Selecting the Leather

Leather, being a natural material derived from animals with unique and eventful lives, often bears marks such as scars and scratches that are undesirable. To ensure the finest result, we carefully inspect each hide and select leather from areas that are free of scars, blemishes and scratches. For some leathers such as African Kudu, scratches and scars are highly desirable.

Cutting the Leather

Once we have selected the most optimal section of hide for the strap, we carefully hand-cut a slightly larger piece that allows us to assemble a strap.

The cut leather is slightly larger than the strap size itself and the additional margin ensures ample allowance for precise trimming.

Accuracy in sizing is one of the most important aspects of a watch strap and ensuring it fits your watch.

Splitting the Leather

Naturally, leather comes in many different thicknesses. To ensure, a smooth strap with a uniform thickness, we split the leather to a uniform thickness.

Glueing Velodon Reinforcement

To prevent the strap from stretching and deforming with wear, we use a french synthetic called Velodon (used by Hermes) to reinforce the strap. This prolongs the life of the strap and ensures it's durable for everyday wear.

Skiving the Leather

To create an seamless end between the lining leather and the surface leather, we thin the leather down by hand. This process is known as skiving and is done on both the surface and lining leather using a sharp knife.

Glueing the Lining

We use a hypoallergenic and water resistant French calfskin leather called Zermatt from the tannery Haas to line our straps. The lining is carefully glued to the back of the strap.

For custom straps, we offer other lining options such as goatskin and epsom calfskin for those looking for more colourful options.

Cutting to Shape

Using a template, the shape of the strap is traced onto the leather. The strap is then trimmed to the final size of the strap.

Marking the Stitch Line

Using a wing divider, a stitch line is marked against the edge. This line is used as a guideline for punching the stitching holes equidistant from the edges.

Punching the Stitching Holes

To be able to handstitch our straps, we use a pricking iron to punch stitching holes. The pricking irons are a like a fork with sharp teeth and create clean holes.

Hand-Stitching

Using two needles and a piece of durable linen thread, each strap is meticulously hand-stitched using the traditional saddle stitching technique.

Every pair of straps requires over 100 precise, hand-sewn stitches, ensuring exceptional craftsmanship and durability.

Edge Creasing

After stitching, a decorative line is applied using a heated edge creaser around the edges of the strap. This gives the edges a nice rounded look and presses down any leather burrs.

Edge Painting

After the edge has been prepared, we apply a coat of edge paint on the edges. This is done carefully to ensure it doesn't spill over to the front and back sides of the strap.

Sanding... applying edge painting and more sanding!

Once dry, the edge paint is manually sanded down using a high grit sand paper. This process is repeated three to four times until a smooth round edge is achieved. Generally, this step alone takes between three to four hours to complete.

Keeper Assembly

The final step is assembling and installing the keepers. The keepers are essentially mini watch straps and are crafted in the same way.

The Final Strap

The final stitches are applied and the a layer of leather conditioner is applied to the leather.