CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) is an international agreement that restricts the import and export of certain specimens of wild animals and plants, that aims to protect the survival of the species it covers. Visit the CITES website for more information.
Exotic skins such as alligator, crocodile, or ostrich are often used for luxury watch straps, and Mother of Pearl is often used to add lustre to watch dials. These materials are restricted by CITES, which means we’re unable to ship them across customs borders.
If the watch you intend to purchase is located outside your customs area and it has a strap made from exotic skins restricted by CITES, we will replace the existing strap with a calfskin strap of the same (or similar) colour, so that we can send the watch to you. The replacement strap will be either embossed leather or suede and we display an indicative image of the replacement strap on our product page for your reference.
If a watch has a Mother of Pearl dial, we are unable to ship this across customs borders to remain complaint with CITES.