FAQ

Yes, each and every one of my straps is built completely by hand. In my opinion there is no substitute for a quality hand made, hand stitched watch strap. No machines are used in the production of a Toshi Strap, it’s just me, my hand tools and top quality leather – as it should be.

There are obviously many ways your strap can be customised, but there is a “standard” spec for a Toshi Strap.

Unless you request otherwise at the time of ordering, your strap will come with a traditional cut pointed tail, open stitching and a single wide floating keeper as standard. This is how I like my straps and it is the way my straps are presented on the store pages, so if you want something non-standard please remember to mention it when you place your order (either put a comment in the “additional Information” section when you get to the Checkout page, or send me an email).

No, my straps never taper.

Toshi Straps are built using traditional techniques in the vintage “Pre-V” style, which means they are double layered, parallel width straps. This means that if you choose a 24mm wide strap it will be 24mm parallel and will therefore need a 24mm buckle fitted. Over the years this is the style of straps I’ve become associated with and it is the style of strap I wear myself.

The basic price of any Toshi Strap includes a free complimentary spring bar buckle.

When you place your order you will be asked to select the buckle you want with your strap. If you select any “spring bar” buckle you will not be charged any more than the base price for that specific leather, but you do have the option to upgrade to a more expensive buckle if you wish to i.e. either for a screw bar or sewn in buckle.

The buckles available to you will be determined by the strap width you have selected. The buckles page has information on which buckles are available, and in what finishes & widths.

The cost of a Toshi Strap includes a free spring bar buckle. When ordering a strap you will be asked to select a buckle to proceed and place an order. If you do not want a buckle however, please select any “spring bar” buckle at this stage (so you are only charged the base price for the strap) and let me know that a buckle isn’t required.

I know this might sound obvious but the thickness of the finished strap depends on the thickness of the leather being used. In general I work with leather that will give a finished strap between 3mm and 5mm thick – in my opinion this is just about perfect.

If you want to know the thickness of a strap made from a specific leather you’ll need to go to that leathers page in my web store. Click on the photo of the leather in the straps page to see all information, including strap thickness, pricing and my suggestions for complimentary thread colours.

My straps are made by hand so I can make a strap any width you like, however my straps are parallel width and I only keep a stock of buckles in 18mm, 20mm, 22mm, 24mm and 26mm. This is why, when you place an order, the options for strap width are limited to 18mm, 20mm, 22mm, 24mm and 26mm.

If you want a different width strap I can make it for you, but you will need to source a buckle for it yourself (or I can fit the next size up i.e. a 22mm wide buckle on a 21mm wide strap).

Watches with odd width lugs (e.g. 21mm, 23mm etc.) are not uncommon, and this is a question I am asked a lot. Yes, I can make the strap the same width as the lug width of the watch, but buckles are normally made in even widths only (e.g. 20mm, 22mm, 24mm etc.). As my straps are parallel this means (if you want me to supply a buckle) it will need a buckle that is 1mm wider than the strap width (e.g. for a watch with 21mm lugs you will have a 21mm wide strap with a 22mm buckle fitted). This will mean there will be a very small gap where the buckle is attached to the strap, but it will be hardly noticeable (especially when the strap is being worn).

Correctly sizing a strap is not as complicated as it might seem, and is explained on the strap width & length page. This shows what information I need when you place an order, but feel free to email me if you want me to help, or have any questions.

No. All the leathers I have available are shown on this website. The selection of leathers I use does change occasionally, but at any time all the leathers I have available are shown in the Store.

No, the stitching in my straps is not only aesthetic but functional too. Over the years I’ve been making straps I’ve tried a variety of different glues and found that while there are some that are strong enough to bond leather so stitching isn’t necessary, the stronger the glue the higher the possibility that some people will suffer allergic reactions to it. I’m yet to find a glue that is strong enough and yet hypoallergenic, and so I continue to hand stitch all my straps.

Yes, of course. As standard, my straps come with a single 15mm wide floating keeper as shown in the store photography, but if you want a a fixed keeper it’s not a problem. I feel that 15mm is the perfect width for a single floating keeper, however it is too wide for a sewn in keeper so if you want a sewn in keeper it will be 9mm wide. A strap made with a sewn in keeper will also have a floating keeper (also 9mm wide).

If you want a sewn in keeper with your strap, please remember to let me know (either by commenting in the “additional Information” section when you get to the Checkout page, or by sending me an email immediately after placing your order). Unless you inform me otherwise, your strap will be made to standard spec i.e. with a single 15mm wide floating keeper only.

Unless you notify me at the time of ordering I will stitch the strap “open” (i.e. just down the sides of the strap). Open stitching is my personal preference and is how all the straps are shown in the store page photographs, but if requested I am happy to stitch your strap “closed” (i.e. with additional stitching across the width of the strap at the lugs), or “boxed” (i.e. with two lines of stitching across the width at the lugs to form a box).

If you prefer closed or boxed stitching please make sure you let me know when you order by mentioning this in the “additional information” field on the checkout page, or by sending me an email immediately after placing your order.

This depends on the length of the strap tail, but in general I will punch 7 holes spaced approx. 7mm apart (in shorter straps it will be 6 holes to avoid punching too close to the end of the strap). If you want to specify how many holes are punched in a strap tail, please make sure to comment in the “additional information” field when you get to the Checkout page to let me know.

Unless requested otherwise, my straps will not have tubes in them. I do stock tubes for 22mm, 24mm and 26mm straps however, so if you want me to fit them to your strap please be sure to mention this in the “order notes” field on the checkout page when ordering. There will be no additional charge made if you request tubes fitted to your strap, but please be aware that tubes are only recommended when the strap is to be worn on a Panerai Luminor watch. Fitting a strap with tubes is not a good idea unless the watch is a Panerai Luminor!

This blog post explains what tubes are, and what function they perform.

My straps are made to be used with a traditional tang buckle, and I don’t hold deployant clasps in stock. If you want to wear a deployant with one of my straps please be aware that my straps are parallel width and can be quite thick (thickness of strap is dependant on the leather selected), so you will need to source a deployant that can take that width & thickness of strap.

Regardless of the thickness of the strap, I always shave the thickness of the leather to around 1.2mm at the point of attachment so my straps will fit most watches. Some watches are well known for having very tight clearance at the lugs (eg. Anonimo and Bremont), so if you are concerned please be sure to let me know when you order and I will thin the leather slightly more than I would normally when I build your strap.

I have done everything I can to make sure that the color you see on your screen is as close to that of the product you will receive as is possible, but the colours we perceive are affected by many things. Changes in the ambient lighting temperature and brightness can change the way our eyes see colours, and of course all monitors are not calibrated equally. For this reason, although I am confident of the photographs on my site, I can’t guarantee that the strap you will receive will be the precise color you see on your screen.

A full explanation of the order process can be seen on the how to order page.

If you are confused by any of the choices you have to make then by all means contact me and I will do my best to help. Once an order is received I will confirm everything back to you by email before starting work on your strap, so if there are any aspects of your order I think need clarification we can discuss them at that time.

Please note – I only schedule the build of your strap/s once payment has been received.

The cost of a strap depends on your choice of leather and buckle (the base cost of a strap includes a free spring bar buckle, but you can upgrade to a sewn in or screw bar buckle when you order for a small additional charge). All prices are published on the pages showcasing the specific leathers, which can be found via the Store page.

Creating an account with Toshi Straps when you place an order is optional – you can checkout as a guest if you like, but creating an account gives certain advantages if you will be coming back to the site in future.

When you tick the box on the checkout page to create an account, my website saves the details you have entered i.e. your name, email address, postal address and telephone number, as well as the details of the order you have placed. This means that in future placing an order will be quicker (because you won’t need to enter those details again) and you will be able to review the details of all orders you have placed since creating the account.

Please note – if you decide to create an account when you place an order my website does not store any of the details relating to the financial tranasction.

Postage and packing is free of charge on all orders of £70 or more, so whenever you order a strap from me you won’t be charged a penny for postage and packing – regardless of where you are in the world.

If you are not ordering a strap and the value of your order is less than £70, there will be an additional charge added at the checkout stage to cover the cost of post and packing – this will depend on where you are in the world, and is as follows:

UK customers – your order will be sent with Royal Mail First Class Recorded Delivery, and the charge is £3.75

International customers – your order will be sent by Royal Mail International Registered Airmail, and the charge is £10.00

My preferred method of payment is by credit / debit card, but I do also accept payment through PayPal, and if you have a UK bank account you can also make payment by bank transfer.

Due to the high transaction charges and long delays I’m afraid I am unable to accept wire transfers from non-UK banks.

No. My straps are bespoke and are made to order. I know it can be frustrating having to wait for your strap, but I will make the wait as short as possible and I am confident you will be delighted with the strap when it arrives.

Yes, I have customers all around the world and I am happy to ship to anywhere.

I use Royal Mail to ship my straps to you as standard. If you are in the UK your strap will be sent using Royal Mail “First Class Recorded Signed For”. If you are outside of the UK I will use “International Tracked & Signed” (where possible – there are some countries where this is not possible & in those circumstances I use “International Signed”) to get your strap to you. Both these services will require a signature on delivery, and allow me to insure against loss. For more info on the Royal Mail Services I use please go to Royal Mail’s website.

If you are in the UK and want me to send your order using RM Special Delivery please let me know when you order. There will be an additional £6 charge which I will invoice you for seperately.

If you are outside of the UK and want me to arrange for your order to be delivered by a courier (e.g. DHL or Fedex) I’m happy to sort out the necessary paperwork and do that for you. Using a courier service can be substantially more expensive than the standard registered airmail service I use, but if you are happy to pay an additional cost please let me know when you order by putting a comment in “order notes”. I will get a quote from the courier to send to you, and you can then decide whether to pay the additional cost and upgrade.

The lead time for a Toshi Strap varies depending on how busy I am when you place an order, but it is normally between three and five weeks from the time I receive your payment before the strap is ready to post. When I receive payment for a strap I schedule the strap build, and I will always give you a firm posting date when I email you confirming receipt of payment. I take responsibility for making sure I post your strap on (or just before) the quoted posting date.

All credit / debit card transactions are processed for me by my bank through their secure payment server, and so I will never have access to your card details. I receive notification from them that your payment has been made, but I’m never made aware of your card details.

I don’t like an inbox full of spam or unsolicited telephone calls either, and so I assure you I will act with integrity at all times. Any information you give me will always be treated confidentially, but I do need certain information from you in order to fulfill an order. I will always communicate with you by email when possible, but your telephone number is requested so that in the unlikely event that your email isn’t working properly (or you’ve made a typo when placing your order – which does happen sometimes) I can still contact you if I need to e.g. to tell you that your order has been received, or inform you of the tracking number for your package.

In most circumstances it’s not possible to make changes to your order once you’ve placed it, but if you want to add something else please place another order for the additional item/s and ask me if I can post it with your previous order. If this is possible I will be happy to post multiple orders together.

I understand that mistakes can happen when ordering something and I am a fair person, so if I can help I will, but it please remember that when you order a strap from me you are not ordering an off the shelf item – you are commissioning a bespoke watch strap to be made for you to your specification. As such, once work has started on your strap, cancellations are not possible and only certain changes can be made (this depends on what work has been done so far e.g. if the strap has already been cut & stitched, it may be possible to change the buckle or the hole placement, but not to change the choice of leather, the width, the length or the colour of the stitching).

When I email you to confirm your order I will always give you a date that the strap is scheduled to be posted to you, and also an indication of when work is going to start on your strap (usually this is between 2-7 days after the order is received, but it could be sooner depending on certain factors). I would therefore strongly recommend that any deliberation about the strap specification is made prior to you placing an order. This reduces the risks that you will need to request changes, and it saves me a lot of time that I would rather spend making straps, but if you do decide to change something after you’ve placed your order please email me as soon as you can and I will let you know if it is possible.

I always ship using a “signed for” service so you will need to sign to receive the package. Policy may differ slightly depending on your country of residence (it is your national mail company that will make the final delivery), but normally if delivery is attempted when no-one is home to sign for a package, you will be left a card with information which will allow you to arrange a re-delivery on a convenient day, or to collect it from their offices.

It sounds obvious, but cleaning the strap regularly will help to keep your strap in optimum condition. Sweat and dirt will eventually cause the strap to deteriorate, so a regular wipe with a clean, dry (or slightly damp) cotton cloth is recommended. If you intend to buy a specialised cleaning product you would be advised to avoid any that will strip the natural oils from the leather. Also, a leather cleaner should not leave an oily residue (which can make the strap susceptible to bacteria and can break down the stitching). A leather conditioner is something that should be used only occasionally. Conditioners contain fats and oils to help replenish the leather, but I avoid any containing petroleum or mineral oils as these ingredients will damage the leather in the longer term. It is always a good idea to test the cleaner / conditioner on a small area at the back of the strap first – many products can change the colour of the leather. One more point to mention – please remember that leather is a natural material and should never be stored in plastic (because it encourages the growth of mildew and bacteria and can damage the leather).

Leather is naturally a porus material, and although I do wax and oil my straps during the manufacturing process I do not consider them to be waterproof. I advise against getting my straps wet, and certainly would suggest swimming or showering while wearing a strap is not a good idea.

Any screw will loosen in time. With a watch buckle the vibration from wearing the strap and lateral movement of the leather strap against the buckle means there are a lot of forces acting against the bar, so a screw bar buckle needs to be checked often, and tightened when necessary.

If checking and tightening the screw bar is too much trouble you can use a thread locker – this is a specific adhesive which locks the thread of the screw to prevent it loosening (without locking it permanently). The one I recommend is Loctite 243. Threadlockers come in a variety of strengths but Loctite 243 is medium strength – designed to form a bond that is strong enough to inhibit the loosening of a metal screw but weak enough to allow the screw to be undone using a screwdriver).

No. All the watches you see on this website are either watches from my collection or belonging to my customers. I usually photograph my straps with a Panerai for the Store pages simply because many of my customers wear Panerai. The photographs of my straps mounted on watches are not meant to give the impression that my watch straps are endorsed by any manufacturer whose watches are featured.

No, I’m afraid my workshop is private. Allowing people to visit and have a look around would be too disruptive to my schedule, and I think it is more important that I concentrate my time on the straps that I am making – ensuring they are always built to the highest standards and meeting the deadlines I set myself.

Yes, I’ve collected watches for many years, and it’s how I started to make straps.

Yes, there’s no-one else here. Occasionally my wife may bring me a cup of tea, or one of the two cats we share our home with may have fallen asleep on my work bench, but generally speaking it is just me 🙂