Not long after getting my black 5001, I saw a photo online that really got under my skin. It was of a dark brown Santoni on a beautiful, extremely expensive, black-dialed watch. Interestingly, the watch wasn't an IWC; apparently owners of other brands are fans of what IWC and Santoni have teamed up to do for us. The combination was captivating and I was sold. Within a couple of days I headed to the Geneva boutique. Unfortunately, the strap I needed was not in stock at the boutique. The staff there are always extremely kind and helpful and, of course, they offered to order it for me. I guess the straps must be popular because I was told that it could take 6 to 8 weeks.
Patience is a virtue, and I try to be patient, really I do, but when I get set on something... So, with the help of several forumers, I explored other options for finding the Santoni. Turns out that it isn't an easy task to find one and get it shipped. So a few days later, I emailed the boutique, asked them to order the strap and settled in for a long wait.
Late Thursday afternoon I received a call from Jan at the boutique. Because I was in a parking garage cell reception wasn't great so I was sure I misunderstood when it sounded as if he said that my strap was in. It had been just over a week since I'd ordered. But he confirmed that they did indeed have it. Wow.
I considered waiting until Monday to go get it but Andy pointed out that with a new strap waiting, the weekend would seem like a year. Andy is a wise man. So Friday morning, I hopped on a train to Geneva. I made sure not to be there waiting when the boutique opened as I didn't want to seem over-anxious. After pleasantries with the entire staff (everyone was on hand on Friday), Jan brought out the strap. My preference would have been to have several straps to choose from to ensure that I got the most pleasing grain pattern but I needn't have worried -- the strap they got in was exactly what I'd hoped for.
Minutes later my Portuguese had been Santoni-ized and I was in awe of the new look. A little playtime followed - Jan brought out some truly remarkable toys. I'll post about that in a few days. For now, a couple of quick shots of my now-even-more-beautiful 5001.
Special thanks to the guys who made valiant efforts and generous offers to help me find a strap. I appreciate it very much. And thanks to Jan and Mauro at the boutique for their expert service. I'd much rather hear the worst-case scenario and be pleasantly surprised by a good result than get a pie-in-the-sky estimate and be disappointed later.
