maintain IWC leather strap

[eem]

Hi all,
i did a quick search on the forums and it was mentioned that one can maintan the IWC leather strap using leather cleaner on the underside then seal with mink oil ?

anyone has any specific experiences/recommendations on how to maintain their straps (ways doing it, brands of cleaners , where to get them etc) ? (i swap my watches out on occasions but am looking at ways to maintain my IWC leather straps)

thanks

[Wenda]

Best method that has been proven so far; try to avoid moisture (like washing hand/showering with the watch with leather strap on). Also, after wearing, air the watch first without putting it straight back to the watch box. I have done this on many of my watches with leather straps and they can last a few years without the need of swapping strap. What you wrote about using leather cleaner once in a while is also possible.

If you sweat a lot, try to loosen the strap or consider changing it to rubber or bracelet. Problem is, some IWC watches like the Portuguese Chrono/Automatic/Tourbi/Perpetual don't come with rubber/bracelet option.

[turboducky]

Well, it's a good problem!! If you need to maintain an IWC strap, means you have an IWC watch!! Anyway, I find that the IWC leather straps arent really very well-made, except for the vintage-winding, BP & Portuguese 7days. I try to get after market ones & keep the original. You could find really good ones from www.thewatchboys.com, the prices are pretty reasonable.