I yet have to try a suede strap, baseball glove for me today! The strap has finally become very soft like an old glove and the smell of the leather is fantastic, beyond the classic look the smell is one of the reasons I keep going back to this strap!
Regardless of purists' debates about the date window, this remains a charming and extremely well made watch which I have no doubt you will enjoy for many years to come. This also places you in a great position when the special edition no-date comes out, which is only a matter of time. Out of curiosi
For me gray market is the real acid test, so to speak, especially for makers coming up with artificial pricing strategies because they want to tag along with a trend. This is very visible in asia where most people have easy access to a very large selection of gray market items of very high quality.