I think I may have found the perfect black leather for a watch strap!
Earlier this year I made a trip to visit a number of tanneries & suppliers I use. This has become an annual road trip for me, and over a period of a few days I drop in to say hello to various people I’ve got to know over the time I’ve been making straps. It’s very much a social trip for me, but of course it isn’t just about maintaining the relationships I have built with these people – I’m always on the lookout for something new and a bit different for my business. Normally this means I come home having spent money on a few new leathers that are then added to the store pages.
One of the leathers that caught my eye on this last trip was a black Italian calf. I’m not sure why it peaked my interest so much because the last thing I felt Toshi Straps needed at the time was another black leather, but there was something that drew me towards it. It looked wonderful, but did I really want another black leather?
Over the last few years I’ve found a number of leathers that I consider core to my site. Three of them are black. Nero, Nautilus and Black Shell Cordovan are all hugely popular and offer different takes on a classic black watch strap. Speaking to customers who have ordered one of those three straps they are always so well received that I have every intention of stocking for a long time to come, and yet there I was wondering if there was room for another. One thing convinced me to take a sample of the leather home with me – it is thinner than most of the leathers I work with, and I do occasionally get asked for something thinner than 5mm.
As soon as I got home I started working with the sample and I could tell it was something special. It’s a pure veg tanned calf, produced by a small independent tannery in a process that takes a good 6 months from start to finish. It’s a full grain leather that’s been tumbled so the natural grain of the leather comes through, and although it’s a bit thinner than the straps I usually make, the leather has a structure and strength that is perfect for a watch strap. I ordered some and launched the leather last month as Raven, and it seems I was right to do so because it’s been a best seller since it was released.
Yesterday I decided that I wanted a black strap for my Panerai 233. This watch seems to look good on just about every colour leather you can think of, but in my opinion a simple black leather strap is perfect for it. I had some free time so I built this strap from Raven leather. I used black stitching for a minimal look, and used an old buckle I had in my personal spares box.
I adore the texture of this leather. It’s so soft and pliable, but being a full grain leather it’s strong and holds it structure well. It is thinner than the other core black leathers I use, and the strap is only 3.5mm thick only. But it’s the look of the leather I find so attractive. The tumbled grain is just lovely.
I realised last week that this year marks my 15th anniversary as a strap maker. Back in June 2006 I decided to try to create a watch strap for the first time. Thinking back to it now I remember the strap I made was a rather shoddy looking thing, made with some cheap black leather I had found, and it took a very long time to make (if I remember it actually took me about 6 hours just to stitch it – I’m not joking!). The stitching wasn’t straight, and I didn’t know how to burnish edges back then so I left them raw, but it was something I’d made myself and I was quite proud of that.
Over the last fifteen years I’ve made hundreds of black straps for customers from numerous different black leathers. I must say that above all else, Raven is far and away my personal favourite. I do believe this is the perfect black leather to make a watch strap from. If you’re in the market for a new black strap you really can’t do better than this!