Straps & Bracelets

Yago
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Over the years there have been many discussions about watch straps and bracelets, OEM or aftermarket. These usually take place across threads and finding past experiences and suggestions via the search function ain't all that easy. Therefore let this henceforth be the straps & bracelets walhalla.
A list of manufacturers and sources I've been happy with:

Geckota
Great selection, great value. Unfortunately the straps now ship from across the iron Brexit curtain so shipping and taxes have turned this into a no go for me mainlander.

GLC
Top notch. You pay a little more but you would pay double for this quality at Bulang or Veblenist.

Perpetual Watch Lover
Basic but good, a lot of bang for your buck.

Two Stitch Straps
The honey gold leather is just beautiful and they let you choose the stiching colour. One of my favourite straps is the Monaco Corfam style they tailor made for me in Cognac leather.

Horlogebanden.com
Relatively cheap natos

Forstner
Excellent flatlink bracelet intended for Omega but that also fits the CV heritage Carreras and at least the previous generation calibre 5.

Stewart Morley Heuerville
Also great, wait can be a bit longer. Quite thick in comparison to others. Used to be one of only a few good racing strap makers.

Cheapest Nato Straps
I just bought a bunch of them, natos and leathers. They're very cheap so I'll let you know my findings when they come in. They ship from Stockholm.
 
imagwai
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Too many places to list. I will comment on a few, though.

Heuerville are good quality but I have found them a bit thick and not very refined. OK for chunkier watches I guess.

Love GLC straps. Very refined and nice Italian leather, so lovely corfam replica and rally straps, plus great custom options too.

I will add The House of Straps to this list. Got some very good custom horween two-stitch straps from them.

For high-quality NATO straps at a mid-range price, I would check out Lunar Straps. I won't buy NATOs from anywhere else now.
 
YY77
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Combat straps aka Aaron bespoke is my preferred strap maker.
 
Mspeedster
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Yago Yago
Over the years there have been many discussions about watch straps and bracelets, OEM or aftermarket. These usually take place across threads and finding past experiences and suggestions via the search function ain't all that easy. Therefore let this henceforth be the straps & bracelets walhalla.
A list of manufacturers and sources I've been happy with:

Geckota
Great selection, great value. Unfortunately the straps now ship from across the iron Brexit curtain so shipping and taxes have turned this into a no go for me mainlander.

GLC
Top notch. You pay a little more but you would pay double for this quality at Bulang or Veblenist.

Two Stitch Straps
The honey gold leather is just beautiful and they let you choose the stiching colour. One of my favourite straps is the Monaco Corfam style they tailor made for me in Cognac leather.

Forstner
Excellent flatlink bracelet intended for Omega but that also fits the CV heritage Carreras and at least the previous generation calibre 5.
I've bought from the above four. I probably won't buy from Geckota again, they're ok for the price and have good service. But I wasn't happy with 2 of their straps and returned them.

I've been very happy with GLC. Although I have bought from Bulang & Sons and Veblenist and have been quite satisfied as well. Veblenist being US based is actually cheaper for me compared to GLC.

I've also bought from the Strap Tailor and Bosphorus Leather and can recommend them both. Bosphorus makes thicker straps, which go well with watches like Panerai and Breitling.
 
paysdoufs
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Yago Yago
Cheapest Nato Straps
I just bought a bunch of them, natos and leathers. They're very cheap so I'll let you know my findings when they come in. They ship from Stockholm.
Everything nylon is good value for the money you pay. I’ve heard nothing but bad things about their leather straps and stayed away from them.
 
paysdoufs
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Anyone bought from WatchStrapWorld since Brexit? 👎
 
abrod520
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CheapestNatoStraps is great for their seatbelt-style NATOs. Best I've had aside from the official Omega NATOs (the OEM for whom has not yet been discovered AFAIK).

Jean Rousseau are my absolute favorite top-notch atelier, it'll cost you but there's no other option for a truly special watch IMO. They are the OEM for many watch brands' straps, including Omega.

+1 for Veblenist, good service and the straps are made fairly quickly with little fuss. Good price point for full custom work (~ $100 US)

For vintage style, check out Wristwatch.me on Instagram. His straps are a bit on the dressier side but they really sing. Similar price point to Veblenist. I had a gator strap made for my JLC Geophysic that cost $125 but looking at it you'd think it was 3x that.

I've never had a strap made by Aaron Bespoke, but I do have a watch roll from him and it is absolutely delicious.
 
Yago
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I got three of those seatbelt natos, some leathers and a pouch. I’ll know soon and so will everyone here 😉
 
abrod520
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The leather NATOs aren't great (though sometimes aren't bad, quality is inconsistent) but then I've come to realize I don't like leather NATOs in general.
 
Yago
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I don’t see the point of having a thick leather strap underneath your watch. Makes it float hella high on the wrist. I ordered a few classic leather straps for the sub and a racing strap for the 3647.
 
abrod520
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Ah yeah of course. The regular leather straps aren't super great, but I've often used them as a test run to see if a certain color worked well on a watch before going in on a custom strap.
 
thingziliketoo
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So far I have found most of the time you get what you pay for - cheap straps usually feel cheap. I have found Delugs and Veblenist to be good choices for straps. Both have nice designs and also the option to make custom orders with little or no upcharges.

Bulang and Sons Taurillion and Pigskin straps are very nice and worth the price. They look really great on vintage inspired or vintage watches.

Hodinkee and Bulang and Sons have nice leather straps that are made by JPM for them - very nice and high quality, price is reflective but the quality reflects the price.

I have tried aftermarket bracelets from various sources and have found Uncle Seiko and Fostner to be nice for the price but they are not close to the quality of a factory bracet. They have a vintage style feel to them. Pretty light wearing.
 
Yago
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I will give Veblenist and Bulang a try. I have a new GLC coming in 😎
 
YG_Rulz
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Someone on FB just posted a pic of an official 12 strap set from TAG, comes with one clasp. Looks like for Carreras considering the curved lug ends. Apparently full set costs £2075. Some really good straps there.
 
330955011_591328825751683_8336898038283049449_n.jpg
bpsmith
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YG_Rulz YG_Rulz
Someone on FB just posted a pic of an official 12 strap set from TAG, comes with one clasp. Looks like for Carreras considering the curved lug ends. Apparently full set costs £2075. Some really good straps there.
That’s at the Bicester Outlet, I am assuming, as shows on their stock list.

Bicester states for Carrera 41mm and includes 3 clasps and spare spring bars.
 
bpsmith
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There’s also this one for 43mm Carrera’s. Same clasps, etc but £2,285.

E39B29E0-E79A-410A-93AD-588DFC8700F2.jpeg
 
YG_Rulz
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I like the alligator flank straps (smaller scales), something you don't see often on TAG watches
 
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