This month we’re featuring watches under $500 and the watch straps that go on them, along with a few pictures from some custom strap makers. You can find links to the watch strap makers and most watches in the captions.
Today’s strap is from a small custom strapmaker in North Carolina, OleksynPrannyk. It is a custom Apple watch strap with a double band. Like most 3rd-party watch straps, it comes with the hardware to easily put it on your Apple watch.
Check out their Etsy shop or their website for more great custom work including other leather goods like dopp kits, groomsmen bags and of course, watch rolls and watch straps in a variety of leathers for most watches. You can also find more strapmakers on our Custom Strap Maker page.
What: We handcraft watch straps for just about every brand out there and have a line of leather goods as well that we design and manufacture in house. These items include wallets, belts, handbags, keychains, dog leashes and collars as well as some custom one off items.
What materials do you use in your bands? We mainly use various leathers that range from most of the Horween line of leathers such as Shell Cordovan, Chromexcel, Dublin, Essex, latigo, etc all the way to reclaiming vintage ammunition pouches from the Swiss and French armies. Sometimes we incorporate various new and vintage canvas materials into the straps as well as offering rubber, nylon and Perlon straps too.
What are some of your best selling straps? Our leather military straps are definitely one of the crowd favorites as well as our one of a kind handmade leather watch straps that we individually name and sell in five sizes that include 18mm, 20mm, 22mm, 24mm and 26mm widths. If a client needs a width other than those, then we have a custom watch straps section that they can use to place an order for the strap of their dreams with a very quick turnaround time of 3-8x business days.
What advice do you have for people buying a new strap? It can be a very overwhelming process with all of the various options in the marketplace. Start off by finding out the lug width of the watch which will tell you the width of the strap needed to properly fit in between those lugs and be the correct size strap for the watch. The second main piece of info to need to know is the length of the strap needed. We always say that something around a 115mm/75mm length is a good starting point for most average wrist sizes. If you think you have a “small” or “large” wrist then we can adjust that length accordingly. Beyond that its pure fun on our custom watch straps page as you can select the material and its color, the thickness, stitching preference, stitching color and edge coating or lack of. People love to stand out and what better way than a true one off handmade watch strap!
What style of bands is your favorite to make or wear (personally)? I personally love shell cordovan straps. On my Panerai 233 I use a green Horween shell cordovan military style strap. While on my Rolex Air King I have a vintage ammo pouch strap that is made from a vintage French ammo pouch from the 1960s and we made it a tad thinner to match the case height of the Rolex watch so everything was proportionate. Subtle nuances like that are very important in the overall end result of the watch and watch strap combination.
Do you (personally) have a favorite watch? Patek Philippe Nautilus 5980/1A
DaLuca Straps Women’s Wallet in Dublin LeatherDaLuca Straps Apple Watch StrapDaLuca Straps Handmade Lizard Watch StrapDaLuca Straps Swiss Ammo Stamp DetailDaluca Straps Rolex Milgauss – image courtesy of @owenau89 DaLuca Straps Green Shell Mil Strap Wrist Close Up
The straps we’re showcasing today are Clockwork Synergy’s Cordura Apple Watch straps. Lots of colors available, and the quick-release mechanism makes it easy to change them out. You can find the straps on the Clockwork Synergy website or on their Amazon shop. The watch of course, can be found at Apple or on Amazon.
If you’re looking to replace your Apple Watch band but don’t like the looks of those prices in the Apple store, check out Etsy. Its a great place to source some fantastic styles that aren’t going to necessarily break the bank. We’ve found five fun bands for you to check out, links are in the captions of each picture.
We are an Etsy affiliate. Support our blog by purchasing your next watch strap through our Etsy link. You can also check out our list of custom watch strap makers for more custom straps, or our Amazon shop for a selection of inexpensive watch straps. Or check out our online guides:
Time for something a little different. Today’s strap is a custom Gray Perforated Apple Watch band by Etsy seller O2Leather. Head on over there for more custom Apple Watch band options and other leather goods.
List of Custom Watch Strap Makers (alphabetical)
Most custom watch strap makers ship worldwide. If you’re looking for a local supplier, strap makers outside the U.S. have their location noted in parenthesis. If we’ve done an interview with the strapmaker, that is noted too. You can read all the interviews in one place here.
Pro-tip: Buy these quick release spring bars off Amazon and make your new custom watch strap quick release!
This is an updated list, so check back often as we’ll add in strapmakers we come across. These are not paid listings, but any Etsy & Amazon links will be affiliate links as we are an Etsy & Amazon affiliate.
If you’re interested in how to pick out a watch strap or need to buy tools, please check out our other guides:
