Hi folks
I realized some years ago that I am addicted to watches. Later, I came to understand that my expansive thirst for watches (leading me by fiscal necessity to this rep world in the first place) also included an insatiable thirst for watch straps.
Put another way, I'm just as crazy about straps! Sound familiar?
But like everyone else I think... shopping for straps is plain hard. You look at them for hours online, and are forced to hope that will work across many dimensions: the overall look, the target watch case fit, the wrist fit, comfort, color matching, etc. And so often I feel I spend $32.99 online and FAIL. Or I spend $140 and to a decent (or $300 for a gen) strap and wonder if I shouldn’t have spent that towards the latest superclone V2 blah blah instead?
Fast forward to about 2 months ago... I left a youtube playlist running of an ETA 2824 repair and passed out. When I woke, a video was playing of this guy showing you how to make your own leather strap. It looked pretty cool, started watching a few more... and wheels began to turn. I have 15 reps, most with 1 strap, most Im not super pleased with. Making my own could be fun, and it matched the limited-hobby-footprint of my 600ft apartment.
So 2 weeks later, I had a bunch of tools from Amazon, scrap leather and voila... I'm a strap maker!
The first few were rocky, highly entertaining, and humorously bad in hindsight. Stiff, ugly, no color control, no comfort etc. Jagged stitching. Raw edges. To be expected, right?
Now, I've put in a few hundred hours and I’m about 35 straps in, I'm in a groove and loving it. I've sold them to friends (for apple watches mostly...), and have adorned my watches and family members with a lovely selection. I’ve begun laser etching my family crest, and we're considering opening a low volume Etsy shop when I feel my game is “good” enough. Who knew.
In my watchbox I have a gen PAM312 (my grail and aka the Queen), a V6 PAM616 carbotech, a VSF 441 and PAM684, plus a bunch of others (BR, Omega…). You’ll see the Queen predominantly as almost everything looks great on a Luminor.
So I’ll start posting photos of my journey here to this thread for your viewing pleasure…. Let me know what you think. Harsh criticism tolerated, and ideas for stitching, exotic hides and dye combinations very much appreciated.
-Robert
Humble beginnings. I actually love the rustic look with the BR
Getting better... One for the Carbotech with an attempt at stitching
Then a glimpse of success in a full black+red stitching for my Hublot BB
Then one for the Queen in electric blue. I added red and white top stitches for a bit of a kick. Getting there...
A sporty yellow-white-black:
Came out way better than expected:
On the 441. I love it...
Later my first attempt at snakeskin:
Which came out great:
Color and sublayer experimentation:
This Hunter brown came out grrat with the red inside dye:
Jaguar racing green:
Stepped padding in this one, going for a diver-esque look:
Thread matched to the 616. Looks great.
Also evolved is the X thread at the end of the long side for gently retaining the strap keep from sliding up. Works great
UCI colors (cyclists will understand)
Inverted padding. Not a huge success
Shiny distressed w/ yellow:
Heres a "racing" one modeled after a special edition BR strap I lusted after:
More advanced, opposite style. Note the Alcantara inside lining.
Evolving the standard brown 24mm:
Details were getting much better:
Ostritch leg. I love it
Here's another snakeskin:
Sporty American strap... for a marine/sailing flavor. Great with jeans in the Spring
I liked the yellow on the 441, so here's one for the 616:
Many more to come! So what do you guys think?
I realized some years ago that I am addicted to watches. Later, I came to understand that my expansive thirst for watches (leading me by fiscal necessity to this rep world in the first place) also included an insatiable thirst for watch straps.
Put another way, I'm just as crazy about straps! Sound familiar?
But like everyone else I think... shopping for straps is plain hard. You look at them for hours online, and are forced to hope that will work across many dimensions: the overall look, the target watch case fit, the wrist fit, comfort, color matching, etc. And so often I feel I spend $32.99 online and FAIL. Or I spend $140 and to a decent (or $300 for a gen) strap and wonder if I shouldn’t have spent that towards the latest superclone V2 blah blah instead?
Fast forward to about 2 months ago... I left a youtube playlist running of an ETA 2824 repair and passed out. When I woke, a video was playing of this guy showing you how to make your own leather strap. It looked pretty cool, started watching a few more... and wheels began to turn. I have 15 reps, most with 1 strap, most Im not super pleased with. Making my own could be fun, and it matched the limited-hobby-footprint of my 600ft apartment.
So 2 weeks later, I had a bunch of tools from Amazon, scrap leather and voila... I'm a strap maker!
The first few were rocky, highly entertaining, and humorously bad in hindsight. Stiff, ugly, no color control, no comfort etc. Jagged stitching. Raw edges. To be expected, right?
Now, I've put in a few hundred hours and I’m about 35 straps in, I'm in a groove and loving it. I've sold them to friends (for apple watches mostly...), and have adorned my watches and family members with a lovely selection. I’ve begun laser etching my family crest, and we're considering opening a low volume Etsy shop when I feel my game is “good” enough. Who knew.
In my watchbox I have a gen PAM312 (my grail and aka the Queen), a V6 PAM616 carbotech, a VSF 441 and PAM684, plus a bunch of others (BR, Omega…). You’ll see the Queen predominantly as almost everything looks great on a Luminor.
So I’ll start posting photos of my journey here to this thread for your viewing pleasure…. Let me know what you think. Harsh criticism tolerated, and ideas for stitching, exotic hides and dye combinations very much appreciated.
-Robert
Humble beginnings. I actually love the rustic look with the BR
Getting better... One for the Carbotech with an attempt at stitching
Then a glimpse of success in a full black+red stitching for my Hublot BB
Then one for the Queen in electric blue. I added red and white top stitches for a bit of a kick. Getting there...
A sporty yellow-white-black:
Came out way better than expected:
On the 441. I love it...
Later my first attempt at snakeskin:
Which came out great:
Color and sublayer experimentation:
This Hunter brown came out grrat with the red inside dye:
Jaguar racing green:
Stepped padding in this one, going for a diver-esque look:
Thread matched to the 616. Looks great.
Also evolved is the X thread at the end of the long side for gently retaining the strap keep from sliding up. Works great
UCI colors (cyclists will understand)
Inverted padding. Not a huge success
Shiny distressed w/ yellow:
Heres a "racing" one modeled after a special edition BR strap I lusted after:
More advanced, opposite style. Note the Alcantara inside lining.
Evolving the standard brown 24mm:
Details were getting much better:
Ostritch leg. I love it
Here's another snakeskin:
Sporty American strap... for a marine/sailing flavor. Great with jeans in the Spring
I liked the yellow on the 441, so here's one for the 616:
Many more to come! So what do you guys think?