My Vintage Watch Strap Designs

Copyright © David Boettcher 2005 - 2023 all rights reserved.

This page describes in detail the designs of the replica vintage wristwatch straps that I supply. These are one piece straps that pull through the wire lugs of early wristwatches or “trench watches” of World War One era (1914-1918).

These designs have back pads, which the strap also pulls through so that the watch and back pad are held in place. The back pads make the strap look better on a man's wrist, and make the narrow straps of trench watches more comfortable to wear.

These designs of watchstraps with back pads, the Type A, B and C, are designed for straps circa 12mm width that fit the narrow wire lugs of trench watches. They are not suitable for straps much wider than 12mm or for more modern watches. For more modern watches, take a look at the NATO G10 and RAF straps, and also the two piece straps.

Details of prices, postage costs and how to place an order can be found on the ordering pages for straps with sterling silver or gold buckles at Sterling silver and gold buckles or for straps with standard base metal buckles at straps with standard buckles.

If you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to contact me via my Contact Me page.

Authenticity and Originality

As I explain on my page about World War One Trench Watches, there was a huge surge in demand for men's wristwatches during World War One (the First World War or World War One, WW1 - 1914 to 1918). Before this, most watch manufacturer were making pocket watches or ladies bracelet watches and hadn't anticipated the sudden demand for men's wristwatches. Men's wristwatches had been made before World War One, but there was little demand for them except from military men.

The first purpose made wristwatches had narrow wire lugs, and most wrist straps were single continuous pieces of leather which passed through the wire lugs and across the back of the watch. This was the type of wristwatch that was produced in huge quantities during World War One and became known as a "trench watch", as shown by the advert reproduced here.

Because the lugs on trench watches are only 10mm or 12mm wide they have to be fitted with a narrow strap. Sometimes that's all they get fitted with, a narrow strap not much wider than a decent bootlace. Although this is authentic - there are plenty of pictures showing men wearing watches with very narrow straps, to modern eyes a narrow strap on a man's wrist looks completely wrong and ruins the appearance of the watch. And if you have ever worn a watch with a strap like this, you will know that it is also very uncomfortable to wear.

There is evidence, such as the J C Vickery advert from 1916 reproduced above, that the benefits of a wider strap were soon recognised. These had to be have a narrow strap to pass through the lugs of the watch and were made wider with a separate back pad for comfort and improved appearance.

My two piece cuff type straps are authentic replicas of period military pieces like the one shown in the 1916 advert by J C Vickery here. They look good and chunky on the wrist, they are comfortable to wear, and they show off your vintage timepiece at its best. No man's fixed wire lug watch looks right without one of these style of straps.

I originally wanted a strap like this so that I could wear my grandfather's 1918 silver Rolex watch but I couldn't find any of satisfactory design and quality, so I had some made! The image below shows what one of my straps looks like when it is strapped to my wrist, in this instance carrying a rather nice Borgel wristwatch with a sweep centre seconds hand, unusual for the period.

Trench watches were sometimes fitted with straps that are stitched onto the fixed lugs rather than looping through the lugs and across the back of the watch. Again, this is authentic, there are adverts from the period that show watches with this type of strap, but it is impossible to use a back pad with this type of strap. But most trench watches were used with one piece straps, which is what I prefer for period authenticity - you can often see witness marks on the back of the case where the one piece strap used to run, as in the picture of the 1916 Omega shown on the right. It's a bit tarnished, but that's when the witness marks show up best.

One Piece Strap

My straps are designed primarily for World War One era watches that have narrow fixed wire lugs which take a one piece strap that passes through the lugs and across the back of the watch case as shown in the strap details picture here. The wire lugs of these early watch cases are simply made from bent pieces of wire soldered to the case, shaped to allow the strap to loop across the back of the case. Wire lugs usually have a dropped shape to guide the one piece strap across the back of the case, and also leave plenty of room between the case and the lug for the strap to slip through as shown in the picture. The back of the case is also rounded so that the strap doesn't need to make a sharp bend to go across the back of the case.

To be sure that your watch will take a one piece strap you need to look at the path the leather will take through the lugs and across the back of the case. If the lugs are sized and positioned so that the strap can take a gently curved path like the one in the picture, and there is at least a 2 mm gap between the case and the lugs for the strap to pass through, then it will be fine. usually it is obvious if the case and lugs were intended to take a one piece strap. If the path that the strap would have to take has sharp or right angled bends, then it is probably not suitable for a one piece strap and you should take a look at my open ended straps described below.

Modern Horn with Spring or Fixed Bar Strap Fixings

After the early fixed wire lug watches, more modern watches have "horns", projections fixed to side of the case, and "bars", either spring bars or fixed bars which engage with these horns. The bars usually come closer to the case than fixed wire lugs, and often they either don't leave enough space for a one piece leather strap to pass between the bars and the case. Also the placement of the bars on the mid line of the case often doesn't allow a one piece strap to wrap easily around the bars and then across the back of the case. The straps are wider and a back pad is not needed.

If you have a watch like this, then I can supply a two piece strap that fits directly onto the bars instead of looping across the back of the case. This type of strap fits the horn and bar configuration better than a one piece strap, which is more correct for wire lugs. These can be either open ended for fixed bars or closed end for spring bars. Please go to the page about Two Piece Straps for more details.

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My Three Basic Designs of Vintage Watch Straps

I have cutters for three basic designs that I call Type A, Type B and Type C. For the significance of cutters, see Cutter Limitations.

The Type A back pad is best suited to smaller watches. For a man's watch the Type B and Type C straps suit the watch better and look more impressive on the wrist. If you want to get people noticing and commenting on your vintage watch, then the Type B and Type C form a more substantial back drop to show off your watch to its best advantage and are the better choice.

The Type A and Type B designs are shown in the images with single slots where the strap passes through the back pad, the Type C is shown with a variation on this called double slots. Both the Type B and Type C designs can be made with double slots for straps up to 14mm in width. The Type A design is only made with single slots.

Although the Type B and Type C designs could, in principle, take straps wider than 14mm, I don't supply these because the combination of a wider strap with a back pad is very stiff and clumsy and it just does not look right. A strap 16mm or wider is wide enough in itself to not look silly on its own, which is why they were not originally fitted with back pads.

Wider lugs are usually found on modern watches that were designed for two piece straps and will not take a one piece pull-through leather strap – the strap path through the lugs and across the back of the case may be OK for a thin Perlon or nylon strap but not for a thicker, stiffer, leather strap. If you have a watch with lugs 16mm or wider that will take a one piece pull-through leather strap, I suggest that you have a look at the G10 and RAF straps.

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Type A Design

The Type A design back pad is about 26mm wide and 164mm long, and it has straight sides. It is best suited to smaller wristwatches of around 30 to 32mm diameter. For a larger watch of 34 or 35mm diameter, the Type B or Type C designs are better.

In my view the Type A design is not suitable for straps wider than 12mm on aesthetic grounds. Although in principle the back pad could accommodate a wider strap, when I have made one the combination doesn't look right; the slots are too wide for the back pad and there is not enough back pad showing either side of the strap. If you need a strap wider than 12mm the Type C is a better design.

The Type A design cannot take the “double slots” that are described below.

If you want something that looks like a Type A design but with a strap wider than 12mm or with double slots, the Type C design described below is perfect. The Type C back pad is slightly wider than the standard Type A, which lets it take straps wider than 12mm, or with double slots, whilst retaining the essential look of the Type A. To be perfectly honest, the Type C is a better design all round.

I keep Type A designs in stock with standard buckles in 10mm and 12mm strap widths, and with my hand made sterling silver buckles in 12mm strap widths. Type A designs with 10mm sterling silver buckles can be made up to order.

To order a stock Type A design with a standard buckle, please click this link: ordering straps with standard buckles.

To order a stock Type A design with a 10mm or 12mm strap and hand made sterling silver buckle, please click this link: ordering straps with sterling silver buckles.

If you want something that is not a stock item, please see Custom Made Items for details of how to place the order.

The back pad will fit wrists slight smaller than its length suggests – for an explanation of this see Back Pad Lengths. If your wrist measures more than, or close to, 175mm, please see Designs for Smaller Wrists

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Type B Design

The standard Type B design back pad is about 35mm wide before flaring out to a wider section of just over 40mm wide behind the watch with a notch for the crown. It is about 171mm in length.

The notch for the crown is important because it allows you to grip the crown between the thumb and forefinger to wind the watch. Without the notch you would have to force your finger between the back pad and the crown, which presses the stem onto the stem bearings and causes rapid wear. Bear in mind that you should never wind a watch while it is on your wrist.

The stem is the shaft that connects the crown to the mechanism of the watch. The bearings in the watch plates that carry the stem are not capable of taking sideways loads and winding the watch can soon cause damage that is very difficult to repair. The notch in the side of my Type B design overcomes this problem, although you should still take the watch off your wrist to wind it or set the time.

The Type B design can be supplied with either single slots as shown in the picture, or double slots. If you want double slots, please read the section about them and note that double slots are principally for 12mm straps.

Watch Case Diameter

The standard Type B design suits trench watches that have case diameters (that is diameter of the case excluding the lugs and the crown) between about 33mm to 37mm. If the case diameter is smaller than 33mm, then the crown might not fall into the notch cut out for it, which would not look right.

The image here shows a Borgel wristwatch of just over 32mm case diameter (the caliper reading shows the actual case diameter) on a standard Type B design. The protruding stem tube of the Borgel case means that the onion crown does fall reasonably well into the notch, but if a watch has a slimmer crown that is next to the case it would be adjacent to the base of the notch.

I have also had cutters made so that I can supply two larger sizes of the Type B strap that suit watches with cases of (1) Large: up to 45mm and (2) Extra Large (XL): up to 50mm diameter. If you want one of these larger sizes please send in the details for a Custom Order and state whether you want the large or extra large size.

Without Notch

The Type B can also be made without the notch in the standard size. I don't recommend the notchless design for a stem wound wristwatch but it can be useful for eg wrist compasses.

Strap Widths

The watch in the photograph here is fitted with a 12mm strap. The standard Type B design could in theory take straps wider than 12mm, but it is best suited to what it was originally used for, narrow straps of 10 or 12mm width that were typically what fitted World War One era trench watches with fixed wire lugs.

At a push, the Type B design back pad will take a 14mm strap, but anything wider than 14mm takes up too much width on the back pad and looks wrong. Straps 16mm and wider don't really need a back pad and were never fitted with them when new.

Stock and Order

I keep Type B designs in stock with standard buckles in 10mm and 12mm strap widths, with double slots in 12mm strap widths, and with my hand made hallmarked sterling silver buckles in 12mm strap widths. Type B designs with base metal buckles or sterling silver buckles in other widths, or with 12mm straps with 9 carat gold buckles, can be made to order.

To order a stock Type B design with a standard buckle, please click this link: ordering straps with standard buckles.

To order a stock Type B design with a hand made hallmarked sterling silver buckle, please click this link: ordering straps with sterling silver buckles.

If you want something that is not a stock item, please see Custom Made Items for details of how to request it.

The back pad will fit wrists slight smaller than its length suggests – for an explanation of this see Back Pad Lengths. If your wrist measures more than 10mm less than the length of the back pad, please see straps for smaller wrists

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Type C Design

The Type C design is similar to the Type A, but the back pad is about 31mm wide and 172mm long. There is also an extra long variation of the Type C back pad that is about 188mm long. This are made as Custom Made Items.

The Type C can take straps wider than 12mm whilst retaining the essential look of the Type A. The extra width of the Type C back pad also give it a little more "presence" on the wrist so it is suitable for larger watches than the Type A design.

Although the Type C can in principle take straps wider than 14mm, I don't supply this design with straps wider than 14mm because the combination of a wide strap with a back pad is bulky and clumsy and just doesn't look right.

The Type C design can also take double slots for 10mm, 12mm or, at a push, 14mm straps. If you want double slots with a 14mm or wider strap, please read the section about them.

I keep the Type C design in stock with double slots and base metal buckles in 12mm strap widths, see ordering straps with standard buckles. If you want a Type C design with a Type GW handmade hallmarked sterling silver or 9 carat gold buckle, or a back pad with single slots, please see Custom Made Items for details.

The Type C back pad will fit wrists slight smaller than its length suggests – for an explanation of this see Back Pad Lengths. If your wrist measures more than 10mm less than the length of the back pad, please see straps for smaller wrists

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Double Slots

I found a picture of a watch with a strap that had closely spaced double slots so that the thinner strap ran on the outside of the back piece over most of the circumference. I liked the somehow more rugged appearance of this strap so I had a cutter made to reproduce this appearance.

You can see one of my Type B designs with double slots fitted to a 1916 Omega wristwatch in the picture here.

Double slots can be cut on the Type B and Type C back pieces, but only for 10mm, 12mm and 14mm straps.

Cutters are expensive to make, so I had only one cutter made for the double slots that cuts 12mm wide slots. I was originally going to offer only 12mm straps with double slots, but the slots will also take a 10mm or 14mm strap. As you might imagine, a 10mm strap is slightly loose whereas a 14mm strap is tight and a bit squashed. I think they look OK, I just wanted to warn you.

I keep Type B and Type C designs with double slots, 12mm straps and base metal buckles in stock, see ordering straps with standard buckles.

If you want something that is not a stock item, please see Custom Made Items for details of how to request it.

NB: Please note that the maximum strap width for double slots is 14mm and remember that the slots are 12mm so a 10mm strap is slightly loose whereas a 14mm strap is tight and a bit squashed.

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Cutter Limitations - Why I Can't Make Just Anything

I can only supply the designs of the shaped back pads (Type A, B and C) and straps, including G10 and RAF and Two Piece straps, that I actually have cutters called ‘press knives’ for. These cutters are used to cut out the basic shapes of the parts from the leather before stitching. If I don't have the cutter, I can't make the strap. Cutters can be made of course, that's how I got mine; but they are expensive to make.

The straps and back pads are made from two pieces of top grain leather that are glued back to back. The two pieces of leather are glued together before the shaped pieces and straps are cut out using a powerful hydraulic press that pushes press cutters through the leather. To cut out the shaped back pads and straps, each piece needs to have a cutter of the correct shape.

These cutters are, in principle, just like the pastry cutters that cooks use to cut shapes out of pastry, but the difference is that these cutters are made from tool steel, very strong and sharp, and they are pressed through the leather using a hydraulic press which exerts tons of force. Each cutter is made by a specialist toolmaker, and they can be quite complicated; cutters for straps include punches for the pin holes, cutters for back pads include punches for the slots. The cutters take time to design and make, and they are expensive. That's why I can't just make anything.

It simply isn't possible to cut the glued double sided leather neatly any other way, scissors and knives just don't make a neat job. This is also the reason why I can't cut down any of the back pads that are too long, it simply doesn't result in a neat job. Straight cuts in leather are in principle reasonably easy to make manually, but when it comes to small pieces of leather such as straps, holding the material can be a problem. The press cutters are designed to make nicely shaped back pads and a straight cut on one of them would look like what it was, a hack.

The length of the straps can be varied, within reason, because they are basically straight sided strips of leather. One end is shaped and punched with the pin holes but the other end that the buckle is stitched into can be shortened or extended to make a shorter or longer overall strap when the buckle is sewn in.

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Wrist Size and Strap Length

From experience I know that the standard length of my one piece pull through straps suits most men, with wrists between about 165mm / 6½" to 195mm / 7½" around, and this is the length that the stock (ready made) straps are made to. Straps can be custom made to any length (within reason) so if you have trouble finding a strap the right length, then this would be perfect for you.

NB: Making leather watch straps is not like precision machining metal; please understand that there may be a few millimetres variation in the sizes as made.

How a strap fits depends on the shape of your watch, the path the strap takes through the lugs, and also how tight you like to wear your strap. The path that the strap takes can make a significant difference to its effective length, so please make sure that you read the section about Strap Path – this is important; a significantly different path will need a different length strap.

Standard Strap Lengths

The standard length of the strap fitted to the Type A, B and C designs is 230mm long, excluding the buckle. These straps are designed for trench watches with fixed wire lugs and for wrists that measure between approximately 165mm / 6½" and 190mm / 7½" around. I know this standard size works pretty well for most wrists and trench watches with fixed wire lugs because I have been using it for over a decade now – but please do make sure that you read the section about the Strap Path.

If you have a smaller wrist, please see Designs for Smaller Wrists.

Measuring Your Wrist

If you are close to either of the limits and you don't want to be on the last hole of a standard length strap, then you can send me the measurement around your wrist and I will get a strap made of the correct length to suit you, see Custom Made Items for how to do this. If you send me a wrist measurement I add 60mm to it to get the length to make the leather part. This works well for trench watches with drooping wire lugs as shown in the section about the Strap Path. If your watch has lugs that are not like this, then you must let me know.

Please keep thing simple and just send me your actual wrist measurement, preferably in millimetres. The best way to take the measurement is to wrap a dressmaker's flexible tape measure around your wrist at the point you wear you watch and take a reading, or wrap a piece of string around your wrist and make a mark with a pen on both parts where they overlap and then measure the distance between the two marks.

Please don't try to second guess me on this and give me a measurement that you think will work better. If you take what you think is a wrist measurement from an existing strap, be aware that this is different from an actual wrist measurement. Please also make sure that you have read the section about the Strap Path.

Back Pad Lengths

If you have a small wrist, then there is the possibility that the ends of the back pad will meet or overlap. The back pads are all slightly different lengths as shown in the table. They will fit wrists somewhat smaller than their length, because they sit on top of your skin and simple geometry means that the average radius of the back pad is greater than that of the wrist, but this effect is difficult to measure exactly because wrists are not round.

I estimate that the effect means that your wrist can be 10mm less than the length of the back pad for the ends to only just touch. However, be aware that this is a guide and if you are close to the limit and want to be sure that the ends of the back pad do not meet, then see Designs for Smaller Wrists.

Design	Back Pad Length	Minimum Wrist Size
Type A	164mm	154mm
Type B	171mm	161mm
Type C	172mm	162mm
Type C XL	188mm	178mm

If your wrist is less than the minimum size for the design you want given in the table, please see Designs for Smaller Wrists.

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Strap Path

One piece leather straps are intended to fit a watch whose lugs and case were designed so that a leather strap can strap pass easily through the lugs and across the back of the case. The trench watch shown in the picture here illustrates this, the gap from the case allows a 2mm thick strap to pass, and the shape of the lugs allows the strap to take a nice smooth curve through the lugs and across the back of the watch case.

If the strap of your watch takes a more convoluted path than the one shown, or has sharper bends because the lugs don't droop as much or the case is less rounded, then a longer strap might be needed to follow the path. Conversely, if the lugs allow the strap to take a straighter path, then the strap might need to be made shorter.

If the lugs are very close to the case, or curved, or both, then it might not be possible to fit a one piece pull through leather strap at all; some watches, e.g. those with wide curved lugs close to the case, were originally supplied with fabric or silk straps and the lugs won't take a leather strap. In this case, have a look at the two piece straps. An open ended two piece strap can often be fitted where a one piece cannot.

If you are unsure, please measure the gap between the lugs and the case, it needs to be at least 2mm (possibly slightly less to special order) and let me have a photograph of the lugs from the side.

If you have a "modern" watch, by which I mean one with horns and spring bars or fixed bars, then you need to think about whether it was designed to take a one piece strap that passes across the back of the case. Early military watches with fixed bars generally were, because the idea was that if one bar failed the strap around the wrist and the remaining bar would retain the watch. These watches have a generous distance between the case and the bars, like WWW watches such as Omega W.W.W. watches shown on my Omega page. Later military looking watches, especially those designed to take metal bracelets, have a much narrower gap.

If you have a watch like this, then I can supply a two piece strap that fits directly onto the bars instead of looping across the back of the case. This type of strap fits the horn and bar configuration better than a one piece strap, which is more correct for wire lugs. These can be either open ended for fixed bars or closed end for spring bars. Please go to the page about Two Piece Straps for more details.

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What Width Strap or Band Do I Need?

What width strap do you need? The strap should fit the lugs snugly, or else the watch can wander off to one side and it becomes annoying pulling it back to the centre all the time. If your watch has a strap currently fitted that doesn't fit the lugs snugly, then it is the wrong size. When new, the strap should fit the lugs tightly because as you wear the strap and it stretches lengthwise, it also shrinks slightly across the width, and if it only just fitted the lugs when new, it soon goes sloppy.

The picture shows an Electa watch with a correct size strap, 12mm in this case - see how it snugly fits the wire lugs. To find out what width of strap you need, either carefully measure the inside width of the lugs on your watch, or cut a strip of card so that it just slides through the lugs, and then measure the width of the strip.

Note that I can only supply straps in widths of an even numbers of millimetres, i.e. 10mm, 12mm, 14mm etc. This is determined by the cutters and the nature of leather. It is not worth making cutters in every millimetre size because leather just can't be cut to the sort of accuracy, it is a natural flexible material which moves slightly as it is being cut and varies in strength and flexibility across the hide.

Working with leather is not like precision machining metal; an accuracy of 1mm in cutting out the leather is about as good as can be achieved given the nature of the material, and it will stretch or squash in use. This is one of its great qualities which has not yet been replicated by artificial materials, so please bear this in mind when you are thinking about a strap. Talking measurements of +/-0.5mm doesn't have any real meaning for leather.

If you are sure that your lugs are an odd size, I suggest that you go for the next larger size, e.g if you measure your lugs as 11mm+, get a 12mm strap. It will fit with a bit of careful threading through the lugs: leather is a marvellous material which will squash down to fit the lugs - see the advice about fitting a one piece strap above if you think it will be really tight. This looks a lot better than a narrow strap that leaves your watch slopping about from side to side. And also leather straps always get slightly narrower as you wear them, because as they stretch slightly in length they also contract in width (the Poisson effect), and you don't want it to go sloppy after a few wears.

If you measure your lugs as a fraction of an even size, e.g. 10.5mm, then go for a 10mm. A ¼mm either side will not really show, although a tight fit would be better than a loose one.

I try to always keep in stock the standard 10mm and 12mm widths. I can also supply 14mm, 16mm, 18mm, 20mm etc. wide straps to order, which takes up to a couple of weeks, but if you need one it is well worth the wait! Please remember that the cutters are in 2mm increments, so I can't do odd sizes like 13 or 15mm. For details of how to order non-stock items, please see Custom Made Items.

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Custom Orders

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Strap Thickness

The finished thickness of my standard pull through one piece leather straps is 2mm (two millimetres).

This is the thickness that straps for trench watches with fixed wire lug were originally made. The way that the straps are made and the reason for the 2mm being the thickness is explained below. The traditional process or making trench watch straps results in straps that are authentic and strong while being also supple and durable. Trench watches and watches like the W.W.W. watches were designed for a one piece pull through strap and a suitable gap was made between the lugs or bars and the case.

It is possible to make straps slightly thinner, down to circa 1.75mm, to custom order, although this is not necessary if the lugs really were designed to take a leather strap. I don't like to do this because it will inevitably reduce the strength and durability of the strap. If the lugs really will not take a 2mm strap, then either they are bent or they were probably not designed for a pull through strap and careful consideration needs to given as to whether one is the right solution in terms of authenticity and appearance.

If you have a trench watch and the wire lugs are closer to the case than 2mm then they are bent and should be restored as shown in the image here. This is easily done by carefully bending the lugs, although first make sure that the joints where the lugs are soldered to the case are sound. Before using pliers, try using your fingers; I have corrected many bent lugs using finger pressure alone.

If your watch old and really does need a strap thinner than 2mm, then it originally might have had a silk strap, often a moiré silk which was very fashionable for ladies' watches, or if it is a modern watch, then it might have had a Perlon or nylon strap, a two piece strap, or a metal bracelet. Any of these can mean that the lugs, or horns and bars if it is a modern watch, are not designed to take a one piece pull-through leather strap. Modern watches with horns and spring bars that are designed to take a two piece strap or metal bracelet have the bars close to the case so that there is not a large gap visible when the strap or bracelet is fitted, but this does not leave room for a one piece pull through strap.

Please look carefully at the gap between the bars and the case, and also at the strap path to establish whether a one piece pull through leather strap will work.

Making Straps

Each of my straps is each made in the traditional way that British wristwatch straps have been made for over one hundred years, since before World War One. Two pieces of full grain leather, an outer and lining, are glued together. The parts of each strap, the back pad and the wrist strap itself, are then cut out from this leather sandwich using press knives. Each part is then stitched all the way round for extra security and durability.

Why are straps made like this? A leather hide has two sides, an outer side where the hair or fur was, which is called the "grain" side, and an inner side which is called the flesh side, for obvious reasons. The grain side has close knit fibres made of inert cells which is dense and strong, because the outer skin layer needs to protect against cuts and insect bites. As you move through the leather towards the flesh side, the lower layers are where new skin cells grow and the fibre structure gets progressively looser and weaker.

Raw hide is very thick and hides are “split” before tanning to make them thinner. The grain side leather is ideal for watch straps. The layers of flesh side leather that are split off from the grain side are used for less demanding applications where strength is not important, such as suede. Split hides from the tannery are often too thick to be used to make watch straps and are further split or "skived" down to a usable thickness. Skiving is the term used in the leather industry for shaving down the thickness of the leather. So yes, the leather industry does employ professional skivers!

To make a watch strap that is as strong and durable as possible, yet still flexible so that it is comfortable to wear, two pieces of the grain side leather are used. These are glued back to back before being cut into the strap parts using press cutting knives as I describe above. They are then stitched all round. The stitching stops the two parts from separating, and also helps to make the finished strap stronger, with less "stretch".

The minimum thickness that full grain hide can be reduced to and still retain good strength is about 1mm, so the thickness of a finished double sided, glued and stitched, leather strap is 2mm.

If the lugs on your watch are very close to the case, less than 2mm gap, which on a trench watch means they are bent and can be restored, or the shape of the case means that a one piece strap would have to make very tight bends that a normal thickness leather strap will not make (See section about this "One Piece Strap for Fixed Wire Lugs" above) then you probably have either a cushion case or a modern watch with horns and bars and you should consider a Two Piece Strap. These straps attach to the case either with spring bars or by wrapping around fixed bars.

Single Thickness Leather

A leather strap made from a single piece of leather rather than two pieces stitched together is not very satisfactory, because it only has one grain side and no stitching. You will often see straps like this advertised as being "soft" and "flexible", which is true; but for some reason they don't say that they are "stretchy" and "weak".

I prefer to supply leather straps that will last, which means made in the traditional way, from two pieces of leather glued back to back and stitched all round. I have in the past, against my better judgement, supplied straps made from a single thickness of leather, but due to general dissatisfaction, mine and customers, with these I will not supply any more; as an engineer by training, experience and at heart, I prefer things made in a way that I feel comfortable with.

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Leathers

All my straps are made of the best quality leather I can find. They are double sided with an outer side of full grain leather and a lining of full grain leather. The lining may be made from leather left over from other jobs, but as it is not seen I don't think this matters, it is still full grain leather, not a composite or synthetic.

There used to be lots of suppliers of raw leather in the UK but over the years these have dwindled and the choice is now much reduced. This problem is compounded by the fact that I don't use a huge square footage of leather, unlike a shoe factory or furniture maker for instance, so I can't order special batches of leather in a one-off finish or colour that I want - the tanneries are only interested in specially processing large orders of hundreds of square feet.

It is a constant struggle to find suitable leather, the main problem is getting leather split to the 1 mm or so thickness that is needed for watch straps. The problem is that the merchants often can't split the hides from the raw thickness that they come from the tannery, and the workshop can't skive the unsplit leather because it's too thick for the skiving machine.

Leather Colours

The picture here shows the leather colours that I use for the straps that I keep in stock.

There are more pictures that give views of the leathers made up into different straps and on customer's watches on the pictures and Customer's Watches page (click on the links to open the pages).

Please bear in mind that it is difficult to get good colour reproduction on computer screens, but if you have a look at a few pictures, here and on the other pages, you will get a better feel for the actual colours.

The leather colours illustrated in the picture of the Type A straps to the right are :

• Black
• Dark Brown
• Sepia
• Chestnut
• Tan Morocco
• Italian Dark Chestnut
• Italian Brandy

The first five colours are standard leathers, the Italian brandy and dark chestnut leathers are premium leathers, see below for more details about these.

The colour varies across each hide, and it is always difficult to get a good colour representation on a computer monitor, so please take these picture as guides rather than absolute colour references. It is also worth taking a look at the page of Customer's Watches which shows plenty of examples of watches on my straps taken in many different lighting conditions.

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Premium Italian Leathers

I am always searching for suitable leathers but I have had difficulty finding suitable leathers in the quality that I want and the thickness that I need for making straps the traditional way. After a lot of searching I found these beautiful Italian leathers which are superb quality and colours. They are not available from any British supplier so I import them myself.

I have two colours available, brandy and dark chestnut. The brandy is the lighter of the two. This photograph shows Type B and Type A straps in brandy and dark chestnut, both with my hand made sterling silver buckles, with the background samples of the hides, to give you a different view of the two colours.

All the straps in the picture are made with stitching that closely matches the colour of the leather. Contrast stitching can be done on request, and the brandy looks particularly good with black stitching, which I think gives a real smart and sophisticated look.

The colour can vary across each hide, and it is always difficult to get a good colour representation on a computer monitor, but these are high quality leathers with beautiful rich colours.

These are premium leathers, the best I have ever seen, butter soft and lovely to feel. They are much more expensive than the standard leathers so I have to charge a supplement of £5.00 for straps made from these premium Italian leathers.

There are pictures of customer's watches on straps made in these leathers on the customers page.

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Other Standard Leathers

There are also some standard leathers that are available but I don't keep straps already made up in these colours. A custom made strap in one of these other standard leathers is the same price as a stock strap in standard leather.

If you want to order a Type A, Type B or Type C strap in one of these leathers, please refer to Custom Orders. The ordering pages for open ended straps and NATO G10 RAF style straps have “other standard leather” as an option, just include a note of what colour you want.

There is a classy dark blue leather. It's rather difficult to photograph dark colours well but this gives you an idea of the colour, the actual shade is a little darker in practice. If you want a dark blue, this is a nice one. There are pictures of straps made up in this leather on the customers page.

The next picture shows some alternative tan leathers, at the top a traditional “London tan”, at the bottom a tan leather with a “Montana” grain. This leather is also available in a dark brown Montana grain as shown in the separate image lower down.

There is also a burgundy / maroon leather which I have tried to show in the separate image, but it turns out that this colour is really difficult to reproduce accurately. On my screen the colour looks reddish, but the leather really is a burgundy maroon colour, like red with shades of blue and purple; in some lights has a more purple tinge than in others. I believe that this colour is also called boysenberry in the USA.

More Adventurous Colours

If you want a colour I haven't illustrated, please ask - I can supply green, red, yellow, blue, white etc. as well as metallics. I have supplied straps in dark green, yellow, silver, etc. The pictures below show straps made in dark green, yellow, red and white.

I have included the white G10 strap not because I don't think you know what white looks like, but because when a customer asked me to make one for his girlfriend I was rather sceptical about how it would look. In fact it turned out very nicely, as you can see.

If you click on the images, larger versions will pop up. These pictures give you an idea of just some of the different colours that I can supply. Pictures of straps in some of these other colours can be found on the pages of Pictures of Straps and Leathers and Customer's Watches and Straps.

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Colour Fidelity

Please bear in mind that because leather is a natural material, not only does colour vary from hide to hide, it even varies across a single hide depending on the way it takes up the dye. It also is very difficult to get an accurate colour reproduction using a digital camera and also on a computer screen. Because of this the colours shown in these pictures must be taken as a guide rather than an absolute reference.

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Shell Cordovan Leather

I occasionally get asked about shell cordovan leather. I have never yet found any shell cordovan leather that I consider suitable to be made into watch straps.

Shell cordovan derives its name from the city of Cordoba, Spain, where it was originally prepared by the Moors, and from fibrous flat muscle or "shell" beneath the hide on the rump of a horse.

I have investigated all the sources of shell cordovan I could find in Britain. It is usually used to make saddles and bridles and because of this it is prepared by the tanneries by a process called "hot stuffing" to make it durable under outdoor weather conditions. This basically means that it is boiled in something like candle wax. This gives it a smooth and shiny appearance and waxy feel. The end result is a tough waxy feeling leather that in my opinion is both unattractive to look at and feels wrong to wear as a watch strap.

Watch straps that I have seen made from shell cordovan are cut from a single thickness of leather and not lined. This may be satisfactory from the point of view of strength because the leather is tough, but this is not how I like to make straps that are both strong and durable and also supple and comfortable to wear.

Some correspondents have referred me to the Horween Leather Company because their shell cordovan leather is thought to be good, but I haven't handled any yet because it doesn't come in the thickness ("thinness") I need for my type of watch straps. All the sources that I found were much too thick to be used for my type of watch straps, and it is a very tough leather that is not easy to skive down.

I am not sure why shell cordovan is as desired for watch straps as it appears to be. I suspect it might be simply because it is expensive and gives good "bragging rights" rather than because it is actually a good material to make watch straps from.

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Buckles

There are two types of buckle available; standard buckles made from base metal and my authentic hand made period replica buckles made from sterling silver or gold.

Ready made straps held in stock have white buckles, either white base metal or sterling silver. Gold coloured base metal buckles can be ordered at no extra cost, but these are a custom order which has to be made up. Similarly, 9 carat yellow or rose gold buckles are usually available for straps made to custom order.

It is also possible to make a strap for your own buckle. If it is a spring bar buckle, the end of the strap can be made ready for that. If it is a stitched-in buckle, you can send it to me for it to be incorporated as the strap is made.

Standard Buckles

White (silver coloured) chromium plated base metal buckles are fitted to my stock straps as standard. I try to use buckles that look correct for the period, but in the small sizes there is often not much choice available. As far as I am aware no one in the UK makes these, so the ones I use come from Germany. The supplier of the buckles shown in some pictures no longer makes them so the design may be slightly different, but still period looking.

Yellow (brass or gold-coloured) base metal buckles to go with watches that have gold cases can be supplied at no extra cost. I don't keep straps with yellow metal buckles made up as stock items because there are far fewer gold cased watches than silver ones, due to the great melting of cases for their bullion that has happened over the years. Original Swiss records show that the number of gold and silver cases manufactured was roughly the same, whereas today gold cases from the era of World War One are very rare compared to silver; a great shame.

If you want to order a strap with a yellow metal buckle, see Custom Orders for details.

Hallmarked Sterling Silver and Gold Buckles

To improve the authenticity of my replica World War One straps I make solid sterling silver (0·925) and 9 carat gold reproductions of period buckles that were used on trench watches during the war.

My first attempt at copying an original sterling silver buckle was done by entirely by hand and eye; I quickly realised that it was not easy to make neat and consistent bends, so I designed a small machine to make the bends neatly and the production versions are better, rather better than the original I like to think, although they still look hand made and authentically “artisan”.

The original sterling silver buckle that I copied was from a trench watch used in World War One, so I call my replicas “Type GW”. The picture shows one of my Type GW sterling silver buckles in the foreground, with the original 1916 buckle that I copied behind.

This type of buckle was used both before and throughout World War One of 1914-18. My sterling silver and gold buckles are hallmarked by the London Assay Office, with a full set of traditional hand punched English hallmarks including the leopard's head of London and the walking lion or lion passant of sterling silver, just like the original. The only change is that the fineness ·925 is struck in addition to the walking lion.

More details of my hand made and English hallmarked sterling silver buckles, and stock straps with sterling silver buckles available to order for immediate dispatch, are on the page at Straps with Sterling Silver Buckles.

I also usually keep some 12mm buckles in stock in nine carat yellow and rose gold ready to be made into straps as Custom Orders.

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Contrast Colour Stitching

Straps are usually stitched with thread that matches or tones closely with the colour of the leather. However, it is possible to order straps with stitching in a contrasting colour.

Contrast stitching works quite well, although please bear in mind that the stitches on my straps are small machine made stitches and therefore that some coloured threads do not stand out particularly clearly. See the section below for why I can't supply straps with big stitches.

White stitching looks good with black leather, red with brown, light blue with the dark blue leather and black looks very good with the premium Italian brandy leather. Sometimes even unlikely sounding combinations can produce a striking effect, such as the dark blue leather strap with pale green stitching in the photograph here.

Most colours are available in threads, but do ask if there is a colour combination you particularly want.

To see some examples of contrast stitching, go the Customer's Watches and Straps page and search for “contrast stitching”.

Because straps with coloured stitching must be specially made, please see the section about Custom Orders for details about how to place the order.

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Big Stitches

My straps are machine stitched which produces fairly small but neat and even stitches. Big stitches made with heavy gauge thread are made either by a special purpose machine, which we don't have, or more usually be done by hand sowing, which would be expensive if done in the UK. Hand stitching also requires extra punches in the cutters used to cut the strap parts, so that all the holes for the stitches are cut out at the same time as the leather parts are cut out from the hide - which my cutters don't have. So I can't supply straps with big stitches.

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Fitting One Piece Straps

Fitting a leather strap to a modern watch that was not specifically designed to take a leather strap, or to a wire loop watch where the strap is tight in the lugs, can be a bit tricky. However, don't despair; leather is a very accommodating material and once you get it in place it will settle in just fine. Here is a tip about how to get the strap in place without damage.

Some modern watches have a narrow gap between the bars and the body which, although wide enough to take a leather strap, can make fitting difficult but not impossible. This is usually because the location of the lugs and the shape of the case makes the strap take a sharp bend to turn across the back of the case.

Modern watches are not designed with leather straps in mind, and the watch case often has razor sharp edges that can damage the leather as you pull it through. In this case, the strap needs some protection even if it is not a very tight fit in the lugs.

One of my customers had some problems fitting a G10 strap because his watch has quite a narrow gap between the bars and the body. You can see the notes by Mike on the customers page about how he tackled this, but basically he wrapped the strap in aluminium foil which enabled him to slide it through the bars without damage.

In my experience, the best method is to use a piece of plastic film, e.g. a piece cut from a carrier bag. Simply cut a strip of plastic just over twice the width of your strap from a carrier bag, wrap this tightly around the strap and secure with sticky tape. Leave a couple of inches of empty plastic surplus at the end as a "leader" and feed this through the lugs. Because it doesn't have the strap in it it will go through easily. You can then use the leader to gently pull the rest of the plastic containing the strap through the lugs. After the strap is in place, just hold the buckle end of the strap and pull the plastic out.

You can use this technique to fit a one piece leather strap or a leather NATO G10 to a modern watch easily, and without damaging the surface finish of the leather. The plastic bag method also works for Texas cowboy boots or any other footwear that doesn't have any laces or zips, and it is very effective. You just cut the end off a carrier bag to make a tube, slip this into the boot, slide your foot in, and then pull out the carrier bag, which comes out easily because you cut the end off.

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Designs for Smaller Wrists

If your wrist measures less than the minimum wrist sizes for the standard back pads given in Wrist Size and Strap Length, then I have cutters for two designs of shorter back pad which are suitable for smaller wrists.

These shorter back pads are both about 135mm long, straight or flared as shown in the picture.

• Type AS: The back pad of the straight design Type AS is 29mm wide
• Type BS: The back pad of the flared design Type BS starts 30mm wide, flaring out to 38mm at its widest point

Please note that these stocks are not stock items, they are made to order. They can be made in whatever leather colour and strap width (within reason) you wish.

The price of these straps is the same as my other two piece straps; straps with base metal buckles in standard leathers are £25, with sterling silver buckles £55, and with 9 carat gold buckles £170, the premium Italian leathers cost £5.00 more, all plus postage and packaging.

These designs are not stock items but are custom made to order. If you would like to place an order please see the section about Custom Made Items for what details I need to know.

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Cushion Cases and Wide Lug Cases

Cushion cases and wide lug cases with lugs that are a significant proportion of the width of the case, like the wristwatch shown in the image, are not fitted with straps that have back pads for exactly the reason illustrated by the watch in the image. The is much too narrow for its lugs, which just looks wrong. During wear the narrow strap allows the watch to constantly move off to one side or the other.

To correct this, a wider strap that fills the width of the lugs is be needed, but then the back pad would not be wide enough - there would only be very narrow strips of leather either side of the holes that the strap comes through. To correct this, the back pad would have to be made wider, much wider than the watch, which would look very bulky and in practice just doesn't look right.

Whether the case is a cushion case or any other shape with lugs that are wide compared to the case, the principal problem for a strap with a back pad remains the same. In order to look right, the back pad needs to be 20mm or more wider than the strap. This means that 10mm of the back pad is visible on either side of the strap. Any less than this and the strap looks too wide for the back pad.

Despite the relatively large width of their lugs, cushion cased watches are often quite small in overall diameter, which was the fashion at the time they were made. Cushion cased watches usually have 16mm, 18mm or wider lugs and would originally have been fitted with a strap without a back pad. A strap of that width generally looks and feels fine, so I recommend that you use a simple strap without a back pad with a cushion cased watch.

Another problem to consider is whether the gap between the lugs and the case is wide enough for a leather strap; for more details about this see Strap Thickness.

Back Pads for Small Watches

There is a natural tendency to think that a strap with a back pad might make a small watch, e.g. one from the 1930s when small was fashionable, “look” larger, which is more wearable today. However, this doesn't work. It looks like what it is; a small watch on a back pad that is too wide for it.

If you are thinking along these lines, try making a mock up to see how it would look. This doesn't have to anything elaborate, a couple of strips of paper are quite adequate, one cut to the width of the lugs to represent the strap and the other cut 20mm wider than the strap for the back pad.You will soon see that no matter how you alter the widths of the two pieces, it just doesn't look right.

Curved Lugs

There is an added difficulty if the watch has curved bars These cause stress at the edges of a leather strap which can cause it to split or tear.

Curved lugs often show that the watch was designed to be worn with a fabric or silk strap, often silk moiré which was very fashionable at the time.

Strap Options for Cushion Cased Wristwatches

So what are the viable options, I hear you ask.

If the lugs are sufficiently far from the case (which on most cushion case watches they are not), and the path that the strap would have to follow through the lugs and across the back of the case would allow a one piece strap, then I suggest that you look at one of my RAF straps. You could consider a G10, but in my view the more rugged look of the G10 does not look right with a cushion case.

If the lugs are too close to the case for a pull-through strap like the RAF, you could consider an open ended Two Piece Strap, but beware of curved lugs that will tend to tear the leather from the edges inwards.

If the lugs are very close to the case and curved, then the watch was designed to be worn with a fabric or silk strap, often silk moiré which was very fashionable at the time, and that is the best option.

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Wristlets: Wrist Straps for Pocket Watches, and Why I Don't Supply Them

I have occasionally been asked if I can supply wristlets or wrist straps for pocket watches like the one referred to on the History page and used by the Captain in the North Staffordshire Regiment. At the moment I have nothing like this available.

There are now some of this type of strap becoming available on the market. All the ones that I have seen are hand cut and stitched, and the resulting straps are bulky and not well shaped. If I do make a replica it will not be like those but would be properly made in the same way as my other straps, the leather press cut and machine stitched so that the resulting strap is flexible and comfortable but still strong, and an accurate replica of the strap made by the Garstin company shown in the picture here.

I would need to get at least two new cutters made, to cut out the pieces of the strap, and a mould to form the cup. This would be quite a capital investment as the cutters and mould would be expensive to make.

I would also need to know how to stiffen the leather so that the cup retains its shape. There are various articles on the web about this, in particular the technique of "cuir bouilli" or boiled leather, which was used to make medieval armour. However, I have never used this and the articles available are not consistent in their recommendations, some say to use just water, others say to use oils or waxes, others animal urine. I would need to spend some time experimenting with the technique to ensure good and consistent results.

The workshop have also told me that they can't do the stitching around the cup where it attaches to the wrist strap. This stitching is very close to the cup and needs a sewing machine with an exceptionally narrow or single sided foot, which is a specialised piece of kit that they don't have.

So I would need to get at least two cutters and a mould made, spend time experimenting with leather stiffening, and modify or purchase a sewing machine. I might do this at sometime in the future but at the moment I am not working on this, and I am not even planning to start work on it. If this situation changes I will update this paragraph with details.

Update December 2019: When I originally wrote this section, over 10 years ago, I was quite keen to go into this in more depth. But in the years since I have had very few, if any, inquiries, so I have decided not to pursue it any further. These type of straps do come up at auction fairly regularly, so if you really want one, keep a look out for them.

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Wristwatch Straps with Protective Covers

I don't make straps with a cap or protective cover that goes over the watch.

I do get asked for them very occasionally, certainly much less than once a year, so I imagine that the market for them would be tiny.

I have seen some replica straps like this, with the cup simply pressed into an ordinary piece of leather without any stiffening or reinforcing, so the cup is soft and flexible. I don't think this is an acceptable standard of design or appearance. If you are planning to buy a strap like this, make sure you can return it for a refund if it's not up to scratch.

To make one of an acceptable quality would not be easy, rather like making the wristlets for wearing pocket watches discussed in the section above. The main problem is forming and stiffening the cup part so that it looks good and retains its shape, and then stitching it to the strap.

I am also not keen on straps with covers over the watch for two reasons:

1. The purpose of wearing a wristwatch was to make it quick and easy to read without using both hands, but a strap with a cover needs you to fiddle about with both hands every time you want to read the time; this defeats the object of wearing a wristwatch in the first place, and is the same reason that wristwatches with hunter lids fell out of favour during World War One - see Hunter Wristwatches. These are rare, but like many things that are rare today it is because very few people wanted them when they were made.
2. If you have a nice vintage wristwatch, why hide it under a cup rather than showing it off?

So, in short, I don't make them and I don't have any intention to.

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Wrist Compass Straps

The Type B strap without the winding crown notch works very well for World War One era wrist compasses. You can see a wrist compass fitted to the strap on the customers' watches pictures page.