This is my 30 year old Casio diver watch, gifted to me on my birthday. Since I started leather craft it has been dressed with a number of hand stitched watch straps. This is the latest. Made with scraps of the replica Russia leather from Baker tannery, pure linen thread and natural russet leather lining. The edges are creased giving deep grooves between the stitch line and the edge of the straps. The edges are also burnished lightly and then sealed and finished with beeswax. I didn’t want to go for glossy side with this one. The major difference with this watch strap and the previous ones is that this one is lightly padded meaning that the central area of the strap is slightly thicker than the sides. The padding is minimal because the buckle would not sit properly with a thicker strap. Buckles for thicker straps are available but I went along with what I have. The stitching is at a very fine 10 stitches per inch and the thread is 0.6mm thick which is on the very limit of thickness for this stitch density.
I have recently been working on larger projects such as the tote bag. Sometimes I find doing a smaller (although tedious in this case) project really helps to focus and relax, especially when things aren’t going the way they were planned. It becomes a little break from the larger project without breaking the flow of my work. This was another very enjoyable project that has enabled me to step back, take a breath and then get back to the main project currently under way with a clear mind.
“What happened to the previous watch straps?” one may ask. They are all residing together in a glass jar in my workshop awaiting the time when they will be called back into duty.
