I've always thought that the Barenia is the best strap for an Aqua Terra especially for a blue face but didn't want shell out for the price being sold for. I've been in the hunt purchased several over the years and finally found one.

The strap is of very high quality with thicker padding than the generic ones purchased from eBay. This the Bob's Marino strap in dark tan with tan stitches. Same strap also come with white stitches like the Barenia but went with tan for the cleaner look. Came from Germany and best of all is the price of $30. I'll let the pictures do the talking now..

 

Hooters orange!

 

Far from orange in person, pardon the iPhone pics.

Actually very close to OEM..

 

I remember purchasing some of those BOB straps in the past, and they were super stiff. I didn't get a good feeling about the quality.

 

For less than 10% cost of the OEM’s they are not 10% of the quality. Good straps

 

Got a strap from Jean Rousseau that closely matches the Omega Barenia style/color

 

Over-pay with pride, buy OEM, that's what a real Omega collector would do

 

I just compared the Bob Strap with a new OEM strap, comparable in terms of stiffness.

 

Why buy 1 if you can buy 5 for different watches in the collection?

I know what your saying with sticking with OEM, maybe with higher end watches. I guess it's like having a Bentley and installing American Racing wheels haha.

 

Nice combo you have there. Thanks for sharing.

 

Copy that.

For the record, the Omega Barenia leather NATO that I purchased new in 2015 appeared orange in person...



...but after a few years and some mink oil, the orange went away...

 

Reminds me of my iPhone Leather case... Patina at its best

 

I’ve got a few of these Bob straps and they do start off a lot stiffer than OEM but they do soften up and so far the quality seems to be really good.

 

I've had several Bob straps for my Breitlings and they lasted even better than the OEM straps. Mine were also a lot stiffer than OEM but weathered nicely and I got a hell of a lot of wear out of them. I'd be more than happy to buy again.

 

Uhh at the risk of sounding like a bit of a div*. What does Barenia actually mean?


* for speakers of US English read dunce or dumbass.

 

Thanks for the heads-up , now a saved seller in my eBay - i'm sure i'll be placing a few orders for various watches before year end

 

From what I have gathered, true Barenia (or Novonappa) leather comes from a specific tannery in France, using a proprietary double tanning method on calfskin that produces a extremely supple leather and is less susceptible to scratches than other leather. Hermes has used it in their products for a century or more. I know the Novonappa name has been registered by the tannery to protect its use, so if it is stated to be Novonappa, its the real deal. I think some generic calfskin straps are called Barenia, but aren’t truly Barenia from the tannery, as the term is older and not protected by trademark.

 

So I decided to try the smooth black calf strap. I have alligator pattern cow leather straps but for some reason, I feel like I'm wearing something fake even though I would be the only one to know lol. This is why I will now opt to wear these. Don't really want to spend real alligator straps on this AT, but rather have those on my dressier watch.

Here are some pics to share. Perfect fit to the deployant with no wiggle at all.

 

I have several of the Bob straps — they’re excellent quality (and unbeatable price).

 

I wanted to add another option to non-OEM Barenia straps. Just picked this one up from Milano straps for $95. It’s genuine Barenia from the Haas tannery in France. It was incredibly supple right out of the box and has already started to patina in that wonderful way real Barenia does. I have a Omega Barenia strap and this one is the same quality IMO. It’s well worth the cost.