Should you get into custom-made straps?
With this being my first write-up here, I thought it would only be right if I share a story of my very own journey in this little watch collecting hobby. When I first got into the hobby, I’ll be honest, I never understood why anyone would go out there and get themselves a bespoke strap. Because hey, there are ready-made options out there at a lower price point and let’s be honest, they look the same from a mile away. As a matter of fact, it was only last year that I got into bespoke straps and I have to say, things have changed ever since.
Fast forward to more recent times, upon thinking about the reason behind my first bespoke strap purchase from MSBespoke, it was to solve an issue regarding strap thickness. As I was looking for a strap to be fitted onto my thin little Seiko Dolce, ready-made straps just didn’t seem to cut it as they would appear thicker than the watch itself. Therefore, that brings me to my point on why some enthusiasts gravitate towards the custom-made route, as the name suggests, it’s the luxury to customize a strap to your liking. From odd lug widths down to even the type of stitching that you would like to have, bespoke straps can cover it all. But again, you might ask, “do these things really matter?”. Well, the two luxuries that continue to seal the deal for me are the customizable length and tapering of each strap. As a guy with considerably small 16cm wrists, I find that the ability to customize the aforementioned elements can drastically change how a watch wears on my wrist. To have the tip of a strap be positioned perfectly on the underside of my wrist is something that I never knew I needed. Of course, going custom-made does come with other perks such as the wide selection of materials, colors, choice of lining and even having the option of going padded or non-padded.
With it all said, you might ask, “is the custom-made route for me?”. Well, to put it out there, it really depends on what your watch means to you and how you value your watch-wearing experience. Of course, there are off-the-shelf options out there that might give you the same amount of joy providing that the right one is purchased. However, there is just a certain charm present in the process of communicating what you want with your strapmaker to obtain your ideal strap for a watch that you love. It is an experience that once felt, is rather hard to replace. Therefore, if you're constantly hopping from one ready-made strap to another in the quest of finding your perfect strap or would simply just like to make something that is unique to yourself, maybe it's time to give custom-made straps a shot.
