Leather watch bands?

Macchina · Sep 6, 2013

I usually have worn metal band watches, but recently my wife got me a nice automatic and I just traded for a Maratac Pilots watch. I'm looking for a quality genuine leather band in black without the funky alligator pattern or other snazz. I'd like to keep it as inexpensive as possible while still getting something nice.

rickdarris2004 · Sep 6, 2013

Check Crown and Buckle, they are pretty decent. I have used their bands before. Decent quality without the outrageous prices.

cchu518 · Sep 6, 2013

Amazon and the bay has them. Consider the textured rubber watch bands, Maratac makes one. And also the perforated racing leather watch straps!

trevytrev · Sep 6, 2013

I just picked a 20mm MiLTAT G10 Grezzo Zulu off of Amazon for my GSAR and I love it! I ordered the brown version but they do have black. It's well made and a fair price for a leather zulu strap, imo. Trevor~

Piso Mojado · Sep 6, 2013

I own one Crown & Buckle strap, a leather NATO. I like it and the price was reasonable for what I got. I'm going to borrow one of Rick's photos from another thread to give you an idea of their house style. His photography is better than Crown & Buckle's.

Looking at factory-made straps, you'll see these brands a lot: deBeer, Hadley-Roma, Hirsch and Di-Modell. Holben's and Strapped for Time carry all these brands but not every model. I've had satisfactory results with both dealers. Hadley-Roma's web site has a catalog you can download. Amazon carries mainly Hadley-Roma and their selection is not the greatest. One thing I like about Amazon: when something isn't selling, they'll knock a few dollars off to move stock, and it looks like they're having trouble selling Hadley-Roma's black leather straps.

This is a one page crash course on how leather watch straps are made:

http://www.rios1931.com/index-ourstraps.html

Macchina · Sep 7, 2013

That is an awesome watch pictured and it looks good on that strap. I thought NATO watch bands went under the watch body, is this not the case?

Piso Mojado · Sep 7, 2013

Macchina said:
That is an awesome watch pictured and it looks good on that strap. I thought NATO watch bands went under the watch body, is this not the case?

It's not one of Crown & Buckle's NATO straps. It's a two-piece leather strap with flat cut edges. Big thick watches tend to look good on big thick straps, which can be stiff and hard to break in. Flat cut straps look bigger and they are a popular choice. Dress watches and smaller watches tend to look better on remborde edge straps. This is a useful glossary of leather strap jargon, unfortunately without photographs:

http://www.watchworx.co.uk/pages/glossary.html

Photo borrowed from another thread, one of leghog's Omegas on a remborde edge strap.

Lenny · Sep 10, 2013

Go to TimeZone, http://forums.timezone.com/index.php?t=threadt&frm_id=32
There are a few guys who advertise nice leather bands.
One guy who advertises quite is "Jurgen"
I highly recommend getting one of these over a $20 mall jewelry store strap.
I've had a Hirsch strap for well over a year and it shows almost no wear.
The cheaper ones will crack and look terrible in no time.
Lenny