I was looking for a smooth calf or pig skin leather to dress down a formal looking watch to give it a more every day wearable look. Honestly I was tired of shiny gators and crocs and definitely tired of the Hermès style Saffiano you're starting to see on EVERY watch out there on the interwebs.
The Colareb Bologna in "brown" looked quite attractive to me since it was a smooth but unusually textured sheepskin leather that came in a good spread of colors. The brown in this case was not really a traditional brown (chocolate-y) but rather a taupe-ish brown that really sits nicely against rose gold. I didn't want TOO much of a tannish brown that would just melt in with rose gold, making things monochromatic.
What really hooked me though were the dimensions: a nice taper from lug to buckle that paired well with dress watches without overpowering the focus of the watch case. I find the taper of the 20-16 is perfect for a smaller cased watch such as 36mm-40mm and the OEM strap was almost too much (20-14). But the slam dunk was Colareb's lengths: 120-75. For me, that is THE SWEET spot! I've always found traditional 115-75 just a wee bit too short and 120-80 too long. My perfect strap lengths in a perfect world would be 120-75 or 115-80. And what do you know? Colareb offers the former! YIPPEE!!
For the price you pay for a Colareb, you're getting excellent workmanship, consistent stitching, and a product that exudes quality without gouging you in the wallet. I have surfed many, MANY strap vendors and inevitably I ALWAYS come back to Holben. The selection, prices and fast shipping are all tops. I'm a strap junkie and he's my go-to dealer.