It took me forty years to understand that a strap is not an accessory. It's the part of the watch you touch every day, that ages with you, that tells where you've been. This story spans five centuries. It's worth telling well.
Chapter I · 1500–1800
The Origins
From the silk cord of the first pocket watches to the hand-stitched leather strap in European workshops. I've seen 18th-century examples with a saddle stitch that no modern machine can replicate. The Origins is where you understand why vegetable tanning is not a trend.
Read the chapter →Chapter II · 1800–1950
Industrial Era
War brings the watch to the wrist, and with it the raw leather trench strap. Then mass production arrives, and something is lost. The Industrial Era is the story of how craftsmanship barely survives the machine.
Read the chapter →Chapter III · 1950–today
Contemporary Revolution
Horween Tannery's shell cordovan, rubber for divers, the NATO strap born out of necessity and becoming a symbol. From 1950 onwards, the strap stops being just functional. It becomes a choice. It becomes a language.
Read the chapter →Chapter IV · Future
Sustainability and Innovation
Tanneries using rainwater, traceable leathers from animal to workshop, bio materials that last decades. I have opinions on where the craft is going. Some even surprise me as I write them.
Read the chapter →If you're looking for the right strap for your watch, I have 45,654 models with exact lug measurements. No approximations.
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