Made a new strap for the Cali... what a major PITA!

[projectologist]

I don't know what I was thinking, but I thought "how cool would it be to make my own strap for this watch". And it's a stitch-less version so shouldn't be that hard to cobble together. WRONG !!!!!

Took way longer than I thought it would, my thumbs are still throbbing and I have new respect for the REAL strapmakers that grace this forum. Good gawd, I even had trouble cutting the leather cleanly to a consistent 26mm width... redo, reglue, retrim. The stitching turned out to be the easiest part, it just took me half a day to get to that stage .

So here are some pics of my attempt at a vintage strap... and although I b!tched and moaned the whole time, it was worth it in the end.

Glued and starting to stitch it together...

First side done...

DONE!!! A little comparo next to the real thang (gen watch and gen strap on the left)

Some wristies... vintage length would be filled out by the diver's wetsuit... yeah I know the buckle isn't correct (was used 10 years later), but I really like it.

[deniz21]

real nice work i realy like it, you did a great job, specialy for the first attempt, no doubt about that

great watch, great strap = perfect combo

wear it well

[bwhitesox]

Nothing wrong with that strap in fact it is really nice and great stitching.

[asf]

great job man!

I too semi tried and failed at glue stage

[swdivad]

I think they came out great!

Perfect for that watch

[fishgodeep]

The comparo next to the gen really shows how good this looks !!

Awesome watch P

Enjoy

FGD