Aftermarket Panerai Strap Review

B.1600 Straps Review

B.1600 Straps Panerai Straps

Origin: France
Construction: Machine-Stitched
Materials: New Leathers
Buckles & Tubes: Tubes and Sewn-in Buckles Included
Price Range: €95
Website: Click Here
Date of Review: January 8th, 2015

B.1600 is owned by Thomas, a French strapmaker, who began hand-making straps with a focus on comfort. Now, he has changed direction because he's not a full-time strapmaker and unable to spend the same amount of time as he used to and is focusing on ready-to-ship straps made to his specifications by a local atelier. I've been lucky enough to pick up one of each of his newest B.000X Series of straps to try out and review.

All three of the new ready-to-ship straps are made with very high quality leather from Tanneries Haas in France, and designed to look best on Bettarini style Panerai cases, though they will work with all 24mm lug watches. Two length options are available, 70/115 and 75/120, though the ones reviewed here are the latter. I'll take a look at each of these straps individually.

First up is the B.0001, which is black leather with white stitching. Features their signature water resistant double tanned leather which is fantastic stuff, and smells great. Its got a very soft hand, and feels very comfortable on the wrist, as advertised! There are lots of sizing holes, good for anywhere from 6 to 8 inch wrists.

The back is lined with tan leather with stitching to match, and stamped with "B.1600 Leather Straps" on the longer tail. The strap has two floating keepers, which is generally not my preference - I usually prefer one fixed and one floating.. I find it easier to put on, but this is still fine. Stitching is done very well, which is particularly important with contrast stitching. A great, solid strap and perfect for your Panerai.

Next up is the B.0002, which is basically the same strap as the B.0001 above, but with matching black stitching. Same great water resistant leather from Tanneries Haas - this stuff actually feels like calf leather on he surface but has the rigidity of cowhide.

The back of the strap is almost identical to the B.0001, and has the same tan leather liner for comfort. One thing I noticed about this strap, which makes a slight difference in the way it wears is that the sewn-in buckle is sewn tight, so that it does not pivot in the slot and instead bends the strap when it is put on. I can't be sure but I think this results in a slightly better curve when wearing the strap and I believe slightly less inadvertant rotation of the watch on the wrist - like when your watch kind of rotates itself so its not centered on your wrist anymore.

Last up is the B.0003, which is the brown on brown strap. This feels like the exact same leather as the black straps to me but in a brown color. This strap for some reason has more rich leather aroma than the others - I always love to smell leather and often use it as an indicator of good quality leather. This one is the same great water resistant leather, and is a very medium brown color, would look great on a PAM111 or PAM112. I like the color better than the OEM brown that comes with those two watches.

And the back of this strap is also almost identical to the back of the first two straps, so there isn't too much to say here. It features the same comfort-driven tan leather lining and stamping.

Overall, these are very comfortable straps and attractive as advertised, featuring very high quality leather that has superb flexibility and wearing characteristics. I wouldn't hesistate to recommend these to anyone that is looking for a comfortable machine-made strap for their Panerai that is of a thinner profile yet still gives a cool aftermarket bent-buckle strap look. These remind me a little bit of Mario Paci or Kodiak straps at a much lower pricepoint and slightly less thick giving them a more gentlemanly look.

Model: B.0001 Black Leather Strap
Thickness: 3.5mm
Length: 75/120
Keeper Type: Double Floating
Stitch Color: White
Edge Finish: Painted
Price: €95

Model: B.0002 Black Leather Strap
Thickness: 3.5mm
Length: 75/120
Keeper Type: Double Floating
Stitch Color: Black
Edge Finish: Painted
Price: €95

Model: B.0003 Brown Leather Strap
Thickness: 3.5mm
Length: 75/120
Keeper Type: Double Floating
Stitch Color: Brown
Edge Finish: Painted
Price: €95