Jean Rousseau leather straps. Hype vs Reality.
I ordered a Jean Rousseau strap in December of last year, and took them 3 months to deliver. The hype around this company made it sound like they were all handmade with the best craftsmanship, and source the best cut of leather etc. You can watch the review on YouTube. What legitimized it for me is that they make straps for Ming and after market customs for FPJ etc.
This is the Blue Calf Leather Classic 3.5 strap on my Zenith El-Primero (.410 2006). I have it with on the original Zenith deployant clasp, and it fits loose. Looks like I needed an extra hole for it to be snug on the wrist, definitely once the leather breaks in. There is some sort of inlay inside that makes the leather stiffer around the wrist. Right now the inlay has not molded around the wrist, and with it being so loose I suspect its going to stay that way for a while.
Here is what is really bad. Upon close inspection I found cracks in the leather.
You can see the crack right about the keeper. I think this is unacceptable flaw on a strap that is supposed to be the hallmark of french craftsmanship (and costs $150 bucks). Ok I can understand someone screwed up making something simple as holes in a strap, but don't they have quality control folks who would catch that and stop it from shipping out to customers?
First off the strap does not match the hype, there was no wow, compare to https://hiroshigejapan.com/ straps. These looks like work of art around your wrist, for around the same price. I think I am definitely going to reach out the Jean Rousseau about how poor quality control job they have done.
It's all over rated crap. I was in my Jeweler and someone was selling their Cartier Santos, but the buyer wanted a original Cartier strap for the watch. The Jeweler and I just laughed at the 600.00 price tag Cartier wanted for their strap. Junk I say! I've posted on here before about some of these so called strap makers. Buyer beware. I have one and only one strap maker I trust. I have posted his work on here. It's takes 6 weeks for the strap but we'll worth it.
Most of your watches and even high end watches come on junk "genuine leather" lol junk. Been there and done that. Probably should create a post of leather grades and straps.
Just a rant.
Cheers!
Probably sourced their straps out of China 😆
It's all over rated crap. I was in my Jeweler and someone was selling their Cartier Santos, but the buyer wanted a original Cartier strap for the watch. The Jeweler and I just laughed at the 600.00 price tag Cartier wanted for their strap. Junk I say! I've posted on here before about some of these so called strap makers. Buyer beware. I have one and only one strap maker I trust. I have posted his work on here. It's takes 6 weeks for the strap but we'll worth it.
Most of your watches and even high end watches come on junk "genuine leather" lol junk. Been there and done that. Probably should create a post of leather grades and straps.
Just a rant.
Cheers!
Can you please remind me with a link to that strap maker again ?
leatherbound.Ink
You can work directly with him. They start around 109.00 and up. He doesn't keep much pre-made stock. He makes to order.
Cheers!
He's my nephew and he lives in Taiwan. Does wallets and watch straps. He has quite the inventory of leathers and skins in an array of colors. I use him for my custom work. Otherwise I do buy run of the mill straps from the known strap companies out there.
Probably sourced their straps out of China 😆
Not everything out of china is bad. Just look at the iPhones.
Not everything out of china is bad. Just look at the iPhones.
Your right not all of its bad. 😃
Sorry if I sounded rough in my past posts. 🍻
I have only had good experiences with JR across multiple straps and quite a few years, but the strap you have received is clearly unacceptable, no doubt about it. I share the feelings on this thread about some over-prices OEM straps completely and have had a poor experience with a few - ironically replacing them with JR straps! Perhaps I am lucky having been able to buy in person from their London shop.
I went to the boutique (glorified hot dog stand) in Harrods last year. I waited around 15 minutes and there was no one there to serve me. I went to Tudor bought a watch came back and still no one there.
Hiroshigei would be nice, if they had any for sale. It's a pet peeve of mine when I find a great looking new watch or strap but none available😠.
Thanks for the heads up - usually you'll be disappointed when something is hyped.
Good to know to stay away from that brand.
I would definitely reach out to them for a replacement.
While on this topic, anyone have any experiences with Molequin?
I have had only one JR strap that came on a pre-owned watch and that was decent but handmade Etsy straps are often at least 95% as good at 20% the cost (or less) 😀
I reached out to JR and sent them photos etc.. nada. I am putting JR on my "they just suck to do business with" list.