ColaReb Venezia Ocher
February 21, 2018
(Note: stand alone strap images are taken from http://shop.colareb.it/en/ website)
Watch strap companies are not known for large fancy advertising budgets, or product ambassadors, or nautical expeditions. Watch straps go on about the business of holding onto the star of the show with little fan fare. If it was not for the Internet and e commerce I doubt many watch companies or watch strap companies would even exist. Enter Colareb. A small Italian company based out of Rome who make beautiful husband and wife designed watch straps using trained artisans to make a very compelling product. Actual production of the Colareb straps are carried out in the Tuscany and Marche regions of Italy.
Like all my reviews, I like to allow the company to put their own value statement in their own words without my ham-fisted words diluting the message.
If watches were to be used only as a timepiece, collectibles or even this website would not make sense.
If you are here is because you think a watch is more than of case-hands-movement sum, and we think it also.
Italian history and culture, art and handicrafts are recognized and appreciated in the world and we are pleased to give a little contribution.
From 25 years we try to combine our manufactured works with the quality and aesthetics.
Labor, expertness, attention to the quality and obstinacy are our artisans merits… and we are proud of them
Well with that bit of business taken care of, we can get on to the review.
DIMENSIONS
The Colareb Venezia Ocher I have is 20mm lug to lug width (all dimensions that follow are for that model alone). The strap’s are 120mm/75mm (holes end/buckle end) in length. What that means is if you have a 6.75″ wrist, you will be on the 2nd or 3rd to last hole on the strap with plenty of free length to tuck into the keepers. The Spoleto measured about 4mm at the spring bar in thickness but tapered down to 3mm at the free end and the buckle. These numbers are about ± 0.5mm as depending on how hard you want to squeeze the calipers. As far as width, the strap starts out at 20mm at the spring bar and tapers ever so slightly to 18mm at the ends.
DESIGN
This is my second Colareb review on Strapsense. The other was the Colareb Spoleto Rust (check it out). In many ways, all the praises that were lavished on the Spoleto are apparent in the Venezia. But for completeness, lets make sure we do not skip over anything. The Venezia has the same well thought out details I have come to expect from all ColaReb straps. The Venezia texture is smooth to the touch, but the grain in the leather is still very much apparent. The color saturation is extremely even, but not so much to hide the natural leather grain. While the ColaReb Spoleto had a very rugged and suede like feel, the Venezia is its clean cut brother with every detail moved one notch to the more luxury side of things. Now that is NOT to say it is interchangeable with a croc strap or some fine lizard skin strap, but It think this watch has universal appeal. Like all ColaReb straps, the hide is not generic and retains a bit of personality unique to each piece. I really enjoy this individualism. The Venezia comes in many colors and can be chosen to compliment almost any watch.
With just a hint of contrast stitching at the spring bars and strap ends, the mildly textured leather remains mostly uniform. The more it wears, the more personality I am sure it will pick up. The Venezia has the same detail stitching like the Spoleto line. I like the detail of the 4 stitches next to the spring bar. It gives a nod to a purposeful retaining feature, while giving a light pop of color that will no doubt compliment most watches. The sides of the strap are sealed in a dark brown and if you look hard you can see the lamination of multiple layers of leather glued together. These laminations give the strap a very uniform and controllable thickness, yet remain every so supple when bent despite the layers of glue. I must reiterate how flexible and easily this strap conforms to your wrist. When it is bent, or twisted, the strap puts up practically no resistance despite its thickness. The color stays true and does not distort when the watch is bent or rolled in your fingers.
On the underside of the Venezia strap, the part that touches your skin, ColaReb does not disappoint. While the Spoleto had a soft glove like suede, the Venezia has a very tight grained smooth leather that looks very durable. It is somewhat glossy and looks like it would have a bit more water resistance. But I did not test that. The leather is so nice on the inside of the strap you could almost wear it on the out side of the strap. Not sure why ColaReb picked this leather for this particular style, but I think it was a nod to making a more universal and more affordable watch strap. The Venezia comes in a bit under the Spoleto. So the move from the glove soft suede on the inside of the Spoleto to this harder leather on the inside of the Venezia may have saved them some money. Like all ColaRebs, their name and logo and Made in Italy proudly stamped. Construction is as I would expect faultless.
KEEPERS and BUCKLE
Colareb uses a customized buckle that made of polished steel. It has a the ‘r’ surrounded by a square in relief that maybe was etched or laser sintered. It has some texture and is ever so slightly three dimensional. I will say it again, details like this are what make a strap maker stand out. You can see the thought and effort put into the buckle. Next to the buckle are the standard keepers. Again we see the normal one fixed and one floating keeper. They are tanned/dyed in the same color and texture as the strap. On the non buckle end or free end, the strap is finished off nicely with more contrast stitching. The ends are ever so slightly thinner than the spring bar side of the straps. Why did Colareb go to so much trouble for this 1 mm? A thinner end is easier to insert into the buckle, and the keepers. They knew you would have a double thickness of strap on the bottom of your wrist, and saving that 1mm on each makes a 2mm thinner stack up. Again. Details.
HOW DOES IT WEAR
Straight out of the red envelope it comes packaged in, the Venezia does not disappoint. It does not suffer from stiff strap syndrome, which is a condition I term from when the strap stands stiff legged around your wrist. It blends to the curvature of your wrist bones and feels broken in on day one. The watch strap is soft on the wrist and never irritates. Some straps require a few minutes of ‘working in’, a process where you pre-bend the strap to help it develop some curvature before it sits on your wrist. Not the case with the ColaReb Venezia. This strap is one you never have to bend to fit you. It feels made for you. The level of flexibility in the leather and the ease at which it moves with you is spectacular.
WHAT IS THIS STRAP GOOD FOR
Ocher is not a universal color. I think you would need to carefully pick which watch this will go on. But when you find one that has hints of light brown or creme in the dial, I think this watch strap pops. Its thick and relatively plain design allows the watch to be the star, So dress watches, to field watches, or even aviation watches I think their is a Venezia for you. I do not think it will ever fail to elevate the experience of wearing the timepiece. Like other leather ColaRebs, I would probably NOT put this strap on a diver that gets used heavily, NOT because it would not look amazing, but because it has no marketable water resistance. I have swam with a different color Colareb before and it did get bleached by the chorine in the pool a tad. I found if you roughed it up a bit some came back, but lets say for practical purposes this is not a dive strap.
WHERE CAN I GET IT
I have purchased Colareb Straps from Amazon, and from Holbens. But you can also order from them directly as well.
Colareb
http://shop.colareb.it/en/venezia-watch-strap/11-venezia-22mm.html
Holbens fine watch bands
http://www.holbensfinewatchbands.com
Amazon
http://amzn.to/2FtYeBC
More images of the Venezia Ocher
