Let me know when they are available.
Thanks
Dan
: It all began months ago
: I was getting fed up with buying loads of straps, none of which had
: the 'Heuer Rally' holes quite right. Then, David D gifted me one
: of his great straps, and I swapped it onto pretty much every
: watch I was wearing. ‘How hard can it be to make another?’
: crossed my mind.. and it all went from there.

: I come from a traditional fine art background, watercolours,
: drawing, and consider myself handy with art and crafts, I’ve
: always taught myself and manage OK. I think it comes from my
: grandfather, he was a master goldsmith and that side of my
: family descend from the artisan French Huguenots. So, buoyed
: with confidence, I decided to give it a go. (coincidentally,
: I’ve just discovered via a thread on here, that the Huguenots
: were implicit behind the founding of the Swiss watch industry
: – how freaky!)

: Armed with the appropriate tools, I began to teach myself, and
: although it was a steep learning curve, I took to it like a duck
: to water. Despite being handy with a paint brush, I never really
: got that much of a kick out of it, but I absolutely love working
: leather, maybe it’s my calling, all these years collecting
: watches and I never thought about crafting a strap.

: Perfecting the Technique
: Each strap has to be made differently depending on the leather, but
: by far the toughest part is stamping the holes. It appears
: simple, but believe me, it is extremely difficult, which is
: probably why there aren't many (any?) strap makers that do it on
: a regular basis. Each strap has around 39 holes, and if one is
: misplaced, the strap is ruined, hours of effort down the drain.

: The leather puckers up as you stamp the holes, it gets pulled on
: way, then another, this causes a real headach. Even if alignment
: is correct, the pattern needs to be just right, the choice of
: hole size needs to be balanced with the distance between each
: hole. There are many other factors too.

: I can't tell you how many beautiful straps I've ruined over the
: past 8 months – and it’s sickening, all that effort wasted
: in one mis-aligned punch. The good news is that I've perfected
: my technique, I’ve customised some tools, and I can get them
: pretty damn perfect now, each hole is aligned and punched
: individually with great care. The technique has to be modified
: to match the type and thickness of leather.

: Old & Vintage Leather
: As well as using superior quality English saddle leather, I have
: sourced more exotic Italian & patterned leather, including
: some 25 year old Irish leather, striped from a beautiful old
: saddle. Sizes will cover all our beloved Heuers and other
: vintage models, including the awkward 19 & 21mm sizes. I'm
: lucky enough to have a wide range of Heuers, so I can see what
: fits & what doesn't, which thicknesses work best etc.

: There will be a ‘Classic’ saddle leather range, in light tan,
: chestnut, mocca brown & black. Plus a vintage range with old
: leather, and some other exotics, like Stingray pattern,
: burgundy, cream and blue.

: It’s not a business, but a pleasurable hobby, I don’t plan on
: taking commissions or anything like that. I will be offering
: them for sale on here to fellow collectors when I've created a
: batch.

: Vintage tang & Heuer Buckles
: I have a limited supply of Heuer Re-Issue 16mm buckles (some 18mm
: too) as well as vintage plain 16mm buckles, that I have
: collected over the years, scouring the internet.

: So, this is a kind of 'soft launch', I haven't got any for sale
: just yet. I have a loose plan on what will be available.

: Here are some previews, I believe them to be of the highest quality
: and should suit our vintage Heuers perfectly.

: Some examples of my past art..

:
:

:
:

: >

: >

: And some of the straps..
: The tan straps are new aniline tan saddle leather. The darker brown
: straps are made from 25 year old Irish saddle leather...

:
:

:
:

:
:

:
:

:
:

:
:

:
:

:
:

:
:

:
:

: Cheers
: Stewart