How do I care for a leather watch strap?
A leather watch strap does not wear evenly. It wears in three places: the hole the spring bar passes through, the buckle hole you use every day, and the fold where the watch strap leaves the lugs. Care is about those three points, because the first two are what hold the watch to your wrist.
The points where a leather watch strap wears and where it should be checked: the spring bar hole, the buckle hole in use, the fold at the lugs.
The three points, and what each one needs
- The spring bar hole. The spring bar turns inside the leather every time the wrist moves. If the watch strap is wider than the lug width of the watch it is forced in and splits; if it is narrower it rocks and the hole widens. The right width is the measured lug width of your reference, nothing else. When the hole has grown so that the watch strap moves on the spring bar, the watch strap is finished, whatever the rest looks like.
- The buckle hole you use. One hole takes all the load. Moving one hole in summer and one hole out in winter is normal; forcing the tongue of the buckle into a hole that is too tight is what tears it. If the hole you need is the first or the last, the watch strap is the wrong length: the length guide says how to tell.
- The fold at the lugs. Leather creases where it leaves the case, and sweat collects there. Wipe it with a dry cloth when you take the watch off, and leave the watch strap one night off the watch now and then, so the fold dries open instead of closed. For the sea and the shower, a NATO strap takes the water instead of the leather.
What the watch does to the watch strap
A heavy watch on a thin watch strap works the spring bar hole faster; a case with sharp lug edges cuts the fold. A watch strap that is one millimetre too narrow for the lug width of the watch (common on the 18.2% of watches with an odd lug width, where ready-made straps are rare) moves on the spring bar and wears the hole from day one. Drilled lugs, on 174 references in the database, let you change the watch strap without a tool between the lugs: fewer marks on the case, and fewer nicks in the leather.
When to replace it, not repair it
Replace the watch strap when the spring bar hole has stretched, when the leather around the buckle hole has cracked through, or when the fold at the lugs shows the lining. These are the parts that hold the watch; a watch strap that still looks good on the outside can fail there. Ready-made straps come in 75 and 115 mm; when neither reaches the right hole, the answer is a watch strap cut to the wrist, not a tighter hole.
What each kind of leather needs
Water, sweat, balm and rest: what calf, vintage leather, exotic skins, suede and cordovan each need is on the Milano Straps page on caring for a leather watch strap, written by the person who sews them.
Check your own reference
Family averages are the reason people order the wrong size. Your reference has its own measured number, and it is in the database.
Search your referenceOther questions
- Why will no strap fit my watch?5.7% of watches have no lug width at all. Here is what to do instead.2,640
- What length watch strap do I need?Ready-made straps come in one length only. Whether that length reaches you is a different question.75/115 mm
- What size watch band do I need?The watch decides the width, your wrist decides the length. The three ways to find the width, in order, and the mistake to avoid.
- Which spring bar does my watch need?Length is the lug width of the watch; diameter is decided by the brand. Rolex, Omega and Tudor have their own, the rest take a standard 1.8 mm spring bar.