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Looking for a good source of pre-V straps for 201A


korneevy

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Hello, I am about to start building my first a pre-V 201A project with top parts and would really like to get a proper pre-V style strap to go with it. I am looking not just a buckle but the whole strap as I somehow think they were made differently back then and appear thinner than most after market straps, running at 3mm or so and many also had just1 keeper that was of a narrow cut. So far have failed to find anything that looks remotely similar to the gen Pre-v straps. Any clues where to look for those or recommendations? Thanks in advance

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I have always been a fan of Paci and own a dozen of them but i just ordered the Kostas K99 as well. Looks gorgeous

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Really comes down to budget mate....

Tan and Dark Cognac are the straps that came with the 5218-201/A

Light Cognac and Dark Cognac are the straps that came with the 5218-202/A and 5218-203/A

Plus the shark skin in Vera Squalo in the grey but not the Olive Green those were on the 202a and 203a

So if you want accuracy a PAV is not the right strap... Apart from the 0093 all PAVs have a fixed keeper which is not correct for these PreV models... These came with two floating keepers of which one was meant as a spare not a wearer...

Mario Paci's are inaccurate and can easily be spotted because of edging stitching etc when its on your wrist

The only accurate strap is a Dirk but if you want first gen PreV buckle on it then it will cost about 600 Euros... plus he will stamp strap as the original... assuming he is willing to do it for you.... the buckles he uses for a standard order are exactly the same coinage as the PreV buckles but are engraved Dirk rather than the Panerai and Logo. These are about 150 Euros.

Or you can get one of Rolexfinders PreV buckles which aint bad and have it stitched into a handmade strap however NONE of them are accurate to the gen PreV strap except the Dirk..

Closest I have seen and have are Orloffs... he fitted some PreV buckles to a Vero Cuio leather (as used on PreV straps) He also gets pretty close on the stitching ... and best of all it will cost about 50 Euros :)

Having said all that I dont know of many gen owners who havent got at least one aftermarket strap...... so you can get whatever you like.... thats hardly going to be a big an issue as wearing a £30K watch...and what that means.......!! well you know what I mean ;) ;) ;)

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The pics from Dirk in bottom picture show the Vera Squalo Olive Brown with Khaki stitching that strap and a light or dark cognac were originally sold with the 5218-202a

The Vera Squala Nubuck dark grey was sold only with the 5218-201a along with a Tan or Dark Cognac strap.

If you notice in the pic the Olive is fitted with a PVD buckle :)

For clarification on the PAVs - This is a Richemont designation given to certain OP straps in the same way the MX prefix is now.

Cartier (later Vendome) then Richemont were given 300 odd left over straps when they took over OP..... these were mainly made in 1995 though a few in 1994... they had been for some models that never went into production most notably the Slytech projects they were not used on the PreVs we are discussing... though some of those 1994 ones were originally intended for what we call the PreV models... ie one sliding keeper...and some were as the Original Kodiak leather rather than the Vero Cuio leather..

In 2004, a junior in the Firenze boutique was asked by Boneti to code up these straps hence the prefix PAV, the idea being to sell them off through the boutiques at inflated prices :)

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From what DG told me there were other VS straps (Blue, Black, green) that came with other PreVs but not originally with the 201a etc these other ones did end up in the 201a boxes either through the owners buying them later or because in some cases the originals were not liked by the original buyers...

For example the Blue VS was off the MN...

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No probs mate :)

I remembered another bit of research I had saved and rechecked it.... it was a translation of the original specs on the 201a sales literature...

It states that the watch comes with 'a spare band and a grey shark skin band'

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Lovely..... :)

Dont forget to share the pics when its booted.... :)

I really love the feel of the VS.... almost as much as I love the Kodiak leather...

I get so many comments when I wear the Shark..... even from total strangers...

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I will mate!

Lovely 202A shot! I will get the khaki sharky for my 202A once I get it from Avitt.

Thanks mate :)

That's the olive brown mate on the 202a :)

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