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BA Gamma Diver

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BA Divers strap



Personal Strap Review

Di Stefano Straps from Florence, Italy


One of the best-known European strap makers within the Paneristi community is without doubt Di Stefano Straps from Florence, Italy. It's a family owned business started as a leather tannery business in 1899 in Livorno, Italy. During the second World War they produced some leather products to military specifications for the Italian army. After the war they moved forward into the business by supplying fashion houses like Gucci, Prada and Ferragamo with their finest leather hides. Now these days Simona Di Stefano, the fourth generation of the family business who earlier worked for Officine Panerai, has combined the two and created a whole range of top-notch watch straps from Panerai and other luxury watch brands.

Di Stefano "Bruno Allergrini Gamma Divers Strap Limited Edition"

From the first time I saw the Di Stefano Bruno Allergini Gamma Divers strap I knew I had to get hold of one myself. It took me almost a year and glad I did as I have now two fantastic Panerai watches that fit perfectly with this strap. The strap is not only hand-made, it is a limited edition with a total run of one thousand units and all numbered, I was lucky to get hold of one of the last ones bearing number 978! When ordering the strap, Simona Di Stefano gave me advice again and the holes were punched perfectly for the strap to fit, this is important with this strap as the holes are much wider apart than a normal strap would have.

Fast delivery again

The strap was ready within a good week time and sent to a fellow Panerista who was so kind to bring the strap along with him to India for me.
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The strap

As all the straps Di Stefano supplies, they all come in a nice high quality pouch that you could use to store your watch in as well. This strap comes in a bigger suede pouch than the standard size. and on the strap a tag with the strap name and the serial number mentioned, my number is 978.
The leather is feel extreme soft, it has gone through process to make it worn and still very durable. The leather used is called Bruno leather, soft, old fashioned, high quality leather, much in demand during the 1940's for it`s military grade robustness and waterproof character. Di Stefano still use Bruno leather for their special straps.
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The finish of the strap

The finish of the strap is fantastic, it is a hand-made strap and the stitching is very sharp. The leather is nice and soft, it has sort of a silky feel to it and you can see that the strap has gone through a treatment, soaked in the Mediterean Sea, treated with leather balsams and emollients. there is no burnishing, the lining of the strap is the same as the top layer of the strap, full Bruno leather and feels very pleasant on the wrist.
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The GPF-Mod Dep buckle

The strap has a GPF-Mod Dep style buckle, this is a big flat buckle originally used in the 1940-1950's. GPF stands for Guido Panerai e Figlio Modelo Depositato(translated Guido Panerai & Son Registered Trademark) Not all buckles have the GPF Mod Dep mentioned on the buckle, if they have it stamped or engraved they are usually not the original ones from the 1940-1950'5, but more a homage to the originals, next if the engraving is done, it is on the inside of the buckle, so you won't see it while wearing the strap.This Di Stefano Diver buckle is made of forged in aged steel and then individually engraved with a unique serial number by an artisan hand-engraver, again in my case with "978".
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Di Stefano calls it the Diver Buckle The flat GPS Mod Dep style buckles made by Di Stefano are called Diver Buckle. A nice detail is that on the 26mm buckle the logo of Di Stefano is hidden under the leather, the logo on the smaller 24mm buckles are on the top of the buckle and are rounded-off more than the 26mm buckles. Simona was so kind to share a picture of it with me after asking her about it.
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On the watch

Of course it's time now to put the strap on the watch. With my PAM0389 it is an easy task to do, the quick change strap system makes it a 2-minutes job, no need to visit a watchmaker to do it for you. And as I mentioned this strap looks great also on my other Panerai watch, my PAM00372!
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One of the thickest straps I have and fits great on my PAM0389!
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Finally on the wrist

The strap feels soft straight from the first time I put it on. Due to the longer size of the strap you get 3 keepers with the strap that can hold the tail nicely. Everything is in sync here.
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The buckle

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My conclusion

The Bruno Allergrini Gamma Divers strap is a exceptionally nice strap with eye for detail. It feels extremely comfortable on the wrist right from the first time I put it on. The texture due to the triple treatment the leather got is giving a worn look yet a completely new and fresh strap it is. The triple keepers, the longer tail and the numbered big Di Stefano Diver buckle are just meant to be for this strap.


If you are looking for more info about Di Stefano Straps, you can find the strap maker at www.distefanostraps.com and if you interested in more details about the strapmaker of Di Stefano Straps, Simona di Stefano, click here

I hope you like the review, feel free to post your comments here

The strap specifications:

Below you find summarized the specifications of the strap, the prices mentioned are only indicative just to give you an idea what you could expect if you order one.
Leather type: Italian bull leather, vegetable tanned
Special treatment: grinding & polishing followed by seawater & natural leather balsam treatment
Width: 27 mm
Length: 150/90 mm
Thickness strap: 5 mm
Type of buckle: Di Stefano GPF Mod Dep style flat buckle, numbered
Buckle material: Brushed steel
Type of stitching: hand-stitch
Price range: 200-230 EURO (depending on destination, VAT & shipping charges vary), strap is out of production and out of stock
A few additional images of my strap followed by images of this special strap from fellow Paneristi around the globe. Enjoy!