Brown watch strap with orange stitching and lining

[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.