Everything about wristwatch straps - Part 1

Did you know that women were the first to don a wristwatch? It was initially created for them during a time when men had pockets to put pocket watches into. At first a fashion statement, watchmakers began to produce strapped watches during the First World War for the convenience of soldiers who had to fight in trenches and had to lug around weapons and many other equipment on his body. After the war, these men found that wristwatches were actually more practical than pocket watches and thus, began man’s obsession with watches for the wrist!

In this first part, we discuss the two biggest categories of watch straps. These are tied to the types of watches that they are attached to. One can consider the straps to belong to either a dress watch or everything else. The latter includes sports and tool watches.

For the sports or tool watches, the straps can be generally made of rubber, silicone, leather, nylon, canvas or metal bracelet. However, for the dress watch, there is no compromise. The key guideline is that a dress watch must have a leather strap. This leather strap should ideally match the leather colour of the other accessories such as the shoes or the belt. Also, it is preferred that the strap be made of crocodile, alligator or printed/embossed leather to simulate them. This leather must be polished, and if possible, be made as thin as possible to match the dimensions of a typical dress watch.

(Photo: Duke Straps by HIRSCH)

Today, swapping the strap of the watch will allow it to be more diverse and fashionable and allow the owner to stay in tune with the trends. Would you like to know more about the different types of straps for your watches? Stay tuned for the next part as we discuss more about straps as well as their buckles!