It’s been a little bit since we’ve had a look at an aftermarket strap, and the fine folks over at Crown & Buckle saw fit to remedy that situation. As such, today we’re going to have a look at one of their 24mm models, the Madison.
So, first up, the relevant specs. The Madison that was sent over is a 24mm width strap, made from black calfskin with contrasting red stitching. It’s 4mm thick, and comes with a brushed thumbnail buckle. It’s 4mm thick, and comes in a length of 115/80mm (long end / short end). It’s also available in 20, 22, and 26mm widths.
At 4mm thick, this is a substantial strap. However, the leather was very supple, and conformed to my wrist very easily. Frankly, it’s a good looking strap as well. It has a very smooth finish, and the stitching picked up the dials nicely of the two watches I paired it with. With it’s unfinished edges, the strap should pick up some nice character as you wear it.
For the purposes of testing, I paired it up with both my Regattare 2011, and the recent Novo model we just reviewed. It was a better fit with the Magrette, style-wise, but it worked nicely on both. I’d say this strap goes best with anything that has some red in the dial, but of course, that’s up to you in the end.
There was only one problem I had with the strap, though it was a minor one. The floating keeper just seemed overly wide. It doesn’t seem that way, just to look at it. However, in wearing it (and this could be due to the length we were sent), it was a bit bulkier that I would have preferred, as I ended up with it fairly close to the buckle.
The particular example we were sent goes for $38 (very affordable for a quality leather strap of this size), and is available in 20, 22, and 26mm widths; it also comes in brown with natural stitching. Whatever the size or finish, this is another quality, very affordable, option.
