for me that is the white stiching that they utilize on all of their leather and or crocodile straps. With some watches it is okay, but on some combinations it looks absolutely horrible!


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## Jazzmaster

56scooter01 said:


> They certainly do, but they are expensive.
> 
> I would disagree, I find their deployant to be extremely comfortable, I think it is a matter of personal preference. I stay away from all tang buckles out of fear of dropping my watch while either putting it on or taking it off! Although leather Breitling straps are less you still have to deal with another issue, for me that is the white stiching that they utilize on all of their leather and or crocodile straps. With some watches it is okay, but on some combinations it looks absolutely horrible!


Totally agree with these sentiments. I find the deployant clasp to be extremely comfortable, as well. I tend to steer away from tang/buckle combos, since putting the strap through the buckle tends to take its toll over time, and, given the expense of Breitling's straps, I'd rather do what I can to minimize this factor.

Thanks for the info on the Jean Rousseau straps, Scot! The two you have posted look fantastic. Quality-wise, how do they stack up to the OEM straps? So, apparently, they know how to make a custom strap to fit an OEM deployant, yes?

And, yes, it's nice to have an alternative to white stitching! ;-)


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## 56scooter01

As far as the quality of Jean-Rosseau straps is concerned I would have to put them on par with Breitling and other high quality manufacturers. I have a few different watches so I have never worn out one particular strap. However, the grey alligator Rousseau strap has seen quite a bit of wear and looks brand new. Jean-Rousseau is able to make Breitling Deployant straps based on templates that they have. They can be made any size you want, short, normal, long or whatever. You also can choose the type of lining that you want and the color of the stiching, which may not sound like much, but different colored stitching can accentuate particular parts of the watch if you like! One other thing that I failed to mention is that if you visit one of Jean-Rousseau's shops you can pick the actual skin that will be used to make your strap. This allows you to pick the size and orientation of the scales, within reason, for your individual strap.

The deployant for the DSOTM took a little more effort because of the design of the Omega Deployant. On it's deployants, Omega uses holes similar to those on a tang buckle. The craftsman wanted to make sure that the holes were placed at the exact location because Omega Deployants are not as adjustable as Breitling's are.


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## OTX

From my experience, Breitling OEM straps are super nice!. Very well made and better than most straps out there. I personally dont like the taper on them as they go from really thick(7mm to really thin suddeny). It doesn't taper. Hadley Roma makes some nice ones too in their top range.


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## OrolgioPete

combat straps in canada. The guy is unreal. So many options, affordable, great to work with


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## Hart

56scooter01 said:


> Just as a point of reference Breitling "OEM" straps are made from crocodile. If you are interested in some nice alligator straps then check out the website of Jean Rousseau, Leather watch straps, luxury leather goods: Jean Rousseau Paris they do absolutely beautiful work at a pricepoint of half of what a Breitling strap will cost. I had the following strap done for my Stratos Navitimer and it ran about $300. You pick the color of strap, the color and type of lining, and the color of the stiching with allows for a lot of choices. Good bye white sticking!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This strap was done for a deployant but they do tang as well.


Awww.. that's a beautiful strap,so charming!


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## wiseMenofGotham

For matte or gloss alligator straps, Peter Acc makes some of the best in my opinion. For a little more money, Camille Fournet has a great website where you can design just about anything, they also make a lot of OEM straps for various brands.


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## climateguy

@handwound, if you're not against cross-branding, Jaeger makes an excellent alligator with _slightly_ curved spring bars. You can find new examples on the bay for under 300. I bought my black one here on WUS for $175, which I (arguably blasphemously) use on my Breguet Type XX. It's perfect. (Breguet's OEM straps have a very narrow taper, which doesn't work well for me).


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## Robert Nalbandov

56scooter01 said:


> Just as a point of reference Breitling "OEM" straps are made from crocodile. If you are interested in some nice alligator straps then check out the website of Jean Rousseau, Leather watch straps, luxury leather goods: Jean Rousseau Paris they do absolutely beautiful work at a pricepoint of half of what a Breitling strap will cost. I had the following strap done for my Stratos Navitimer and it ran about $300. You pick the color of strap, the color and type of lining, and the color of the stiching with allows for a lot of choices. Good bye white sticking!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This strap was done for a deployant but they do tang as well.


This one looks REALLY nice!


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## Buddman

Surprised no one mentioned ABP Paris where you can get one fully customised in all respects.

https://www.abpconcept.paris/

Here's mine for my IWC


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