MAYS|BERLIN

Zaffiro

Mays & Anna are a couple from Berlin, Germany who started their strap boutique shop and since 2013 go by the name "MAYS| BERLIN"

Mays | Berlin only offers hand-made straps, something more and more customers are looking for.

I have been in contact with Mays for quite a while and know several Paneristi who have their straps from MAYS|BERLIN and are very happy about it.

Mays & Anna have a passion for mechanical watches themselves and especially Panerai, so understanding what a Paneristi is looking for in a strap is not hard at all for them.

I was asked for my opinion and Mays and Anna offered me a strap of my choice to review, something they have not done before, I feel privileged!

I was able to choose a strap of my liking available on their website, so I could look and experience the strap like I would have chosen it myself.

Mays is known for their classic straps that are an excellent alternative for the OEM straps. So my first thought was to find out how good they are, but when going to their website I found a lot of vintage style straps that look just a bit different than others make them, I shortlisted the Zaffiro strap, a vintage strap made of NOS leather, triple-fold and with a DLC coated GPF Mod Dep style buckle.

As I ordered the strap just like a customer would do, you can see the progress of your strap on their website when logging in and checking your order number, a cool feature. When it arrived, the strap was packed in a cotton pouch with the MAYS|BERLIN logo printed, a nice touch and big enough to store multiple straps.

The finish of the strap is done with absolute care and comes with tubes already installed. The top layer of the strap had a "vintage treatment" but very even and has a nubuck finish, I do hope the strap will get more vintage character over time as it is somewhat clean for the moment. The sides of the strap are extremely burnished, one of the things you do not see often at vintage strap and it is a nice touch, it makes the layer very obvious, very easy to tell the short side has a triple-folding. The stitching is straight and sharp, the keepers are having an extra embossed line that gives a refined touch to it. As mentioned the GPF Mod Dep style buckle has a DLC finish and looks cool on the strap, when the wear and tear starts, the look of this buckle will only get better. I did notice that the thickness of the two strap parts are very different and the short side is obviously a lot thicker than the long side.

I tried the strap on my watch and to my experience the short side of the strap was to my opinion too extreme triple-folded and too thick compared to the long strap side. It bothered me, I wore the strap for a few days and it just did not feel right. This is my personal thing and does not mean other people would feel the same about the way the strap looked. After contacting Mays, I got the best offer possible, return the strap and the strap will be altered. Not every strap maker is able to alter a strap after it has been made. Knowing that MAYS|BERLIN does the job gave me a very good feeling about this and a confirmation these are professionals.

When I received the strap back after a few weeks, I could not make out that the strap was taken apart, the stitching is again very sharp, the burnishing extreme, the three little stains were still on the short part of the strap I left on the first time when trying it on and at the same time the triple folding thickness was considerably reduced.

Of course it is always better when you get a strap that is right the first time when receiving it. MAYS|BERLIN mention on their website that they create their vintage straps according to the original way like they did in the 1950's and indeed there are old straps that have a thicker triple folding on the short side than on other old straps.

For me esthetics should still be part of a strap like this and I was glad they offered to alter the strap more to my liking and using the same upper leather, that also means that whenever something happens to your straps by wear and tear, they are able to restore it. It also means for me that it is important when you order a strap it is very important to understand the DNA of the strap maker and get as much information possible to understand what is offered and what is possible, at the same time it is equally important that you as a customer make clear to the strap maker what you are looking for in a strap. It is called communication.

Once the strap was put back on my PAM00389 after it returned to me, the strap looks to my opinion much better and fits very nice. The strap is thick and sits close to the watch case. The brown color looks fantastic. The strap still looks very refined for a vintage style strap and is for sure different from any of my other vintage straps.

Below you find summarized the specifications of the strap, the prices mentioned are only indicative just to give you an idea what you could expect if you order one.