Aftermarket Panerai Review

Manifatture Firenze Watch Straps Review

Manifatture Firenze Panerai Straps

Origin: Italy
Construction: Lock-Stitched
Materials: New Leathers
Buckles & Tubes: Buckles Included Only
Price Range: $100US+
Website: Click Here
Date of Review: January 24th, 2009

Manifatture Firenze is probably one of the most affordable of the Italian made Panerai watch straps. As for quality, I think that the MF straps are up there with the best straps that I've owned. They also come in a fancy presentation box with a draw string pouch in case you ever want to store it.

The model I picked up here is a light tan with sewn-in brushed 316L stainless steel buckle. It has a very unique smell to it that characteristic of the natural curing and tanning techniques that Manifatture Firenze use to age their leathers. It reminds me of nice Italian shoes.

The MF straps are not super hunky chunky straps, but still have that vintage Panerai style to them that make them ideal for daily wear. Extremely soft and pliable leather, but it doesn't mark quite as easily as some of the straps out there like Strap Culture.

I really liked that the MF straps was soft right out of the box. This is obviously necessary too because all MF straps have a fixed keeper (at least the ones I saw), which does require that the strap is a bit softer.

One strange thing I noticed developing on my MF strap is a scratch line that runs along the holes on the long side of the strap. I was trying to figure out how it got there, and I realized that it is the cut-out in the buckle for the tang scratching the strap when I put it on. I noticed that some other people had this phenomenon happen to them as well with the MF straps, so it is something worth noting.

Overall the MF strap is a great strap for the money. I love that the keepers are solid and keep their shape really well and I love the natural smell of the strap as well. The stitching on the strap is also absolutely 100% perfect, and the fact that it is made in Italy and comes with a sewn-in buckle for around $100 just seals the deal.

Their selection is a bit more limited than some of the larger Asian and North American companies and styles seem to come and go, but if they have something you are interested in on hand, it is worth grabbing! Also, prices are cheaper outside the EU because of no VAT.