Voynich
Corrigia Straps from Germany
Cengio Bilgiç from Karlsruhe Germany started making straps from 2011 onwards. Before this happened he was reading a lot about vintage Panerai watches and was especially interested in the old original straps he found that were displayed in Ralf Ehler's Panerai books. Those straps were treated with salt water in order to build patina on the leather.
A very well-know Panerista made an original old strap available that was mounted on his vintage Panerai Luminor Ref. 6152/1 and allowed Cengio to take the strap apart in order to study the building structure and design of the strap and renew the stitching. He did something more than that by making a 1:1 replica of the strap that he called Corrigia Reborn 1960 Fletch01.
Presently he creates quite a variety of handmade vintage straps for various models. You can choose between "uniform thickness" or the "true vintage style", this is a trifold technique that makes the strap stronger an a bit thicker at the lug side. The straps are created with an old antique awl, antique leather knife, antique plane and antique tools. The vintage and worn look is created by many hours of grinding and polishing. The straps are finished with a saltwater and a natural leather balsam treatment. When you order a strap you can choose out of a variety of buckle to make your strap even more personalized or order it without a buckle in case you prefer your own buckles.
Made to order
If you like to get a strap from Corrigia you need to take a delivery time of approximately 2 weeks into consideration as his hand-made straps are made to order. That means you need to share your preferences beforehand. In this case as I was looking for a more dressy look & feel a standard 135/75 strap fits my fine, this Manoscritto Voynich Limited Special Edition strap is one of the variants he has in stock.
Comes in a wooden Voynich box
The strap came in a Corrigia wooden box with the model name of the strap branded on the box including the Voynich script, a cool detail!
The strap, CONCEPT01 - Manoscritto Voynich Limited Special Edition
Corrigia has again shown that he is not just replicating straps designs in multiple colours like other strap makers, he is inventive and comes with new concepts all the time. very recently launched this new strap that is 4mm thick and can be used with a 24mm Panerai OEM pin buckle or any other 24mm screw-in buckle. It is made of It vegetable tanned soft and high-quality cow leather from Italy. This strap is a blend of vintage look and sleek fit for a Panerai watch similar to his OEM Vintage straps. This strap comes in only one type of folding, his so-called "Uniform Thickness Folding Technique".
The finish of the strap
The finish of the strap is sharper than his other straps, the sides are clean, the tail has a more OEM style rounded tip and when you take the strap in the sun it has an oily shine to it. There are already tubes installed, very convenient! The holes punched are the oval style one similar like you see at Panerai OEM straps. As this strap is thicker than the OEM straps, it feels firmer on your wrist. The strap is very soft and has had a different vintage treatment than other Corrigia straps. The Voynich script is written on both the front and backside of the strap, you can actually decide if you like the the line "Manoscritto Voynich" visible or not as both sides can be used here.
Panerai OEM pin buckle
This strap cannot be ordered with a sewn-in buckle, instead you can use either a 24mm Panerai OEM buckle that you can get with the new OEM Nato strap, order at Corrigia a seperate screw-in buckle or use a screw-in buckle you have from other straps.
On the PAM00372
A PAM00372 doesn't come with the quick-change system or screw-in pins but with screw-in pins. Still an easy thing to replace a strap. The strap as it is 26mm it fits snug on the watch, easier than my other Corrigia straps that are 1-1.5 mm wider than the lug size. The buckle came with the the strap and was easy to install. I recently received a Panerai OEM Nato strap that comes with a 24mm buckle and I mounted that buckle now on this strap.
The strap fits tight on the case and between the lugs and looks elegant and at the same time sporty. There color of the strap is rich dark brown and the stitching blends in very well with the faux-patina of the PAM372.
On the wrist
The strap feels soft from and doesn't need to break-in. The holes in the strap made are standard and not as far apart like on my vintage straps and fits well and as they are oval shaped, the buckle pin goes in easy as well. It feels between an OEM strap and an ammo strap.
The 24mm buckle
The conclusion
This Corrigia Voynich strap is a very nice elegant and sporty strap that will for sure age very nice over time and has a very luxury look & feel. It is nice that I now also found a fitting 24mm Panerai OEM buckle that makes this strap even more elegant. The strap looks new by its finish and still vintage by the leather treatment it got.
Even realising that the pricing is a bit steep for this strap, you have a strap that will for sure last for a very long time and of course a strap that is unique with the Voynich script embossed on both sides, the way it is presented in a wooden box and of course knowing it is a complete hand-made & hand-sewn strap.
If you are looking for more info about Corrigia Straps, you can find the strap maker at www.corrigia.com
The strap specifications:
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.
Special treatment: Vintage treatment, not disclosed what the recipe is
Width: 26-24 mm
Length: 135/75 mm
Thickness strap: 4 mm
Type of buckle: screw-in 24mm buckle
Buckle material: brushed stainless steel
Type of stitching: hand-stitch
Price range: 290 EUR