Leather and Lugs: The Making of a Hermès Watch Strap
Watch straps usually play second fiddle to the watches they hold in place. Not at La Montre Hermès, which takes its leather goods as seriously as it does its watchmaking. In this feature from the WatchTime archives, Gisbert Brunner explores how a fine leather watch strap is crafted.
For many watch fans, connoisseurship stops at the case lugs; the watch strap, a temporary, easily replaced accompaniment, is no more worthy of study than a paper napkin. That isn?t fair. Fine watch straps reward scrutiny the same way fine watch movements and cases do. Equipped with a little knowledge of leather-crafting techniques, a connoisseur can become as expert a judge of the former as of the latter.
A good place to start one?s study is at the world-famous, crème-de-la crème leather goods company Hermès. The company makes some 120,000 straps per year, not only for its own collection of Hermès-brand watches but for those of Parmigiani Fleurier as well. Hermes makes some 120,000 leather straps per year. Each requires at least two hours of careful crafting.
Hermès makes its watch straps in two facilities: one in Switzerland, where it also makes watches; the other in Paris.
The company developed its leather-making prowess long before the wristwatch came along. In 1837, Thierry Hermès, a saddler and maker of other equestrian tack, opened a workshop in a back courtyard on Rue Basse de Rempart in Paris. The quality of his products soon earned him an enviable reputation. He moved to the Faub...
-------------------------------- |
|