Hadley Roma 20mm Tan and 22mm The Collection Leather Straps

Got a couple of straps in from my friends at Total Watch Repair in Los Angeles. These are some very well-made straps out there for the money. I’m usually reviewing the hand-made stuff and what not, but the big production strap houses make good stuff too and often at a better value. Companies like Hadley Roma and Hirsch actually probably offer more value at the low end than most boutique watch strap makers. These two straps are prime examples of affordable straps that are of superb quality.

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Packaging is uneventful, but at this price point I wouldn’t want to see any “added value” wasted on packaging. We’re looking for no-nonsense straps at this price right boys?

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First lets take a look at the Hadley Roma strap. Its a nice tan color, flat and unpadded with a Panerai-esque style to it. At 20mm, this wouldn’t be for a Panerai, but would definitely let you get some of that Panerai style on your Seiko or similar diving watch. Leather is of a good quality, and the strap is made in China though the overall quality is very good.

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Nice texture on the leather there, giving it some character. The stitching is very straight and nicely done and overall the production of the strap is top notch. No complaints, especially with the $50 price tag. The strap is fairly stiff, and will take some time to break in.

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A shot of the back, it is a foldover style construction, with a sandwich layer in-between. Two keepers, one fixed and one floating. The buckle is a polished chrome, with a mini-Panerai bent buckle style. Overall a superb bang for buck at $50, especially when compared with most of the handmade stuff at $50 out there. This is a fully finished, complete strap.. all the edges are finished, the back of the strap is foldover instead of raw. More and more I see handmade straps offered at lower price points but they don’t line the back of the straps, or they don’t provide two keepers among other things to cut costs. Lets look at the next strap.

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This strap is from “The Collection”, which I am not too familiar with. Its a really nice strap though, and even nicer than the Hadley Roma for a few bucks more at $65. This is a nice oil-tannded pull-up leather, which gives a nice color when you bend it as seen in the photo below.

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Sort of a Chocolate brown in color, it has contrasting white stitching which sets off the brown nicely. This is more along the lines of a Breitling style strap and is even made in the USA. Stitching is perfect, and certainly presents as a solid value OEM replacement for Breitling straps or other similar brands.

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This strap is much more flexible than the Hadley Roma, and features a more common production construction style with the soft leather liner on the back side. This usually results in a more comfortable strap, though less durable and rustic than a foldover style construction – though realistically you probably aren’t going to break either of them! Its plenty robust just the way it is.

Overall a nicely made pieces and both present a solid value to buyers. Thanks again to Total Watch Repair for providing us with these great straps!

Specs:
Reference: Hadley Roma TAN 20R MS913
Size: 20mm
Color: Tan
Length: 130/80mm
Thickness: 5mm
Material: Leather
Price: $49.95USD

Reference: The Collection Brown Oil Tan
Size: 22mm
Color: Brown
Length: 120/75mm
Thickness: 4mm
Material: Leather
Price: $64.95USD

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