I asked Jura if they could order me a replacement strap for my Grand Seiko SBGR095. Yes they can, but it will cost £930!! I thought they must have made a mistake, but when I queried it they said that the price was correct because the cost of the strap is almost a quarter of the cost of the watch. I don't think that's true for most watches! I admit that Grand Seiko straps are very well made but that price seems extortionate!
Last edited by Rocket Man; 22nd September 2017 at 15:06.
It is wholly extortionate, since one from AL&S or Patek would barely cost even £700.
A custom one from John (Dangerous 9) would be less than half the price, and his leathers are from the same sources as many of the OEMs’ are.
Seiko has been getting very silly with their prices this past year or so, especially as we know exactly how much they cost in Japan.
Ouch! That logic may be sensible for a bracelet but not a leather strap surely.
From memory that is around double what Breitling charge for their croc straps.
Time to check out Camille Fournet?
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For these prices I would want the whole crocodile.
I'm glad I haven't fallen for the custom exotic genuine what have you strap thing. For me a nice Hirsch or Di-Modell does 90% of the same job, considering it's an item that's not going to last, and a fresh cheap one might look better than an expensive old one.
I expect I'm completely wrong but I'd rather not know why, ignorance is bliss.
I’m off to japan next week, could pick one up for you if they are cheaper over there.
Seiya Japan is a bit cheaper:
https://www.seiyajapan.com/collections/straps
Probably not actual croc though
It's crocodile willy.Originally Posted by Itsguy
That's why it's so expensive. They've got to pay the bloke who goes and gets it.
When I got my IWC 7 Day Auto I bought an official IWC Blue Alligator Strap to go with it at what I considered to be a very high price of £300.
The price for the GS strap quoted here is just scandalous.
The price of most manufacturers straps is scandalous, you have to treat them as disposable consumables really, a well made aftermarket one is always going to be better value.
I always swap out my OEM leather for aftermarket and stick the OEM buckle on the aftermarket strap
Yep, me too, I wonder if that strap price above includes the buckle!I always swap out my OEM leather for aftermarket and stick the OEM buckle on the aftermarket strap
Thank you, that's a kind offer. I think I'm going to look into aftermarket options because I don't intend to spend even a quarter of that price on a strap that won't last more than one or two years.
Back in June last year Seiko Service quoted me £150 for a replacement croc strap with buckle for the SBGX009.
Though to be fair that's 18mm not 19mm...
My GS Hi-beat GMT came on a bracelet, I bought a deployant clasp from Seiya Japan for $328 and a Hirsh alligator from Watch Obsession for £190. Very pleased with the alternative look for my watch.
Capitano 20mm?
Shame the buckle is out of stock as I rather like that.
Drop Mario an email http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.php?t=401078
I bought a 19 mm genuine OEM GS crocodile strap from seiyajapan for about £150.
Jura are just taking the piss.
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That's about the price I was expecting. Even that's quite pricey for a strap I think.
Croc straps have silly prices in general, but even more so when imported in to EU due to CITES restrictions... special certificates have to be issued to be allowed to buy crocodile and alligator straps. Its a pain in the a$$ and ADs of course pass the cost and trouble on to the customer. This on top of the already high price.
The straps are probably made by Hirsch or someone to begin with anyway, then sold to japan, then back to the UK etc...
I'd never bother with branded alligator straps, you get the same strap from Hirsch for much less, even if you special order a specific size etc.
It is of course special Leather from Wagyu Crocs that are given beer and massages which of course has staffing implications thus the high cost.
Last edited by gettinon; 23rd September 2017 at 09:31.
You can get straps from https://band-and-tools.ocnk.net/prod...ort=price-desc. Use Chrome to auto-translate and FromJapan to buy.
Wow - I guess a true collector learns Japanese to find all these resources.
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[QUOTE=AKM;4502417]Wow - I guess a true collector learns Japanese to find all these resources./QUOTE]
I'm fluent in Chrome. I did get CSE grade 1 in French 40 years ago, though.Seriously, lot of deals on Yahoo Japan if you are happy to take the risk. Provided you pay using Paypal or CC you should be OK.
https://auctions.yahoo.co.jp/list5/j...-category.html
FromJapan's search is worth a go as it searches shops and auctions, https://www.fromjapan.co.jp/en/
That's my guess as well. The GS straps are distinctly different from the off the shelf Hirsch but nonetheless I suspect that they are made in the EU then exported to Japan. The crazy thing is that they are then strictly speaking not allowed be imported back into the EU as they don't have the Cities paperwork when retailed as individual items.
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Thanks for the link, very useful to know. The strap is still nearly £200 (at today's exchange rate) plus there will be import fees to pay but a LOT cheaper than Jura!
Thanks, this is very helpful. The Hirsch regent seems like a good alternative for a fraction of the price.
I've had two Hirsch Regents. If all you are after is a black strap with matching stitching, they're quite good.
The padding isn't as nice as Grand Seiko and if you get a brown one, it's obvious that the tanning isn't as nice, in colour or graduation, nor is the accent stitching. The GS straps tend to have larger squarer scales and the Regent the small round scales. The black ones are fine for money.
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Thanks, this is very helpful. I'm looking for a brown strap so maybe the Regent isn't such a good choice.
Cousins have some reasonably priced brown alligator straps, I wonder if they might be better?
Might be worth simply emailing service@seiko.co.uk.
[QUOTE=Gyp;4501808]Capitano 20mm?
No Hirsh do a 19mm.
https://www.watchobsession.co.uk/col...nt=32847885065
That's crackers! I asked Jura the exact t same question regarding the exact same watch and they told me £305. That was only in April this year - I still have the emails!
Tim
Yes I thought that it was a bonkers price! Would you mind if I emailed Jura to ask them why the price has more than tripled in 6 months, mentioning the quote they gave you? Did you buy the strap?
Last edited by Rocket Man; 24th September 2017 at 09:29.
Not at all, in fact if you pm me your email address I can forward their quote to you. No I didn't buy it in the end!
Cheers
Tim
Sorry for the thread derail, but that looks absolutely stunning.My GS Hi-beat GMT came on a bracelet, I bought a deployant clasp from Seiya Japan for $328 and a Hirsh alligator from Watch Obsession for £190. Very pleased with the alternative look for my watch.
Seems Croc straps are more expensive but wow £905!!
Incidentally your not some crazy despot leader are you Rocketman, after all the restrictions being implied to your country would make it hard to import from Jura and direct from Japan might be a problem to say the least!!!
Check Eddie's link. It's a bit old but you can still get custom made alligator/croc straps from around £250.
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...e-watch-straps
Last edited by bonzo697; 24th September 2017 at 10:07.
I have purchased items from Japan on many occasions using Rakuten, I did a search on there, here are the results. Rakuten is a great company in Japan they are like a market place a bit like Amazon.
https://global.rakuten.com/en/search...+seiko+leather
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I did, and this is what they said: "The original black crocodile strap would cost around £487 to supply and fit."
That's half the price Jura quoted so must be a bargain, right?
Is that on buckle or deployant?I did, and this is what they said: "The original black crocodile strap would cost around £487 to supply and fit."
That's half the price Jura quoted so must be a bargain, right?
Buckle
Then it might be worth noting that watch obsession have 10% off until midnight
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