A collection of hand made leather straps is one of those things any serious watch enthusiast should consider owning.
When Lee from Punavuoren Ranneke got in contact with me to share his new strap company, there was something very specific that caught my eye -Punavuoren Ranneke (Redmountain Straps) is located in Helsinki (Punavuori is the name of the city district in Helsinki) – everything is made by female prisoners in Vanajan Vankila (Vanaja prison, in Finland). They cut, sew and finish them by hand. Lee personally checks all “Jailbreak” straps before sending them to customer. Because they are handmade, every strap is it’s own unique product.
Lee explains:
We are not offering the fanciest straps in a world, we are offering good quality Italian leather straps with a robust attitude. There are no two straps the same. Certain leather colours are very limited, as they manufacture very few of them. Every strap has unique serial number, that tells number of series and when it is made.
I hope that you could see behind the strap – person who made this strap, or roll, for you has definitely a story to tell. We can only wonder what kind story that would be.
So there you go, an introduction to a new strap brand. He’s right in saying that they’re not made with the kind of precision you’d expect from other strap manufacturers. But he’s also right in that you’re getting a story along with it.
