Reply With QuoteVery nice work indeed. Good luck with the campaign
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Hello everybody,
First of all I would like to introduce myself briefly: My name is Ricard, and I am the owner of didymoStrapS, making watch straps since 2011. Since then I have been selling them worldwide with success and very good reviews from my customers.
Thanks to the Admin of this forum, @Swanbourne, and also the recommendation of some of my UK customers, I would like to show you my new watch strap collection, 4L'MENTS, starting a Kickstarter campaign last Tuesday 19th may, after almost a year of work visiting the best tanneries in the world and testing almost 50 different leathers. Here the link below if you are interested to support. There are discounts up to 30%...
4L'MENTS KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN
The result of this effort is a reinterpretation of the iconic, elastic Marine Nationale watch straps on leather. I started with 18 different leather versions, as shown in the following picture:
Here is the strap DESIGN:
And here some more pictures of the strap fitting some watches:
Here I attach the PROMO VIDEO of the strap collection:
https://youtu.be/4fCFxvpknJ4
And in this video I explain How to adjust and fit the strap to the watch, How to fit the watch on the wrist and other tricks as How to measure the wrist size (for in case you don't know why to do it) and How to take care of the leather:
https://youtu.be/gCEGrLVJYA0
I hope you like my proposal.
Thanks for reading
Ricard
Very nice work indeed. Good luck with the campaign
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Which tanneries did you go with other than Horween?
Thanks!Originally Posted by Ar.parask
Tanneries in Spain, Italy and Turkey
Such as? That's like saying a watch has a swiss movement if you get what I mean. Surely if they're the best tanneries in the world, you'd be specific about who they are, like you were with Horween.
It is part of my work done during one year... if you need more details, I can give them all by DM, no problem
My point is that part of your sales pitch is finest tanneries in the world. So why would you not let your customers know what tanneries those are? No different to the name Horween, it makes no sense not to disclose the tanneries you're using given it is a major selling point of the straps.
The knowledge gained is also his competitive advantage... he has offered to educate you through DM.
How many watch micro brands or even established brands do you know that freely communicate who are their suppliers?
They have invested resources and put effort in finding quality suppliers and this is what potentially gives them an adage against the sea of other microbrands out there....
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You've your opinion, I've mine, and I don't buy it. He has no issue name dropping Horween in the knowledge that it gives him a competitive advantage. Why be all secretive about all the others?
Horween has a patent with the NFL leather used for the balls (also in NBA and other sports). It is not a secret that leather as is easily recognizable.
The rest of the leathers, depeding on the strap reference are from Italy and Spain. Turkish leathers were not included in this starting batch of 18 different models.
Italian tanneries are few in Toscana area, ans Spainish tanneries are in Murcia mainly.
Do you need the names?
Regards
Ricard
I boight a strap from the op a year or so ago for a Tudor B.B. and very happy with it.
Thanks! These new straps are really amazing too! Thanks for your support!
Is it pronounced Diddy-Mo or Die-Die-Mo?
They look nice best of luck
Thanks a lot!
Maybe I'm missing something here, but not sure how these can be described as a reinterpretation of a MN strap?
The original MN elastics were a single, one-piece / single pass piece of material of course, with no adjustment, and made on the fly.
The MN association here seems to me to come only from the clasp, that appears to be a direct copy of Erika's modern design; which itself has no associations to the original MN solution as far as I'm aware?
Hi. Thanks for your words. It is an interesting discussion.
I had in my hands the MN strap from Erika, and I did the same in leather. Maybe in the future we (erika and me) will launch it, but I started making my own version.
In my proposal, i made a reinterpretation with some improvements that, from my point of view improves the strap significantly:
-not crossing the caseback with the strap to avoid extra thickness in case back.
-leather material instead of nylon
-different sizing and adjusting system.
It is my interpretation of some french navy guys taking hardware and elastic straps from a parachute.
It is not a copy of a MN strap from erika ;-)
Cheers
Hi Ricard
I’m sure I’ve missed it on your website just wondered how the metal clasp part works,I couldn’t see a picture of it unfastened, does it clip together or simply hook around?
Thanks
Hi. There is a video in this thread where I explain hot to fit (and other things). Did you see that?
Yep I did miss the second video thanks! Taking a look now
I didn't say it was a copy of an Erika's strap; I said it it a copy of her clasp.
As I said, I'm happy to be corrected on this in which case you have my full apology, but I believed that clasp to be a unique design by Erika?
Edited as seems I was wrong
Last edited by gcleminson; 15th June 2020 at 15:54.
The clasp is not patented by Erika. She patented the way of fitting the strap, although she was not the first making this strap, as NDC straps made first the ‘original’ one from original sources, not Erika. She patented first...no more comments about that ;-)I didn't say it was a copy of an Erika's strap; I said it it a copy of her clasp. And it is. Unless you're saying any design similarities are entirely coincidental?
I have respect for anyone who can turn a project profitable. Especially when it relates to watches. But not so much respect for blatantly ripping off someone's unique (patented?) design without at least having the good grace to offer a nod in their direction.
I do like the boobies logo though.
Regarding the leather version she told me in person that she was not able to do it, that it was impossible to realize, and yes, it is possible as I showed in person and as I also registered...
And a about the clasp, there are hundreds of strapmakers around using them. She is not the only one my friend.
And last but not least, the logo... i have laughed lot with your descriptions. It is like when you are in a phycological test and the doctor asks... what do you see in the picture...? ;-)
It is a coptic greek font, slight edited and in mirror specular view.
Yep I'm aware many others have have already copied that same clasp design.
Fair enough then if I'm wrong. This was what Erika said in an interview a while back:
“Originally the Marine Nationale divers used a simple fixed loop on their watches but since that does not allow you to adjust the strap I started to experiment with different designs,” Kelder says. She eventually decided on an ingenious solution: a loop with a hook-like buckle that fastens to a metal keeper. This retains the basic look of the classic Marine Nationale strap but allows the wearer to make micro-adjustments. Further, since the buckle latches on at the edge of your wrist, not in the center at the bottom, the buckle won’t scratch or rub against desk or table tops. “After some research, I was shocked that nobody thought of this before,” she says. “I knew something special had formed under my hands I was able to patent the design.”
Good luck with your endeavour.
Maybe other nylon strapmakers could describe a different story, but yes, the first patented the first becoming rich...the same happened with the Moon. Someone registered and now he is selling parcels of land... ;-)
Anyway, i’m making straps since 2011 and I wanted to make something different and nice into leather world.
Cheers
Can I ask this question again?
Or it could even be Dee-Dee-Mo.
The original straps used a parachute elastic buckle, into one of the small keepers (a simple single hole keepr, not a 2 hole tri-slide).
This is before anyone commercialised them, including Erica.
The hook was exactly as Erica copied (less the MN engraving, which is also a copy she generated), the keeper they used was very much more skinny (it was quite hard to insert the hook into the keeper).
And the originals had used simple length od parachute retaining elastic, with simple cut and sealed ends, no stitching into the keepers and so forth.
In addition, there were fixed length sewn straps made of the same elastic, most recently sold by French surplus dealers like Outremer in Paris (I bought a few from them - €6 each).
Then they started getting commercial, and Erica started her company along with the NDC seller (plus others), both using the original hooks with larger keepers and tri-slides, mostly sewn in.
And most recently Erica has re-designed the way the strap fixes and adjusts, and sought some degree of intellectual property protection as a result. Personally, I think it is a bit of a joke that she is attempting to protect something that is so much the work of others. But good luck to her.
This new one looks nice, I hope it does well, but I would prefer to consider a waterproof fixed length strap, not a leather one, as this strap lends itself to dive and water-related applications where watch security is needed.
Any plans???
Dave
It’s called doing business. He has taken a lot of time to Source to just bandy it about
Thanks for the nice explanation.
I recorded a lot of videos diving with those leathers used in my collection, although I didn’t include in the promovideo to avoid tons of questions related to this.
In the other hand I have waterproof leather from italy for in case any customer demand it.
I pronounce as latin words as it is a greek voice. If you are really interested i will try to record a voice note ;-)
I'm not clever enough to understand what that means, but thanks for trying to explain.
Your straps look very smart. Good luck with them!
It means something like ‘twins’.
That’s why the logo. It is a twin image of an ancient greek font
Didymo - δ?δυμο - means twin in Greek
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Youre making quality leather straps and you use 5 tanneries. One of the tanneries is already well-known, the other are not. You worked hard to find them. Which name do you mention and which do you not? Seems obvious to me.
I have a factory in China who make plastic branded airgun pellet boxes for me. Several times, different air gun clubs have contacted me saying they’d love to offer their own club branded pellet boxes to members, and asking where I got them made. The answer is always the same - eh, (politely) no.
7 tanneries:
3 from Italy
3 from Spain
1 from US
I plucked 5 from the air to illustrate the point to the previous poster. There’s no need to reveal your suppliers here. I certainly wouldn’t in your shoes. Good luck with your venture.
I think the straps look great and are a welcome addition to the world of straps.
Thanks a lot my friend. All of you are invited to participate ;-)
Good definition! Thanks for your words
No more Turkey?
Trimis de pe al meu SM-N975F folosind Tapatalk
Yes. I will do later. I started using 18 different leathers, I think a food starting proposal, and turkish leathers and other tanneries are in cue for the next series upcoming.
Hi guys!
40% funded in 14 days. I would need more visibility and support to achive the goal until 18th of june. If some of you could share my campaign with friends or watch groups it would be very nice!
Thanks in advance for your kind support.
Ricard
Hi everyone!
Thanks for supporting the campaing and/or for following it.
I would like to mention that both if the goal is achieved or not, I will make the straps for all those who have supported the project anyway, with the same conditions that are established in KickStarter. For this, I asked or I will ask to everyone interested the details of the strap/s to immediately proceed to buy the leathers and hardware needed No one will be left without strap!
Ricard
First customers receiving the strap...
Hi everyone!
I would like to introduce a new video of this project:
https://youtu.be/YWj8uoQlkYk
This video was shot with the intention of showing the 18 different leathers used in the 4L'MENTS straps, detailing the texture of each leather and its behavior when twisted and manipulated.
On the other hand, after receiving some leather from tanneries, the unboxing of the leather used in the ES·X03 strap was filmed, showing its enormous quality and texture.
AND REMEMBER, if the goal of this campaign is not finally achieved, the straps will be made anyway with the same conditions initially offered!
Please send a DM if you are interested!
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