Horological Meandering

BigFatPauli
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Hi Ken. I appreciate you taking the time to reply but...

I just wish you would take the time listen... You say you appreciate feedback yet you don't acknowledge a single piece of criticism, you just reply with saying how great the strap is. Your strap literally cut one of your customers. How's that for an issue?
My answer are between "-----------------"
1. "cutting a strap to make it fit is a stupid, lazy design"
I didn't elaborate more over IG than a simple one-liner reply, but of course there's more to it than just because another brand did it.
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I hope so... But I guess we will never know.
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If you have a wrist size of >6.5 inch, good for you because most rubber straps will fit just fine. If you have a small wrist size, you'll quickly realise the problems with 90% of the rubber straps on the market - they are sized "universally", but what that really means is that its made extremely long, with >10 strap holes (just look at the Barton strap in the post as an example), just so they technically fit everyone's wrist. But in reality, this is a terrible fit for people with small wrist, and you end up with a strap that has a very long overhang.
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I have a 6.5 inch wrist (about about 6.75 on a hot day) and, yes something like the Barton has excess holes... As do literally all of your leather/skin straps. How come we don't cut those? I'm not sure why it's such a bad problem. But there is a more elegant solution: See my Apple strap example. Cartier, seemed to take note (but I guess you will tell me you know more about luxury than Cartier, now, right?. Like I said in the title of this post, you aren't interested in feedback or listening. You are here to tell us why your product is perfect and do damage control.
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Cut to size means that with one single design, we have a strap that definitely fits your wrist, no matter how large or small it is. People with smaller wrist will definitely appreciate this.
Also, CTS means that you don't have any strap excess at all, which makes for a very clean look without any excess strap left to worry about. Wearing and taking off the watch is a very simple (and fun) process without the excess strap.
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You realize that putting it on, it quite literally made me bleed. And that's "fun" in your eyes?
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2. "The first thing I noticed is that it's heavy"
Both sides of the CTS strap is uncut, so yes it would be heavier than the actual weight. Compared to the Barton band, it also has the Deployant Clasp vs the tang buckle, so yes it would be heavier on that count too. Maybe post a photo of the strap + clasp after it is cut down to the right size and compare again with the Barton band, that might be a better comparison.
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Even cut, without the clasp, it's still likely heavier. But why are you even upset about this?
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3. "[The clasp] is REALLY sharp. Really, really sharp...It's like having a knife blade pressed up against the bottom on your wrist"
This is straight up an exaggeration, unless you received a defective product. It is nowhere near that sharp, and we've had many customers who have used the strap without the same issues as this. In fact, yes the edge that touches the wrist is bevelled.
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I want to point to the photo where your product literally made a customer of yours bleed. But I guess that's an "exaggeration". Are you going to tell me I photoshopped that, now? Gimme a break. It's the same clasp the RM and MB&F use. There's is also equally as excessively sharp. The difference, is those brands have the humility and confidence to acknowledge this.
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4. "In an effort, I assume, to make the strap as heavy as possible, they made it as thick as possible. Let's call it "inaccessible". 10 points for thoughtlessness, Delugs."
Not too sure what the thickness is referring to, but this is the exact same quick release spring bar that we use on all our leather straps. The fact that you got it on the watch, probably means that it works fine.
If you're referring to the thickness of the rubber strap and not the spring bar, we'll look into whether this is an issue that other customers face too. It is still a very supple strap even with the current thickness, but we'll look into whether the strap thickness can be further reduced without comprising on the overall feel and quality.
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In the photo you can clearly see that the little tab you push to make the spring bar shorter (to fit between the watch lugs) is no accessible. Yes, I could get it on, eventually, but what a pain. It was easier to use a spring bar tool than the tab.
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5. "Here's the thing with cutting a strap: it's permanent."
Yes, we definitely acknowledge this point, and all customers buy the strap knowing this. We're working on a new clasp with additional holes so there's some additional micro-adjustability to the strap, beyond using the 3rd strap that's supplied.
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This is something I left out because you also mentioned this on Instagram. I think it was the day of launch you said you were working on a V2 which means you launched this KNOWING it was a half-baked product and needed redesign.
And the third strap, according to your marketing is incase you make a mistake cutting one. So now it's for a slightly different length? And clumsy people (who cut one too short) are now robbed of this "second length" feature? Sounds like a lazy approach to me.
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6. "I guess the design is a personal choice but it is really bland."
Yup, we went with a plain design to start, so that it's most universal. We will be releasing other designs down the road that may better suit different watches.
7. "Delugs, if you are going to copy someone, copy Apple."
The benefit of the CTS style is the lack of any strap excess. There's no overhang, and there's also no excess strap between your wrist and the strap. With the Apple strap, you have to tuck the excess inside the strap, which isn't comfortable.
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About 195 million Apple watches disagree with you here, but sure. Clearly, you know better the Apple. Please, have a little humility here. I want to point out, again, that I like your leather straps and have bought several over the years. You're attitude makes me question if I will buy on again in the future.
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Also, the Apple design is incredibly non-secure. A solid pull in the right (or wrong) direction, and the watch falls to the ground. Sure, for an Apple Watch that may not be such a problem. But on a luxury watch, we definitely cannot afford that to happen. For this reason, a Deployant Clasp, or even a tang buckle, is way more secure.
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Again, 195 million Apple watches sold. All with that strap. But you know better. I really can't help feel the success of Delugs has gone to your head. An Apple watch is $400USD. For a lot of people that IS an expensive watch and they would be extremely upset if fell off their wrist and broke. It would be a big problem for them.
To anyone reading this: Have you EVER heard of an Apple watch strap failing. EVER?
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Btw, when did "solid and dense" suddenly become a luxurious feeling rubber strap? I thought heavy just meant heavy. Anyway, moving on...
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Yes, the Apple strap is solid, dense and luxurious feelings. Yours is heavy. They are indeed different. I never said "solid and dense"=luxurious, or that it didn't. Just that the CTS feels heavy, but not luxurious.
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8. "Strap holes were a perfect solution to a problem that Delugs seems to have re-invented..."
Back to s/n 1 and 5, a standard rubber strap with strap holes work if your wrist size is sufficiently large. But ask anyone with a small wrist, and existing rubber straps with strap holes just don't work well.
Yes, it is possible to make shorter rubber straps to fit those with smaller wrists, but there's a reason so few brands have that - it means another mold, another set of straps to make and keep in inventory, and for many brands (us included), that amount of capital tied up in inventory just doesn't work out.
Ultimately, my belief is that CTS is the better solution, especially if you plan to use the strap across watches with a similar lug to lug length. Yes, it would be even better with more adjustability via the clasp, and that's something we're already working on. I do think that the broader industry will move in this direction.'
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You believe it. I don't. We are actually allowed to have a different opinion. As for the industry, let's see of Delugs overtakes Apple.
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Now, to all the personal insults and attacks on us and our team, that's truly uncalled for, unprofessional, and unnecessary. We're all adults, so let's stay civil and offer constructive criticism.
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Oh boo hoo, I know you're the victim here. I don't see any personal insults. I said you made a lazy product (which you did - you bought an off the shelf clasp and used a Patek style strap), the poor design essentially defeats the usefulness of the quick release spring bars, and then you redesigned the product AFTER launch and selling as many as you could so you can sell V2 to all the same people that bought V1. Oh, and I said your team wears Versace.
I guess you don't own a Versace T-shirt?
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To anyone who may have doubts about this product, especially after reading this review, do reach out to other customers that have bough the product and tagged us on our Instagram to ask for their feedback, or check out other reviews on our website. Yes, this isn't a perfect product, but we never said that it is. There are things that we're working on to improve on in the next iteration. But it's definitely not as "half baked" and "lazy" as this review puts out. We're a team of fellow watch enthusiasts, and we definitely put all products through a lot of testing before we release it for public sales.
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Question: How many of these did you send to influences on Instagram? How many of the reviews out there are done using a strap provided for free from Delugs?
You put them thought so much "testing" that you have a new version, fixing the issues, already conceived before the first is out the door - Very impressing "testing".
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