cheeese 0 Posted August 8, 2013 Going to try to keep it as short as possible. I spent a lot of time looking for the perfect natural leather nato and I've purchased a number of variations all of which have ended up in a drawer with the exception of a $30 ebay find that came pretty raw. I ordered the first one in 20mm for my Helson Skin Diver and following someone else's steps to age it. The problem was that once I was done it was a little overcooked although it still works as vintage strap. Well after receiving the tracking number for my Pam 356 the first thing I did was go back to ebay and order a 24mm version of the same strap but this time I took a little less severe approach to aging it. I hope you like the results. This is the raw strap next to my helson skindiver with the same strap. The strap on the Helson is less than a year old but to age it I showered with it for a few weeks repeatedly and allowed it to sit on my window sill for a couple weeks in direct sunlight and heat. The problem was that it darkened deeper than I wanted it to and the repetitive wet and dry cycle stretched it out more than I would have liked. Here's a picture of both sides of the raw strap five days ago. The first thing I did was run it under the faucet for a few minutes to get it good and wet, then I put it on for the first time and sized it to my wrist. I wore it for about five minutes but didn't want to stretch out the leather too much so I took it off and allowed it to dry out of the sun. The following picture is of it wet and after it dried. As you can see after it dried it was still pretty pink and lacked the warmth of aged leather. My goad was to get the leather to match nicely with the hour markers on my 356. So I grabbed a little Griots Car leather rejuvenator and applied it with a small sponge. Finished results less than a week old after a few days of wear and drying down from the rejuvenator. As you can see while it's not an exact match to the dial markers it's close and it's already starting to take on a little of that ammo pouch look. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gottahaverolex 0 Posted August 16, 2013 You should try either some prime neatsfoot oil or som Feibings Tan-kote. Both will get the strap a,little closer to the marker color. The neatsfoot oil will darken more than the Tan-kote. You can buy them at Tandy Leather Factory Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mazz 62 Posted August 16, 2013 How do you like the Nelson skin diver ? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SB56667 155 Posted August 16, 2013 It's a good look, man. You can find a MOUNTAIN of strap aging techniques and tutorials at HomageForum.com. Highly recommended. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
solkryssare 109 Posted August 16, 2013 Who's the eBay seller? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cheeese 0 Posted August 17, 2013 (edited) How do you like the Nelson skin diver ? I've had it a little less than a year and everyday it becomes more and more my favorite watch of all time. It's a good look, man. You can find a MOUNTAIN of strap aging techniques and tutorials at HomageForum.com. Highly recommended. Thanks, I've read a few of them and followed some of the techniques on the 20mm strap. I found that I had better luck the second time around with the Griot's leather care. The more layers I put on the darker the strap becomes and it dries in under an hour so it's very little work to get the strap to exactly where I want it. I'll take some more pics in the daylight I've intentionally left the underside of the strap untouched so I could see how the multiple coats worked. Who's the eBay seller? watches571. I've ordered three straps from him, one was a pre-aged that in person wasn't my speed. He takes about 10 days to ship to the US and the quality is really good for leather straps that sell for under $30. I've read mixed things on him as a seller after googling but so far I'm happy. Edited August 17, 2013 by cheeese Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
