Aftermarket Panerai Strap Review

Mr TipTop Leather Straps Review

Mr TipTop Straps Panerai Straps

Origin: Denmark
Construction: Hand-Stitched
Materials: Italian Leathers
Buckles & Tubes: Buckles and Tubes Included
Price Range: €119+
Website: Click Here
Date of Review: July 16th, 2014

Mr. TipTop Leather is a little known leather and sartorial shop based in Denmark. A very old company by strapmaker standards that has been around since 1954, and takes great pride in their manual old-world style of strap construction. Mr. TipTop is a company rooted in old traditions and harkens back to a world where throw-away iPhones don't exist. Their Youtube Video on their strapmaking process is fascinating and interesting to watch.

I picked up three straps from Mr. TipTop, all made from their own exclusive Croupon Leather, which that take very much pride in. They get their Double Croupon leather produced at no small expense to their own specs in an Leather factory located in Pescara, Italy and have done so for many years. Without a doubt having these straps in my hand and smelling the wonderful aroma, they are made from some of the finest leather I have ever seen in a strap.

The three straps I have are in three of the colors of Croupon leather that are available direct from Italy: Black, Light Brown and Dark Brown (Mr TipTop can dye the leather in-house to other colors as well). While the three are the same type of leather they all exhibit slightly difference properties due to the way they were dyed I presume. First up I'll take a look at the black.

The Black I hade made in Black on Black, because I like the discretion of black stitching - it gives it a rugged sensibility. Mr. TipTop definitely does a nice job in the stitching department, which they claim is achieved by the manual hand awl they use to punch the stitch holes. However they do it, the result is a very tight and unique stitching pattern unlike most I have seen. The Croupon leather is indeed a very high quality leather and after wearing it for a few weeks it has grown on me, with its wonderful pliability and deep aromatic leather scent.

The back is deeply tooled with their logo and "Master Craftsman", which is a nice touch. I like it when the straps have a beautiful deep tooled logo in them, it just adds that last bit of polish. All their straps are stamped the same way. The strap also has that bit of handcrafted feeling to it with its small variations from one to the other that just give each strap a bit of personality, which I really dig.

Here's a shot of the side of the strap with its burnished edges. The leather is fully dyed through, as most high-end leathers are. The strap is 4.5mm thick, but bends easily to the wrist and feels fantastic on. It also has a a ruggedness to it where you can tell this thing is going to last a long time. Mr. TipTop prefers the three-hole-punch method but can customize to your liking. The surface of the black croupon leather has micro-wrinkles as well as larger wrinkles on it which is quite a different looking surface finish than the brown ones.

Next up we have the light brown croupon leather strap, with the white stitching. This one has a smoother surface treatment to the leather, even though it is still the same croupon leather from Pescala, Italy. It feels like it would get marked a bit more easily than the black, and also displays some color variations when bended.

Just like the black leather strap, the leather displays the same supple strength. Feeling like a very solid and dense leather while still be very comfortable and pliable.

Here's a nice shot of the tight handstitching of the strap, with the white beeswax thread, which is some of the best quality leather thread available. The more I look at the Mr. TipTop straps, the more I appreciate the extra work and unique look the tighter hand-awled stitching provides.

I wanted to save the best for last... the Dark Brown Croupon leather. This is also Mr. TipTop's favourite, and who can blame him - it has such a beautiful deep lustrious brown shade to it. It reminds me a bit of Horween Chromexcel dark brown leather but with a slightly less smooth and more rugged vibe. I elected to have this strap made with Khaki thread and it suits perfectly. I love this brown leather! It just has that unidentifiable x-factor that makes certain straps so desirable.

The brown has just the right about of pliability, combined with a wonderful color and that intoxicating leather smell. Kick in the passion for handmade leathercraft and the old-world methods and you have a strap that is screaming with character.

Here is a nice shot of the raw, sanded edges which also look just right. Many strapmakers don't put enough thought into how they finish their edges, and I'm not sure if Mr. TipTop is one of them, but he just nailed it with the Dark Brown. The edge looks just right.. it has the perfect contrast of lighter brown and is sanded just enough. Beautiful.

And finally to finish it all off, here is a nice shot of the three straps with the black croupon mounted on my PAM288. I really dig these croupon straps and the old-world hand craftmanship adds an intangible allure to the straps as well. Watching the video also gives me a bit more appreciation for the work that Mr. TipTop does. In addition to the Croupon straps he has some more affordable Vegetable tanned leather straps and some Horse Leather straps as well. I suspect this will not be the last time you see Mr. TipTop leather straps reviewed here!

I highly recommend their straps if you appreciate the craft of leather making and love the touch and smell of a superb quality leather.

Straps As Reviewed:
Model: TipTop Croupon Black
Lug Width: 26mm
Length: 146/88mm
Thickness: 4.5mm
Keeper Type: 1 Fixed, 1 Floating
Stitch Color: Black
Edge Finish: Smooth Burnished
Price: €159

Model: TipTop Croupon Light Brown
Lug Width: 26mm
Length: 146/88mm
Thickness: 4.5mm
Keeper Type: 1 Fixed, 1 Floating
Stitch Color: White
Edge Finish: Smooth Burnished
Price: €159

Model: TipTop Croupon Dark Brown
Lug Width: 24mm
Length: 146/88mm
Thickness: 4.5mm
Keeper Type: 1 Fixed, 1 Floating
Stitch Color: Khaki
Edge Finish: Smooth Burnished
Price: €159