Brown watch strap with orange stitching and lining

[Danne]

 

[DwightT]

That is gorgeous, and high quality workmanship.  Good job!

    /dwight

[NDphung]

Very Nice. 

[Danne]

15 minutes ago, DwightT said:

That is gorgeous, and high quality workmanship.  Good job!

    /dwight

Thank you 

12 minutes ago, NDphung said:

Very Nice. 

Thank you

[Mulligan31]

Really nice job

[Danne]

1 minute ago, Mulligan31 said:

Really nice job

Thank you

[Brokenolmarine]

That looks great!  I bought a very nice watch a couple years ago to replace my Luminod Seal Team Watch that finally died after fifteen years.  Then fell and fractured my left wrist in two places badly enough they put a plate in it.  Now I lost about 20% range of motion.  Can't wear watches any more.  Think I'll mount the new one on a fob, to carry in my pocket.  Your stitch and leather combo is beautifully done, and would show off my watch nicely.

[Danne]

3 hours ago, Brokenolmarine said:

That looks great!  I bought a very nice watch a couple years ago to replace my Luminod Seal Team Watch that finally died after fifteen years.  Then fell and fractured my left wrist in two places badly enough they put a plate in it.  Now I lost about 20% range of motion.  Can't wear watches any more.  Think I'll mount the new one on a fob, to carry in my pocket.  Your stitch and leather combo is beautifully done, and would show off my watch nicely.

Thank you, I'm sorry to hear about your injury. With a fob you mean something like this? (Found on Google)

[Brokenolmarine]

Just like that.  But looking at the watch again, I think I'd go with black or navy blue leather and orange thread.   The watch is one of the Citizen's that you don't wind, it's powered by light, any light.  Overhead interior lights, sunlight, whatever.  The Blue Face, black bezel, and orange second hand would pop with the right fob.  I might make a flap to cover the face to keep the scratches down.

 

Another project for the leather bench.  Priority goes to the tooled pouch for the Granddaughter, a Christmas Present "Request."

Edited November 16, 2022 by Brokenolmarine
Clarified the post...

[Danne]

1 hour ago, Brokenolmarine said:

Just like that.  But looking at the watch again, I think I'd go with black or navy blue leather and orange thread.   The watch is one of the Citizen's that you don't wind, it's powered by light, any light.  Overhead interior lights, sunlight, whatever.  The Blue Face, black bezel, and orange second hand would pop with the right fob.  I might make a flap to cover the face to keep the scratches down.

 

Another project for the leather bench.  Priority goes to the tooled pouch for the Granddaughter, a Christmas Present "Request."

Yes, navy blue and orange thread would look awesome. I did a bundstrap for this watch in these colors. 

[sparctek]

@Danne Your work is fantastic. I have not ventured into the fine leather goods world. But when I see pictures like yours, I keep thinking "I want to do that".

[Isaact]

Wow, this is beautiful and very professional looking work.  Definitely a piece you look at and think “I’d like to be able to do that one day.”

[Danne]

4 hours ago, sparctek said:

@Danne Your work is fantastic. I have not ventured into the fine leather goods world. But when I see pictures like yours, I keep thinking "I want to do that".

Thank you, I really like watch straps, I like to work on attention to small details, and I think they are a good way to improve the attention to details. Even the smallest details are important, I mean on a large bag a "bad" backstitch will not be that visible, but it becomes really visible on a watch strap. Also mistakes when making small straps are cheap, a failure with a handbag will be a lot of wasted leather.

1 hour ago, Isaact said:

Wow, this is beautiful and very professional looking work.  Definitely a piece you look at and think “I’d like to be able to do that one day.”

Thank you. 

[Brokenolmarine]

My Seal Team Luminox took a beating, working patrol, teaching on the range, and a few years at the desk until we retired.  I replaced the strap four or five times.  They never held up.  I bet yours do.

[Danne]

5 hours ago, Brokenolmarine said:

My Seal Team Luminox took a beating, working patrol, teaching on the range, and a few years at the desk until we retired.  I replaced the strap four or five times.  They never held up.  I bet yours do.

I try to find a good balance between soft/pliable and durable. Now I don't sell any leather goods (only a hobby) but some reinforcement solutions I've tried have resulted in straps that are very stiff (even with softer leather) until it has shaped itself around my wrist, I think something like that would annoy a lot of customers when they order a slim strap in a soft leather.

But I think it also comes down to the type of leather used. If I would get the task to make a strap for a watch that would take a lot of beating over the years like yours, and I could choose leathers. I would probably choose bridle or cordovan, and build up the interior with a full grain cow leather if a padded strap. 

I do spend a lot of time thinking about different construction methods. In one way it can make sense to use a nylon fabric as reinforcement to avoid stretching at the lugs and between bucke pin holes. But those materials degrade over time, like I took out an old backback I had in my storage room, all straps where made from some synthetic material, and it was a high quality made bag, but I could tear some straps with no effort. And when we buy a reinforcement material today, with the requirements for the materials to be environmental friendly, how long will they hold up?  especially when it's thin material? 

Let's have a look at some of the best crafters out there (my opinion, but a lot of people will agree) I saw a strap made by Niwa, and the construction is fully made out of leather. I can't say what the best choices are, but these constructions fully made out of leather appeal more to me. But I use Velodon for my flat straps, and I still experiment with different construction methods. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6O8GR0ALNc/

https://www.instagram.com/p/B6UOrkBA_GW/

Edited November 17, 2022 by Danne

[Brokenolmarine]

Luckily, I'm retired.  The watch will ride in a shirt or overall pocket.  The fob should outlast ME. 

But, I have a couple Christmas gifts ahead of personal projects.  Isn't that always the thing?  Plus three knives on the "other" bench. 

[Seagrove59]

The straps are stunning, and thanks for the bit on your thought process and material selection.

[Danne]

26 minutes ago, Seagrove59 said:

The straps are stunning, and thanks for the bit on your thought process and material selection.

Thank you

[spacedog]

Wow, that is top notch craftsmanship. Well done sir.

[Danne]

7 minutes ago, spacedog said:

Wow, that is top notch craftsmanship. Well done sir.

Thank you.

[CalgaryJim]

Beautiful strap including colour combinations. What type of leather is the orange leather?

[Danne]

On 3/20/2024 at 6:24 PM, CalgaryJim said:

Beautiful strap including colour combinations. What type of leather is the orange leather?

Thank you. It's goat leather, Alran sully.

[CalgaryJim]

8 hours ago, Danne said:

Thank you. It's goat leather, Alran sully.

Thanks for the info. I’ve been using Zermatt leather for lining but I’ll have to order some Alran sully next. Did you colour it yourself?

Edited March 22, 2024 by CalgaryJim
Add a question.

[Danne]

14 hours ago, CalgaryJim said:

Thanks for the info. I’ve been using Zermatt leather for lining but I’ll have to order some Alran sully next. Did you colour it yourself?

No, the color name is oranger if I remember correctly. Another leather that could be a good choice as strap lining is "swift calf" Not possible to order from the tannery (RMG Pomari) in low quantity, but when making straps at least I don't see any problems with spending a little bit more/sq.ft and buy from a reseller, because of the small amount needed.

[DieselTech]

28 minutes ago, Danne said:

No, the color name is oranger if I remember correctly. Another leather that could be a good choice as strap lining is "swift calf" Not possible to order from the tannery (RMG Pomari) in low quantity, but when making straps at least I don't see any problems with spending a little bit more/sq.ft and buy from a reseller, because of the small amount needed.

Nice looking watch straps. Great work! Is the brown leather Mahogany Buttero by Conceria Walpier? 

Thanks.