Why do all high luxury watches have leather straps?

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Jennifer 7 2023-11-07 TOPIC

watches

In our mind, it seems that most of the luxury watches have leather straps, especially the precious metal watches in the high-end watches. This makes us form a notion that for a good watch, its strap must be crocodile leather. Why is there such a complex? Probably because traditional old money is too fond of comfort and ease.

Besides crocodile leather,TUDOR Black Bay M7941A1A0RU-0003 there are many other kinds of non-metallic watch straps, such as cowhide, pigskin, lizard skin, pearl fish skin, etc.; there are also non-leather rubber straps, polyurethane straps, nylon straps, silk webbing straps, etc., and of course, there is also artificial leather. The most common ones we see are cowhide belts and alligator belts used by high-end watches.

Why do high-end watches prefer to use leather as straps? Initial speculation was that it was because traditional old money was more social and comfortable and focused on wearing comfort. I believe we all have the impression that the gold strap,TUDOR Ranger M79950-0001 which became popular in the 80s and 90s of the last century, was mocked by the old money as a thug. In the eyes of the traditional old money, rich gentlemen should enjoy comfort, not show off their wealth, or like the thugs busy at work to cope with the bumps and bruises.

It is also possible that because Europe in ancient times was made up of nomads, they had a special complex for soft leather, and some people even made leather into jewelry. So it's only logical that high-end premium watches use leather straps.

In addition, nowadays, high-end senior watches are mostly made of platinum, white gold, gold and other precious metals, so that the precious metal watch is then matched with the same precious metal strap undoubtedly greatly increases the cost of the watch, and the value of the strap even exceeds the value of the case. So in terms of value is also a factor to consider.

Furthermore, the styles of high-end premium wristwatches are more traditional in design, and watches that were initially designed to cope with social etiquette have now evolved into business accessories. In the eyes of old-school Europeans, the essential belts and wallets for business people are leather, a habit that has carried over from the West. The leather strap itself added an air of nobility and elegance when wearing a straight suit on social etiquette occasions, while the hard metal strap was more like the manual laborer who was always on the go. Even today, precious metal straps can still be ostentatious and lack that sense of fit that comes with accessorizing.

Cowhide straps are a more common material for mid-range watches. Although calfskin is not a valuable material, it is soft, durable and cost-effective, and it is very popular in the market. Cowhide straps also have a feature that crocodile leather can't match: they can be worn with any type of watch, such as solid sports watches like Panerai, Courvoisier, and Vanguard. Only cowhide can do this with a thick leather strap. Of course, the material is only one aspect, and the workmanship is another. In the workmanship is also very careful, leather strap along the edge of the line thickness, the evenness of the brushed perforation, the back of the strap folded edge, etc. are a measure of a leather strap is good or bad standards.

High-end advanced table is generally used in the alligator strap, alligator must we all know is a high-level material, alligator belt, alligator shoes, etc. never stand in the top of the leather material. Of course, crocodile skin is also divided into three, six, nine, etc. There are many types of crocodiles, all over the world. From the raw material, North America's Mississippi crocodile, South America's Amazon crocodile, African crocodile, Indian crocodile and South Asian crocodile, etc., of course, different kinds of leather is also very different. Due to the indiscriminate hunting and killing in recent years has led to environmental degradation, the cost of artificial feeding is high, so the crocodile skin rises year after year, which is also one of the reasons why crocodile leather strap price is expensive.

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