Discover our new Apple Watch bands made from the interior leather of a 1984 Mercedes-Benz 380 SL.

What is particularly striking about the new special edition is the carefully quilted cross stitching at the ends of the two parts of the strap. The design element pays homage to luxurious upper-class automobiles, which also includes the 380 SL despite its predominantly sporty orientation.

The superbly aged "date"-colored leather is emphasized even further by the white edge color and contrast stitching.

With the 380 SL model, Mercedes is continuing the seven-year success story of the 107 series. While the shape and design of the body remained largely unchanged with the upgrade from the 350 SL to the 380 SL, the Stuttgart company is primarily focusing on changes under the hood.

The new model gets an improved engine made of light alloy, which not only saves weight, but also offers additional horse power compared to the predecessor. In Germany, the car now puts a whopping 218 hp on the road.

Customers on the other side of the Atlantic have to be satisfied with much less: With regard to the smoldering oil price crisis, Mercedes is only allowed to bring the car onto the market here in a slimmed-down version with 155 hp. However, this does not detract from the demand: depending on the model year, over 80% of the vehicles produced end up on the North American market.