jd1566 8 Posted November 30, 2016 (edited) Like many of you I obsess about my watches.. rep or not. And one area where I've been having issues, is wearing these new stiched straps. I have a love/hate relationship with my watches.. in the sense that I am always taking mine off. Sitting at the desk my watch may come off 10 times a day. And leather straps with buckles are fiddly and annoying.. Much prefer the quick release clasp. So how to have the best of both worlds? Well until recently there was no solution.. you either bought an expensive leather strap.. or you stuck with the oyster bracelet. But could there be another way? Make my own? Having had some leather skills training while I was at school many eons ago, I thought I would give it a try. Well, here are the results: https://photos.shutt...bum/90108679466 Here are the tools and meterials.. the leather squares are samples from a leather couch shop! Nothing like something free! Watch at the top with a year old strap.. which has shrunk a bit, so my latest batch I've made a bit wider to take that into account. Here is BPs SD and TCs 16610LN with their respective straps The finished piece out in the open I don't confess to being the worlds greatest leatherworker.. far from it. But I liked the solution and it means I can wear my rollies in hot weather and feel comfortable.. AND they're unique! A few tips to those of you inclined to make your own, as I've only run into ONE ebay salesman who just recently started making them but only ships to US.: 1) Leather stretches and shrinks so take that into consideration when you're making your own (shrinks at the lugs and stretches lengthways getting longer with time). 2) Measure twice and cut once! 3) As these are bespoke and everyone' wrist is a different size, measure carefully.. and see nr 2 above! Tools you'll need: A whole punch and hammer A saddle needle (some people suggest running it over bees wax to make it easier to push through the leather - I just used a thimbal) Waxed cotton thread (or nylon if you prefer to singe the ends instead of tying them) Leather strips Leather glue A masonite or other kind of board to cut and hammer on Steel ruler scalpel or stanley knife A lot of patience (but once you'e made a few the process gets very easy) Oh and thanks to the members below who posted tips on how to post pictures to the forum - I'e edited this post WITH the pictures. Another thanks to some other posts our there on how to make straps - I skipped the steps on how to burnish the sides of the straps but there are some really good posts out there explaining all those additional steps if you want your strap to be perfect. Edited December 1, 2016 by jd1566 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
greg_r 81 Posted November 30, 2016 It's very easy to post pics to this forum. You simply have to provide the post dialog with a link that goes direct via http to the actual image - not https addresses (which won't embed by their very nature) or links to the page the photo is hosted on. You'll find tutorials for a couple of the other photo hosting sites in the New Members section. Your link above is https and requires a login to see the photos, which is why it's not working. There are various straps available for Rolex watches other than the bracelets. There are also a few deployant clasp options too, if you don't want to have to re-engineer the clasp from the bracelet Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Daffy 105 Posted November 30, 2016 Try the try the method in my sig to post pics. You will be extremely pleased with how easy it is. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jd1566 8 Posted December 1, 2016 Thanks guys for the tips - I've updated the original post now with pics! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
