Name: DaLuca Straps
Website: https://www.DaLucaStraps.com, Amazon Storefront
Location: San Diego,CA
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
Also check out our other guides:
Watch strap making isn’t just limited to major brands and big shops; across the world there are small strapmakers making a living designing unique and custom straps. Our small brand spotlight series interviews these strapmakers to see what makes them tick.
Today the spotlight is on Freddie Matara and his incredible cuff-style leather watch straps custom made to fit a watch face.
Name: Freddie Matara
Website: freddiematara.com (Etsy Shop)
Location: New York City Metro
What: I specialize in wrist wear. Specifically, custom sizing and design of wrist cuffs, cuff watches and watch straps. I also make belts, Guitar straps and other small accessories.
How did you get into watch strap making?
As a kid, I always enjoyed covering my wrists as I have very slight wrists. It made me feel powerful and less self conscious. It started with terry cloth wristbands and evolved into leather. I got tired of buying girl’s cuffs or jury-rigging wristbands that were too large, and began making my own with a few tools and a piece of latigo leather in 2001.
My first piece was a cuff watch for a diver watch face I found at a club in Manhattan where I was tending bar. I was truly in awe at the first piece I created (it was soo bad, really!) I made some for my friends and then their friends started asking for custom pieces. At the time, I was singing in a rock band and supporting it with my bar job. 9/11 happened and the bar biz dried up… My band wasn’t “making money” so my friends suggested I do something with this newfound leather talent… I did!
What materials do you use in your bands?
I use European undyed vegetable tanned leather for the majority of my collection. I also use goat, kangaroo and recently started experimenting with Alligator leather.
What is your favorite material to work with?
As stated above, I really enjoy working with Euro veg-tan. It’s so malleable and much lighter in color than traditional North American veg-tan. I enjoy the process of dyeing, forming and finishing leather myself.
What style of bands is your favorite to make or wear?
I lean towards a wider cuff style in my personal collection. I really like a 2.25″ width on my own wrists. It’s a substantial look and I typically offset it with a skinny bracelet on the opposite wrist.
Do you have a
favorite watch?
I rarely wear a watch these days but If I had the funds I’d like an Omega
Bullhead!
What do you like to do outside of strap making?
Singing is really my first love but music is a tricky business…There’s nothing like writing a great song, melody and lyric! Alas…if I can’t get in their ears, I’ll get on their wrists!
Two-Stitch Watch Straps – Cross -Stitch Leather Honey strap on Omega Speedmaster
Today’s strap is a honey colored leather strap from Two Stitch Straps, shown here on an Omega Speedmaster Watch. You can find more straps from Two-Stitch on their website: www.twostitchstraps.com.
