While I was at one of the wholesalers I visited on my road trip last week I picked up some English bridle leather. This leather is far too heavy to make watch straps from (it’s twice as thick as anything I use for watch straps) but I wanted to make a few belts for myself (this is a perfect material for a belt because it’s so hard wearing). This morning I managed to get a bit of time to make them, and I’m really pleased with the results. I now have 4 new belts that I fully expect will last me many years – if not the rest of my life!
The belts are casual style – 1.5″ wide (that’s about 37mm) and so perfect for a pair of jeans (which I wear mostly). The leather is veg tanned and traditionally used for horse tack, so very heavy duty and resistant to stretching. I bought 4 colours of the leather so I have made a belt from each of them. The colours (shown below – from top to bottom) are London Tan, Dark Havana brown, Black & Medium Brown.
I really have no intention of making belts on a regular basis, but as I only really need one belt from each colour I have some leather left, so if anyone wants me to make one for them please drop me an email and let me know. I have two finishes of buckle available – the buckles are heavy duty sewn in buckles, so absolutely secure, and available in either brass or nickel finish. The brass buckle can be seen in the photograph at the top of the page on the London Tan leather belt, and the nickel buckle is below shown on the Black leather belt.
If you want me to make you a belt, please email me with the colour of the leather & finish of buckle you want, and also your waist size, but please note – it is wise to measure your waist rather than tell me what size trousers you take. When I was making the belts for myself I found my trousers are not quite as small as I expected (and I am therefore on a strict diet now!). If you tell me you have a 36″ waist I will make the middle hole at 36″ and punch a couple of holes each side of that, so please make sure the measurement you give me is accurate. It really is worth taking the time to measure because I can’t make the belts longer once they’re cut!
I’ll make the belts with two keepers – one sewn in and another floating (you may not need the floating keeper, but I’ll include it anyway and you can easily slip it off if it’s not required), and I’ll burnish the edges. The belts will be as shown i.e. minimal stitching (they’re single layer, so no need for stitching all the way around the strap) – and before anyone asks it’s not possible to stitch them in the different colour threads I use for my straps because the thread used for the belts is much heavier weight – I have it in natural, dark brown (shown on the medium brown strap below) and black only.
The price is £75 per belt (with free shipping), but I have a limited amount of each leather so it has to be first come first served I’m afraid. Get in touch if you’re interested.