Waterproof Straps For Panerai.. A Myth?

[V]

Well... maybe some of you who don't care that much about straps won;t even care to open this topic.

Although now that you have opened it means you want to learn something..

Waterproof leather. Is it possible?

YES and NO in their pure form..

We all know that Panerai offers their watches with a replacement rubber strap. Why? Because everytime someone has swan more than a handfull of times the strap has shrunk.

This will happen to the majority of the straps out there.. If by any chance you have seen vintage historic watches ALL of them have shrunk leather at the lugs.

Although there are straps that they say they are water-proof salt-waterproof etc etc for some hours.

Those straps divide in two categories:

1. The straps which are a mixture of leather and plastic with most of percentage on the plastic. They don't smell at all leather and even if they are waterproof they don't look good.

2. The straps which are genuine leather and they have treated with a coating which makes them waterproof.

They are called rubberised straps and Panerai itself has made one in the A series and it is very highly sought after.

They wrinkle VERY EASILY but they keep the water from soaking the leather and if you put a leather balsam cream occasionaly they will be ok BUT personaly I don't know if I would risk to put them in the sea. They will be ok for shower and rain and pool.

They dry easier than normal un-treated leather but still not completely.

Myth: The Metta Catharina strap is not waterproof. Servived in the water because it was in tar. Now when they treated the leather for use they dried it out and you must use balsam cream to prevent the leather from cracking.

Here is a strap fitted in No2 category.. A gift (for the price I paid I consider it a gift) from MAC.

A rubberised MP6 on my 112. More photos in the Photo Gallery...

[chris5264]

What about kobolds? When I was thinking of buying one of these a while back they went on and on how water proof their straps are even for saltwater. I'm not sure which category they would fall into. Even if they are I think these are 22mm, so might not work for pams.

[V]

What about kobolds? When I was thinking of buying one of these a while back they went on and on how water proof their straps are even for saltwater. I'm not sure which category they would fall into. Even if they are I think these are 22mm, so might not work for pams.

Don't know about Kobold but many manufacturers say their strap are 100% waterproof and either they are lying, or they are made of plastic leather

[Pugwash]

Does this mean my waterproof leather boots aren't waterproof?

[Watchmeister]

I have never had success with "waterproof" leather straps whether it is a 5218 Incursore or a number of other "waterproof" leather brands.