Cartier leather strap

[longblackcoat]

Need to get a new leather strap for a ladies Cartier - it's a rather lovely birth year piece with a strap about 1cm shorter than is needed for my girlfriend's wrist. Clearly it's be preferable to get a Cartier strap, using the original buckle, but as they want £320, I'm looking for alternatives.

Any suggestions, please?

[thebraketester]

A watch of that caliber deserves a genuine strap to be honest.

[longblackcoat]

thebraketester said:

A watch of that caliber deserves a genuine strap to be honest.

I take your point, but £320 is stupid money. I'd rather have a custom-made one for the same price, as the quality will almost certainly be better.

[Dicky Knee]

Give Beau Gems a call in Leadenhall Market and see if they can help.

[JatHanspal]

I would get a custom strap at that sort of money. I recently got one from Dangerous9 for my daily watch - some would consider it a lot of money on a strap for what is a relatively economical watch - but that doesn't matter. The strap get the most wear of all the parts of my watch, given i wear it daily.

After a few iterations of cheaper strap options, I opted to skip the Tag option and go custom. I have regretted it.

details here:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[smith335I]

if you are reusing the buckle then i cant see you spending more than £100 for a very good quality strap.
I dont have any suggestions of shops or makers to go to but there must be a Cartier subforum on watchuseek or thewatchforum where you could ask and be pointed in the right direction.

[Dempsey1971]

https://ziczacleather.com/

Used these before. Very good price, some nice straps.

[Lorne]

JatHanspal said:

I would get a custom strap at that sort of money. I recently got one from Dangerous9 for my daily watch - some would consider it a lot of money on a strap for what is a relatively economical watch - but that doesn't matter. The strap get the most wear of all the parts of my watch, given i wear it daily.

After a few iterations of cheaper strap options, I opted to skip the Tag option and go custom. I have regretted it.

details here:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

I was chatting with a senior guy at a very reputable watch manufacturer a while ago and he told me their straps generally last for 500 wears (do up's) before the leather at the buckle splits. He thought this was good as it meant the owner would return to the company for a new strap, at which point they would also do a service.

So personally I'd go with dangerous9 over an OEM strap every time (OK, I do as dangerous9 are standard fit on the watches I make). You pay about the same, but instead of a standard leather strap that'll last a couple of years, you get something that's handmade and multilayered from the finest materials and with the best possible build - something truly amazing.

If you ask John nicely, he'll even make it with a curve. Your wrist is curved, so it makes sense that your strap should be as well.

[mikeveal]

Damned if I'd buy a Cartier leather strap. I have a roadster, I bought it second hand, with an unworn strap. The strap lasted for just six wears.

They used to publish some guidance on how long you could expect your £300 plus strap to last. Looks like Cartier were so embarassed by this that they removed the statement from their website.

Google cache is a magnificent thing:
https://goo.gl/PhtFdf

Cartier said:

WHAT IS THE LIFESPAN OF MY LEATHER STRAP?
The care that we devote to the production of Cartier leather watch-straps and the tests that we carry out on them ensure that they are of the highest quality. In normal conditions of use a Cartier leather strap enjoys an average lifespan of between six and twelve months. This varies according to the conditions, the regularity and the environment of its use. For example, contact with water could cause premature wear and tear of the strap.

[yellowtang]

A couple of weeks ago I purchased a new Cartier Tank small in steel (for my wife) and the AD has quoted me £620 for a croc strap with steel deployment clasp.

She can stick with the bracelet!

[Dan the Deck]

Check these guys out, they looked superb quality, you pick the colours and stitch yourself and last time I got a price on a Santos strap I think it came out about half the cost you've been quoted

https://www.jean-rousseau.com/us/