Yes, Finally! A New Watch Strap for Mrs Saving-Time
You’d think living with a leather craftsman would make you spoilt for choice in the watch strap department. Well, think again. With orders rolling in from all corners of the world, I’m always demoted to the bottom of the list. I’ve been wearing my vintage Longines from the 1960s on a cognac Badalassi Carlo Wax strap for over a year now. While it’s a beautiful strap on a beautiful watch – I inherited it from my father so it has sentimental value that goes beyond the gold it’s made from – I really fancied a change with something more colourful.
I’m the lucky owner of a number of watches, however and somewhat ironically, none of them had any straps to go with them. That was until the other day when a five kilogram bits box with off-cuts turned up from our leather supplier in the post. We ordered it to get a look at leathers that we hadn’t come across to potentially list them as options on the site and it was a winner.
The box contained so many wonderful leathers, some familiar but many of them new to us – amongst them a tiny scrap piece of what I’ve now identified as Alaska White Wax from the Tuscan tannery La Perla Azzura. It was just enough of it to make one strap and as Mr Saving-Time was as fascinated by the grain and the beautiful turquoise shade as I was, he offered to make me a strap from it the same day.
Finally, I was in luck. It was the perfect colour match for my Czech PRIM Elegant that had been idle in the bathroom drawer for the past year and a half. I like the clean aesthetic of this 1980s watch which has a very minimalist design with an orange sweeping second hand that really pops. As I couldn’t wait to get it back on my wrist, I was thrilled when the craftsman in the family delivered it on a spanking new strap that evening.
It’s been a week now, and I couldn’t be happier with it. The turquoise leather breaks into a melange which I don’t tire of looking at and the orange stitching complements the sweeping second of the watch beautifully. I’ve seen a lot of leathers, and Alaska White Wax has by far the most interesting grain and intense colour I’ve ever seen on a watch strap. It tells a story and I look forward to seeing how it will age and patina.
I looked up the La Perla Azzura which sits in the heart of the Tuscan leather district, and like the other tanneries we have listed on the site it’s dedicated to slow vegetable tanning with traditional methods, using French double shoulders and natural quebracho extract. While we don’t have any leather from this tannery as an available option yet, we most definitely will in the future. Until we do, feel free to contact us and we’ll order it for your strap. Hopefully you’ll be as happy with it as I am with mine.