Vintage Watch Strap For The Pebble Steel

[Etienne]

Hi everyone,

I am new to this forum and thought I would share some pictures of my last project. It is a simple watch strap for the pebble steel. I think it gives it a really chic and kinda vintage look

I used fiebings professionnal oil dye on a 5Oz veg tanned leather strip, then finished it with a coat of "Eco-Flow professionnal finish, clear gloss".

I have one problem with it however; the leather seems to have some small cracks in the color after I bend it. What could I do to stop this from happening?

Please don't hesitate to give me your feedback about it. I started doing leather projects recently and i am really looking forward to learn more!

[25b]

It's probably the quality of your leather. What leather did you use?

[Etienne]

Craftsman oak shoulder. I know it's kinda cheap, but it was my first leather purchase so I figured I would try with that to begin.

[25b]

Oh. Yeah, you probably won't have that problem once you start using good quality leather.

[zuludog]

What you've done is neat and very good, but there are a couple of more things you could have done before you fitted it all up with the watch & buckle, and might still be able to do:-

Treat the edges of your leather, e.g. with gum tragacanth, Edgecote and burnishing

Treat all the leather with some sort of leather grease, hide cream or whatever. Any excess grease will soon wear off to give a softer & more mellow appearance

[Etienne]

HI zuludog,

thanks for the tips. I tried to burnish the edges with gum tragacanth, but maybe I did not rub it enough.

[Rohn]

Looks like a good job to me, especially for a first one.

[DoubleC]

I think it looks great for a first one. I agree with zulu about the edges could use a little work. All you need to do is get them damp and use canvas or denim to rub them vigorously to get the burnished look. Some people just spit on their edges. I use quikslik from Sheridan leather I guess because I'm lazy. Personally I've never had any luck with edge kote because it just kinda lays on top of the leather and sometimes rubs off. Any dark dye will do, a lot of people want their edges black, but you could use a darker brown on the watch strap.

If you want to learn to burnish like a master, check out hidepounder's pinned topic in 'how do I do that' on edges. Ton's of great info there. Cheryl

[ETW Grumpy]

I think it looks very good. I like the idea of just having a single layer of leather for the band instead of 2 layers. Looks like you made the end closest to the pins just long enough to go around the pins and fold over. I'm assuming you skived them down pretty well and glued them. If so, what glue did you use?

[Etienne]

I skivved it indeed and only used ecoweld to Glue it on itself. At first I was afraid that the Glue wouldn't be strong enough, but the bond came out so strong that i decided even not to sew the strap. I did not Want to feel the stitching on my skin.

[ETW Grumpy]

Thanks!