Looking for leather watch straps

[Jeremy B.]

I'm on the hunt for some affordable watch straps in medium to light brown that match my walnut strands. I've got plenty of watches, but they all have dark brown leather. Form.function.form sells one for $105 or something and that is just a little more than I want to spend. Anyone have any leads?


Also in the market for a nice slim brown leather wallet. Price doesn't matter as much for that one. Thanks forum!

[BB]

Check out the Knottery, and my post below that links to a reddit post on making a $3.99 alternative to the FormFitFunction one (although it's darker leather). On that same subreddit there's a link to an $8.00 light leather NATO strap that has a slight flaw in it. It's on the third or fourth page from the front page of the FrugalMaleFashion subreddit.

[BB]

Knottery's leather NATOs are $25. Might be much better deals out there.

[guiltybystander]

BB answered your question: http://threads.dappered.com/topic/399-brown-leather-watch-strap


Michaels. Gonna check them out today.

[Jeremy B.]

@guity - Let us know what you find! @BB thanks for the tip on the knottery. They seem to only have dark brown and then what looks like raw leather. Thanks for all the tips guys, this is a great forum.

[Redcoat]

A little more expensive, but you could try Crown & Buckle:


http://www.crownandbuckle.com/


I've ordered a few straps from them and have been extremely happy with the quality vs. price ratio. Each time, they've been shipped to my door within three days. Using coupon code 'watchuseek' will give you 15% off your order.

[nftmlk]

I am definitely going to stop by Michael's sometime this week.

[guiltybystander]

@Jeremy B. - Found them after asking for help from a Michael's store associate. They were exactly as the reddit post described - among random dangly crap. The brand is Bead Landing, and the UPC is 4-00100-91373-4.


I picked up the last black strap they had and 3 brown ones. Good quality, but the black one had more light fraying on the side (not cut as cleanly as the brown ones). The black strap also had more texture to it, more creasing than the flat brown ones. They're not as nice as Horween Chromexel leather but hey, you can't beat it for $3.98 each. The associate also suggested checking Hancock's and Joanne's if you have those stores nearby. He said they were a seasonal item and apparently there is no rhyme or reason with how they stock the stores.


I picked up an Xacto knife to cut the leather down to the desired size (there are 4 holes for the stud on the strap). Unfortunately, the package has a staple which will leave a mark on the leather near the stud. Curiously enough, the black strap was packaged better, with staples that went across the strap...


If anyone needs a brown one and is in/near Atlanta let me know. Also, I would be willing to ship it if you absolutely can't find one. $5 (including shipping) and it's yours.


It is raw leather, but thicker than the ones you can get from The Knottery. While the Knottery has the metal keeper hardware and looks more refined for $25, I found them to be a little on the flimsy side. Plus they never processed my return despite numerous emails after mailing back the merch (I had to do a chargeback).

[BB]

I think the brown one I got was packaged like the black one that you found (held in by metal wire across the strap). Thanks for the write up -- and good to know about the Knottery ones, I almost ordered from them before finding the Michaels hack.

[guiltybystander]

Here are some pictures of the straps I got from Michael's.


The first one shows how comically large my Maratac Pilot watch can look when I'm wrenching my wrist around to avoid glare...





The second shows how I'll actually need to keep all 4 holes in the strap (no room to cut anything off). This may change if you deploy the strap on a watch with a smaller diameter dial.





The third shows the relative positioning of the strap to ensure maximum wearability.





The fourth is a cautionary tale. I got minor abrasions on the strap when I threaded it through my springbars. Due to the thickness of the leather (pleasantly so, and not too thin), you may have a hard time getting the strap threaded through your springbars. I would actually suggest removing your springbars and putting them back on if you have a tool as this would help avoid scratching the leather. However, if you don't have a tool, it would be a pain to do this.