# Cheap Chinese Straps



## Lancman (Jul 1, 2016)

I'm home alone with Man Flu today and getting bored just sitting around feeling sorry for myself, so I thought I would do a quick review of a couple of cheap straps I have just received from a supplier on eBay. The supplier is called Zlimsn and they have a couple of eBay stores, here and here.

First up is a pair of crocodile leather straps which I managed to get on auction for just £1.99 each. I can't find an auction listing at the moment, but there is a BIN listing for rather more.










Dark Brown

They came with a removal tool, 4 spring bars and 2 metal tubes which fit into the head end to prevent wear from the spring bars. Impressive.

Length is 115 / 75mm (excluding buckle) which suits my skinny wrists perfectly.



















First impressions are very good but a few shortcomings soon become apparent.

Firstly, they are padded at the head end and are very thick (6mm tapering to 3mm) this in turn makes them VERY stiff and quite uncomfortable to wear initially. They are starting to wear in and soften up a little after a few days use, but still not what I would call supple. Only time will tell if things will improve further. Having said that, they are still not as bad as the strap that came on a Rotary watch I have - that thing was just plain horrible!

Secondly, the stainless buckle is not particularly well finished and has sharp edges which are starting to dig into the leather.

It also has pointless (and un-advertised) fake Panerai branding.










Light Brown

And thirdly, the metal tubes were a fraction over length and would not fit between the watch lugs without trimming.

If they soften up a bit more I will consider it £2 well spent, but would hesitate to recommend them at the current £12 asking price.

Second up is this plain leather strap with 'cross' stitching which I got for £3.99. Again the auction listings seem to have dried up at the moment, but the BIN price is a more reasonable £8.

They have a few other styles which crop up on auction listings.



















This is a different kettle of fish - straight out of the bag the leather is soft, supple and very comfortable. It's a constant 4mm thick and the lengths are 125 / 80mm (excluding buckle). I bit on the long side for me, though at least I didn't need to cut an extra hole, as is often the case with straps of this length.



















The buckle is also different - well finished with nicely rounded corners and no fake branding!










This strap also has the metal tubes but this time they are pre-fitted and the correct length.



















At £4 this one definitely was money well spent and I can recommend it as good value even at the BIN price of £8. :thumbsup:


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## Timemachine.fi (Mar 30, 2017)

Great review. You should make reviews also from more expensive straps! I think people would be more intrested! :thumbsup:


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## crilin202 (Sep 6, 2016)

Good review. That one with the cross stiching looks fantastic.


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## Lancman (Jul 1, 2016)

Timemachine.fi said:


> Great review. You should make reviews also from more expensive straps! I think people would be more intrested! :thumbsup:





crilin202 said:


> Good review. That one with the cross stiching looks fantastic.


 Thanks, If you can nab one for a good price at auction then they are a bargain and will certainly do me fine for now. In fact I picked up a couple more in a suede finish.





































My one complaint with the second one is that although it's very soft, flexible and comfortable, it's 5mm thick, which makes it rather bulky and cumbersome.


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## Ging (Feb 25, 2017)

At that price you caint go wrong


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