Watch strap build. My fifth attempt.

[Vvroom]

Evening chaps,

I have a new hobby. Five straps in and I've made one I'm proud of. Off for a leather working class next month so I hope to further improve. As you will see I am no artisan but having been a slave to OEM prices for years I thought I would have a crack on my own straps. This took me around 5 hours from start to finish, over 2 evenings.

Vintage red Horween, lined with cream lamb skin (not pictured), hand saddle stitched and hand burnished edges.

Anyone else had a go?

[RichB]

Vvroom said:

Anyone else had a go?

Nope, full of admiration for that. NIce JLC Master Date it's on too.

[jdw100]

Good effort! I would not have thought that was made on your dining room table...looks great!

[Jobbo]

That looks lovely.

Never had a go and not about do, despite being somewhat of a strap magpie. But you do know you don't need to be a slave to the OEM, paying their silly prices? The number of artisan strap makers is enormous.

[Vvroom]

Thanks a lot everyone. It's all due to the wonders of YouTube. I think I've watched every leather stitching/strap making video on there. And there are many!

[Vvroom]

Jobbo said:

But you do know you don't need to be a slave to the OEM, paying their silly prices? The number of artisan strap makers is enormous.

You're absolutely right. I find though that the artisan straps are often sports watch specific. Detailed work or simply more delicate straps for dress watches are a little more difficult to find. Certainly it's harder to find good examples in my experience.

[Jobbo]

You could be the next artisan - I'm sure that's how many others started.

[judas]

Good effort! The only thing that jars with me is the Rolex buckle paired with a JLC! That said, it's far better than I'll ever be able to manage, so keep it up.

[X5TUU]

looks very good indeed and like the contrast between the cream stitch and the red

I have a friend who decided he didnt want to pay a fortune for a retrim so decided to lear to do it himself and has amazing attention to detail and has retrimmed 3 cars and umpteen steering wheels to date and they are way nicer than OEM ... a skill I would love to have but am nowhere near patient enough for!

[Vvroom]

judas said:

Good effort! The only thing that jars with me is the Rolex buckle paired with a JLC!

Agreed! Plus the rolex buckle is 18mm wide and my strap tapers to 16mm. It was all I had to hand at the time. All present and correct now though!

[wong]

I like the single hole on the strap. Marks it out as individually made!

[lockhart flawse]

Well done. Out of interest - how much would you value it at?

[Vvroom]

lockhart flawse said:

Well done. Out of interest - how much would you value it at?

Thanks a lot.

Hard to comment on value. I'd expect to pay at least £40 to £50. It's not up to OEM standard but it is handmade and should, I think, look and feel hand made. But then who knows?

Will offer up my latest project when completed!

[lockhart flawse]

Yup. I reckoned materials plus 5 hours labour to come to about £60. I guess you will speed up as you get more practiced.

I think the single hole is a great idea and worth pursuing in the event you should ever decide to take it a bit further and sell them.

[judas]

lockhart flawse said:

Yup. I reckoned materials plus 5 hours labour to come to about £60. I guess you will speed up as you get more practiced.

I think the single hole is a great idea and worth pursuing in the event you should ever decide to take it a bit further and sell them.

Not convinced on this point. Depending on weather, humidity and physical activity I sometimes have to adjust my strap a hole either way.

[ecain63]

Cool. Keep posting pics and you might find yourself getting busy. I was hunting for a replacement 20-16mm deployment the other day. It's the folks that make these custom jobbies that keep me on the straight and narrow sometimes.

[Vvroom]

Something far more straightforward with much less stitching! This is a black cordovan and I've used an edging blade to carve grooves for contrast. The edges are left rough, dyed black and then heat sealed. The stitching is in a light brown waxed linen.