Watch straps with inserts

You may not be aware of it, but your watchstrap could be made with inserts. 

That means the watchmaker brand inserted a piece of metal or rubber inside the strap, to make it fit perfectly the watch case and the lugs. 

 

This insert allows the band to be fully compatible with your watch but will make it difficult to change it without going to the brand itself.

Indeed, a classical strap won’t do : beside the aestethic element, the attachements system will not be reliable.

Then you can go the custom made road. But even in this case, special requirements need to be adressed.

For starter, we will have to take your original watch strap in LEATHER and destroy it in order to get the inserts back. This is not possible from a rubber or metal band.

The inserts must be in good shape (especially when in rubber), but we won’t know for sure before inspecting them. If you prefer to keep your original strap, we recommend that you find another strap (second-hand will do) so we use the other one. 

In some cases, we already have the inserts and there is no need to destroy any strap, but that is not often … please see the list at the end of this article.

Then, we will have to craft the new strap all around the inserts. This is all handmade work : a fine-tuning and very delicate operation who requires a lot more time to our most skilled artisans than a classical band.

As a result, please note that a 3 weeks timeframe & an additional fee of 400€ to the classical custom made straps prices will be asked for.

Installing this kind of band might prove more difficult than usual. Of course, our team in the shop will gladly mount it on your watch for free.

But if you receive the strap by shipment, and you are not used to this, we recommend to ask your watchmaker or jeweller to do it.

And above all, please contact us if you need any info on this !
There are as many inserts as there are watch models those days, and they are all unique.

Alligator strap with inserts on a Richard Mille watch

With our experience, we will be able to give you the best advice on what to do, and if there are less costly alternative.

 Here is a list of the main watches that brands are selling with inserts straps :

• Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, Offshore, Diver (we probably already have the inserts for those, please contact us)
• Cartier Santos 100, Santos 100 XL, Roadster
• Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Squadra
• Patek Philippe Nautilus
• IWC Aquatimer
• Most of Ebel
• Most of Hublot
• Most of Richard Mille
• Bréguet Type XX
• Tag Heuer Mercedes Benz
• Most of Corum
• Chronographe Suisse Super Mangusta
• Most of Technomarine
• Most of Roger Dubuis
• Most of Custos
• Most of Voltime
• Most of 4N
• …