Corrigia Straps from Germany
Cengio Bilgiç from Karlsruhe Germany started making straps from 2011 onwards. Before this happened he was reading a lot about vintage Panerai watches and was especially interested in the old original straps he found that were displayed in Ralf Ehler's Panerai books. Those straps were treated with salt water in order to build patina on the leather.
A very well-know Panerista made an original old strap available that was mounted on his vintage Panerai Luminor Ref. 6152/1 and allowed Cengio to take the strap apart in order to study the building structure and design of the strap and renew the stitching. He did something more than that by making a 1:1 replica of the strap that he called Corrigia Reborn 1960 Fletch01.
Presently he creates quite a variety of handmade vintage straps for various models. You can choose between "uniform thickness" or the "true vintage style", this is a trifold technique that makes the strap stronger an a bit thicker at the lug side. The straps are created with an old antique awl, antique leather knife, antique plane and antique tools. The vintage and worn look is created by many hours of grinding and polishing. The straps are finished with a saltwater and a natural leather balsam treatment. When you order a strap you can choose out of a variety of buckle to make your strap even more personalized or order it without a buckle in case you prefer your own buckles.
Made to order
If you like to get a strap from Corrigia you need to take a delivery time of approximately 2 weeks into consideration as his hand-made straps are made to order. That means you need to share your preferences beforehand. The strap that I needed for my PAM00753 Radiomir is a vintage style thick leather stap and 140/80 as a summer strap, in this case I went for the L24 - Speciale - Decima Originale strap.Comes in a wooden Corrigia box
The strap came in a Corrigia wooden box with new branding and like always added with coffee beans that keeps the strap dry and odor-free.
The strap, L24 - Speciale - Decima Originale
Corrigia categorises the straps into different main product lines, the L series stands for La Storia 1940, these are straps inspired by the Panerai straps from the 1940's, all handmade and according to the techniques of those days. Even in the L series you have a lot of variation and every model is again unique. The L24 is not as thick as my L15 and made of another type of Italian veg tan leather. The leather feels almost nubuck and at the same time already aged. The strap also has vintage folding and is thicker on the lug sides, this gives it it a more masculine look and feel but for sure will be a challenge to install it on my Radiomir.
The finish of the strap
The finish of the strap is so cool as it combines both a used vintage look with a complete fresh leather smell to it. The sides are rough, the tail has a typical 1940 triangle-style tip and the holes punched have a used look as well. As mentioned it has almost a nubuck finish, this slowly disappears after wearing for a longer period, at the time of writing this review at least 6 months have gone by, so I can also include the wear experience better. The keeper is sewn-in that makes the strap sit flatter on your wrist and makes it suitable to wear under a shirt as well.
Knife-edge buckle
This strap is made with a sewn-in knife edge buckle, a vintage style flat buckle with a sharp edge. To make it complete this has a polished finished that matches my Radiomir perfect!
On the PAM00753
A PAM00753 has a doesn't come with the quick-change system or screw-in pins but with lugs that you can detach with tiny screws. For me still not an easy way to change straps and have already decided that in principle I change straps on my Radiomir a lot less than my other Panrtai watches. As mentioned the strap is at the lug side thick and it was a challenge to install it right the first time, of course protected the case with tape.
The strap fits tight on the case and between the lugs and looks elegant and at the same time sporty. The color of the strap is very rich brown with a red glow and the stitching blends in very well with the white indexes of the PAM00753.
On the wrist
The strap feels soft from the first time wearing it and doesn't need to break-in. The holes in the strap made are far apart like on most vintage straps, the strap is made to my wrist size and fits well. As normally I like my straps to fit tight, so over time the strap stretches a bit and moulds to my wrist.
The knife-edge buckle
The conclusion
This Corrigia L24 strap is a super cool strap that makes my PAM00753 from an elegant watch to a combat Panerai from the 1940's. The leather and finish is fantastic and over time has not changed a lot in color, it is just a bit less matt finish as in the beginning, the strap ages very nice.Corrigia straps do not come cheap and for a reason, the amount of time and dedication plus the craftsmanship needs to be translated into something. As this time I review a strap after wearing it for more than 6 months the strap shows its value, even in the harsh summer we have in India the strap remains as new, hardly has stretched, just a bit less matt finish.
If you are looking for more info about Corrigia Straps, you can find the strap maker at www.corrigia.com and if you interested in more details about the strapmaker of Corrigia Straps, Cengio Bilgiç, click here
I hope you like the review, feel free to post your comments here
The strap specifications:
Below you find summarized the specifications of the strap, the prices mentioned are only indicative just to give you an idea what you could expect if you order one.
Leather type: Italian soft veg tan cow leather
Special treatment: Vintage treatment, not disclosed what the recipe is
Width: 27 mm
Length: 145/80 mm
Thickness strap: 4 mm
Type of buckle: Knife edge buckle
Buckle material: polished stainless steel
Type of stitching: hand-stitch
Price range: 280 EUR
Special treatment: Vintage treatment, not disclosed what the recipe is
Width: 27 mm
Length: 145/80 mm
Thickness strap: 4 mm
Type of buckle: Knife edge buckle
Buckle material: polished stainless steel
Type of stitching: hand-stitch
Price range: 280 EUR