For our Caleuche model I was looking for a rustic and solid watch band. I wanted something that would play with the old ship look of the model and the concept of the “Caleuche” legend. When consulting with suppliers, it became difficult to match what I wanted. So like everything else in this venture, I decided to try and make it myself for a first time.

The truth is that I did have enough experience to develop a watch strap, to know them and to know their details, styles and colors. But it is another thing to manufacture them. That’s why I first focused on educating myself on the subject. The different manufacturing processes and the different tools to be used. While there is a lot you can improvise, I found that having the right tools clearly makes a difference in terms of quality and efficiency. So I bought the different tools for cutting, gluing, sanding, making the holes, trimming, and a lot of other details that I learned in the process. It wasn’t that easy.

Once I knew the various steps involved in making a watch band, I went to the first thing which is finding the leathers. It was not very simple, as it was pandemic and the stores were closed. You had to call and go straight to the warehouses to get the hides. Still more entertaining I think. You wander through a lot of options and go a little crazy with all that can be done. So I finally hit upon the right leather, which is a sort of worn dark brown with all the look of old leather as you would imagine it on Jack Sparrow’s boots (or something like that).

Once the leather is in the workshop, the cutting process begins. You’d think the cut would be trivial, but it’s not. Cutting must be optimized to avoid wasting material and also to save time. The idea of making one is fun, but with 300 to go, it’s like the world is coming at you and you start to realize that the task is super hard. And that I should charge them more for the watch, but that’s another topic XD. Then the cut is not just a cut, but it has to be rounded and there the knife does not play any more. It is necessary to use special tools for trimming and corner rounding. This multiplied by each side of the strap since I made them double for these watch straps and in addition, stuffed. Stuffed with leather as well so you had to cut mini pieces of leather….

Once everything is cut, comes the gluing. It is worth mentioning that the glue is super important and the toluene issue is relevant. First, because I bought fast, I used a neo pren that was not Agorex, and apparently it did come with toluene and after 4 hours gluing the headache was unbearable …. dizziness included. I thought that nowadays all glues come already filtered for health, but it is not so …. so the next day to buy Agorex and problem solved. To do the gluing, first you have to thin some areas. Especially the folds and that involves scraping the area, which takes time and gets dirty like crazy. I used a dremel, which made more mess, but shortened the time.

Once everything is glued, the seams come next. For this model I opted for the “stitches” or mini seams on the upper sides. They are used to support the gluing and avoid separation in the areas of contact with the watch posts. At the same time they are decoration. I made it simpler this way because I tried the full stitching option around the leather and it looks nice, but I think it would still be sewing…. The thread used is a special waxed thread for leather. So that it passes through easily and at the same time is thick to resist tugging. The needles are also special as they must be thicker and longer to give firmness and pass through the thickness of the leather. The final knot is also an art since it is necessary to calculate that it is well for the burning with lighter that seals it.

Once the watch straps are glued, the sides are blunted so that they are not so rough. And then comes one of the most difficult parts, which is drilling the holes. It is difficult since one alignment error and the belt is gone. Getting 7 holes perfectly in a line is difficult and requires practice. The straps were quite thick and solid so it was not easy to make the hole and the possibility of running a little bit is high. 300 straps for 7 holes is 2,100 holes and the blisters have already appeared on the hands at number 1,000 XD.

Once the holes are finished, the belt is almost 80% complete. Then comes something much more pleasant which is the sealing of the sides and waxing. The sealing is done by burning the edges of the leather so that it does not look so raw and does not start to wear through. With the help of a dremel, a special cream is applied that polishes the leather a little and makes it smoother and darker. Waxing is then applied with a special wax that moisturizes the belt for greater durability and gives it the final tone and a special scent. At this point you can see that the work is almost ready, seeing how the straps have already taken shape.

The last steps are the engraving of the brand and putting the metal buckles. The buckles are somewhat tedious and time consuming since many times the width of the strap has to be adjusted a millimeter to fit the buckle. It is a handmade work and it is not perfect so here you have to take the knife or sandpaper again and remove the excess. Then the final part, engraving the mark with a soldering iron on the inside, where you will burn a finger (or your leg), but you will finally see the finished product with the mark and everything. It is the final stamp that declares that the strap is finished and ready to be assembled to the watch. And well …. to put them on the watches is also quite time consuming, but that’s the ultimate and finished job!

It took me 3 months…because clearly I’m not full time making watch straps, there’s the whole business to attend to, but it was a pleasant thing to do. Difficult, tedious, it hurts your back, the neo pren makes you dizzy, burns your fingers, cuts you, etc, but like everything else, if there is no difficulty then there is no satisfaction either. So buy them with the Caleuche! 🙂 Greetings!