Mark XII Saab "Mellow Yellow"

Just wanted to share some info regarding the leather strap for the Mark XII "Mellow Yellow".

My apologies in advance if this is old hat and already been discussed.

The story starts quite simply in my wanting to acquire a new strap for my Mark XII Saab SE. Unfortunately having checked with Schaffhausen, the London boutique informed me that these particular straps were out of stock, and not going to be re-ordered - thereby no longer available.

Having spent the best part of a year hunting and checking samples to try and match the colour, purely by chance I got speaking to a company in Germany named Kaufmann Fine Leather Manufacturers. Low and behold they revealed that they had the original contract and made the straps for IWC back in the day.

So I bought my substitute, and I can confirm the colour, shape and design is exactly the same, aside from the stitching being slightly lighter. The calf inner is the same, albeit not branded IWC.

Nevertheless, if anyone is trying in vain to find a replacement in order to maintain the correct look - this is the place to go to !!

I have no vested interest in the company and am not advertising in any way - merely very happy to have solved a long standing predicament !!

Thank you so much. I also need a fresh one for my SAAB Mark XII too.

Hi Spectrum,
It would be great to see a picture of the strap(=:
Adrian,
(alwaysiwc).

Thanks for sharing, great info!

Thanks a lot for the info. You have made a good job for many collectors including myself...

+1

Cheers Chris

A good resource tip- I'll be needing one at some point, and now know where to go.

Nelson

Not quite sure how to get photos onto the forum, but will have a go !

By the way, I just compared to my old Mellow Yellow strap, and I would say that the new one is very slightly lighter, which is probably due to lack of maturity than anything else - certainly on the calf inner. The only other difference, is that the ends are not as curved as the original IWC.

I was told by Cornelius Kaufmann that they were still manufacturing from the original blueprint and piece of dyed leather - whether this is true I do not know, however the new straps are clearly of the same colour.

/Users/lisawood/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/Thumbnails/2016/10/17/20161017-191904/aPFB+HKfRWuI2MukVxmoSQ/thumb_IMG_1544_1024.jpg

Here is the best way to post a pictures.