Two One Four Straps Review

Last Updated: June 25, 2019Tags: , , , , , ,

I was looking for another set of straps for my new watches yet again. Like always, It has to be custom made with measurements that are very close to NOMOS’ sizes. I was looking around for strap makers and stumbled upon Two One Four Straps through a facebook group. A person ordered a staggering eight straps from him. That’s not a small amount of straps and given the cost of custom made straps, I had to check.

The only point of contact was through the facebook page. He responds promptly and answers all the questions you may have. That’s when I found out why the person ordered a lot of straps, his prices. The prices are very well priced in all range of leather and that sort of pricing is very competitive in the market.

Pricing

I enquired what sort of leather he has available including the pricing. Payment is to be made after the straps are done. Given he’s Philippine based, the payment will be made in peso. Cost of strap depends on the leather and some of the pricing starts as follows:

  • Cowhide –  P1,700 (AU$47)
  • Toad – P3,500 (AU$98)
  • Ostrich – P3,500 (AU$98)
  • Croc – P4,500 (AU$125)

Buckles are around an extra P100-P400 (AU$2.75 to AU$11) depending on style. In addition, overseas purchase will incur shipping cost. The build time was estimated around 4 months as he’s a one man team, but given that it was the Christmas holidays, I expected it to be longer.

Compared to the local competitors here in Australia, this is decent pricing. Some would charge 1.5 to 2x more and they even still outsource it elsewhere rather than being locally made.

After choosing from a variety of options. I settled for a whisky ostrich, navy blue croc and burgendy croc.

Packaging

The straps arrived with an environment friendly paper packaging. In addition, each straps are individually packaged into smaller brown paper packaging as well.

Straps

Being custom made, I had a few requirements. One of the most important requirement is that it must fit lug holes that are minimum 1.8mm. The reason being is that they are the meansurement of Omega’s spring bars.

After receiving them, I didn’t wear all of them immediately. I used the one that I needed first which is the blue croc on my PanoReserve and I was happy with the results. It looked absolutely gorgeous on the silver dial. Moreover, the croc was not too stiff outside the box which makes it very comfortable to use immediately. The stitching looks clean and the edges are painted evenly with decent sanding. I am very happy with this one after putting it on.

The next one I used was the burgundy croc. This went to replace a cheaper strap for my Heuer. Given it’s also a croc, the consistency is the same as the previous croc.

The last one which I just recently added, the ostrich went to the Grand Seiko. Compared to the croc, this type of leather seems to be more stiff out of the box so it will require more usage before it softens up, but the consistency still remains the same. The stitching properly done and the colouring of the edges are on point.

In all the three watch straps, I find the consistency more or less the same. Stitches are well stitched and edge painting are not too bad. In addition, sanding of it wasn’t too bad across the straps as well. Lug holes were big enough that my spring bars can fit without stretching the leather.

Final verdict

Overall, I am happy with the purchase. Compared to my other purchases, this is worth it at its price. I wouldn’t hesistate to purchase from him again.