Santoni Strap Help Needed

I am looking to get one of the two brown Santoni straps for my rose gold FA Jones Portuguese, but not having seen any in the flesh and not wanting to rely on any of the online pics, I am at a loss as to whether the light or dark brown strap would be best for the watch. So I would appreciate any suggestions from those of you who have actually seen both straps.

Shing knows a lot about he Santoni straps ....... Hopes he's online soon.

I placed an order and had to pay for it,(my ADs policy after buying five watches!) the order was placed just before end of the year, still waiting. I saw no point in buying the black which someone assured me was blue tint, so I had to choose between the two browns.
Having had other brown straps I noticed over time they darken until they get a nice mix of shades. To preserve that differential I have gone for the lighter brown. Hopefully it will arrive before mid summers day! It is very annoying that I am told by a frequent visitor to a boutique that they are available in the boutique in HK but it takes so long for them to arrive in the UK. I understand that there are no plans that the range of straps will be expanded for other sizes.

here is what is available to the best of my knowledge. Greg is absolutely right that there is a hint of blue (perhaps purple?) in one of the black straps.

In each of the 3 colours: Dark Brown, Brown, and Black there are two shades (which in my opinion also corresponds with two skin patterns).

if memory serves me correctly, there have been a few forummers who have had on Santonis on their Portuguese Automatics, or the regular brown IWC alligator on the FA Jones - do check the archives. One example among others, is here: www.iwc.com/forum/en/discussion/31381/

The steel handwound FA Jones with the blue hands and the enamel-like dial appeals to me also - but for me, who is in need of a 'blue' watch, I would have gotten a blue strap for it -- but this is just me filling my 'blues' mood :)

Not sure what am I seeing here - 3 dark browns and 1 brown (3rd from the left)?

It is my understanding that due to the hand crafting of each strap, the colour shade and markings , especially brown, can vary so need to be viewed in the leather so to speak.

I have both the ligher brown and dark brown, you can compare it here, to be honest after a while both look more or less the same except for the stitching. I prefer the lighter brown.

Dark brown

Light brown

Miniguy - although I have not seen the Santoni straps either I can tell you my opinion on the regular light brown and dark brown (or brown and dark brown as they are labeled) IWC straps.

I have the brown strap on my rose gold PPC (502213) and I must say that I much prefer that one to the dark brown which now comes with the newer red gold PPC (502306).

And here is a not-so-good picture, mine is in front, the red gold 502306 to the back.

It's funny, I was rubbing my eyes and thinking the same. The two shades of brown don't really seem that different.

I saw (what I think was) the darker one in the flesh, and it looked absolutely lovely.

Hi,

Here is the dark brown in really bright outside light:

And another one:

In real life (inside, at the office for example) it looks much darker.

The LIGHT brown has a much more 'orange' and light tan colour to it.

Regards,

Bob

Thanks to all, you've been very helpful.

Yes, the pics are very helpful.

Brown straps are sa problem for me as I prefer richer "chocolate" browns to slightly orange "tan" browns. It very difficult to guage what you are buying from some pics on the internet as you need to see them in varying light conditions.

From these though I know the darker brown is the one for me (and the one I saw in the AD).

All my brown straps became darker after a few years. The dark browns became almost black, without me doing extraordinary things, except wearing them. So I would go for the lighter colour having this result in mind. My Santoni strap on the Portofino is still too young to judge the effect of time on it, but in itself is quite nice now.

Kind regards,
Paul

Hii. I have a PORTUGIESER CHRONOGRAPH CLASSIC. I want to get a light color on her. Did the santoni produce a light color for this series?