Horological Meandering

ilikewatches
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Customization is a soothing follow up treatment to major retail therapy.

Customization is a soothing follow up treatment to major retail therapy. Once I had my new Czapek watch on my wrist, that piece which had pursued me, I worried it might be harmed by a fall. The watch was very heavy. The deploying clasp appeared ill designed and failure prone. Soon, I decided this clasp should should retire. So I started out on my journey to the Czapek Paris brand boutique to replace the buckle and strap. But on my way I noticed a specialist strap maker. I entered and explained that I was allergic to Nickel. A call was made to an engineer in the Besançon factory; their steel fastenings would not harm me. A black Louisiana alligator band with a slight blue tint was then recommended by the manager as subtly enhancing the color of my watch The ends of the strap were singed down by 0.5 millimeters each side to fit, and then expanded and slit to accept the original Czapek link pins. Three holes were punched in the strap to fit my wrist. My new custom strap is straight rather than tapered; I find its slight tint and straight edge set off the rounded watch case and blue dial nicely. The buckle is stainless steel, simple, sturdy, safe, snug and discreet. My buckle is engraved "J. Rousseau" . You can find their shop on the Rue Duphot on Paris, but I'm sure every larger city has its complement of bespoke strapmakers. The fit of my new custom strap with this Czapek is wonderful - loose without slippage whereas the previous tapered factory strap was either too tight or letting the watch slip to one side of the wrist. Thanks to the custom strap, my watch now balances perfectly on my wrist. Custom is so much better than factory one size fits all. And also, with the simple buckle, I can lay my watch flat on the table where I read or work. Why deprive oneself of simple pleasures? Ili.