This week I was looking at my Speedmaster Professional all alone in the watch box. It really hasn’t had the wrist time it deserves, and you’d think as a follower of mine, it would never leave my wrist. Despite loving the watch, I’m not a massive fan of the bracelet comfort. There’s no on the fly adjustment to allow for my wrist swelling and pinches hair if too loose.
Speedmaster Professional
I have a couple of strap options for the Speedy, including the Nato that came with it, but I have been looking for a brown strap. The most recent is a very nice, but very expensive ABP Concept leather crocodile strap recently. I couldn’t quite bring myself to empty the piggy bank for another premium strap so soon. So off to Amazon I went.
Where to buy
Amazon didn’t have a massive range available, but on selecting the 20mm size, appropriate for the Speedmaster, this Saddle Brown with Linen Stitch came up. SUCCESS! An off white contrast stitch is perfect, and compliments the print on the dial perfectly. A click, click, buy later, and the there was a new Barton Watch Band sitting on my door mat the very next day. Not bad.
I could have ordered from Barton directly, but, I was impatient ,and wanted it next day. You can see my full review of the strap in the video below. Please check out the Barton web site to see their great range of styles and colours.
Leather Processing
One of the questions that came from a viewer was that of the tanning process Barton use for their straps. The trend now is to move to vegetable tanning, using natural products. Looking at the Barton web site, they state:
We utilize top grain bovine leathers that are hand selected and aniline dyed. Our dyes are selected to strike a balance. We providing the desired finish and color while still allowing the natural appearance of the leather to shine through. The underside of the leather quick release watch band utilizes a thin strip of leather that has been specially treated to provide a soft and comfortable fit against the wrist.
from Bartonwatchbands.com
Being a bit of a leather novice, I thought I would look into the processing and some of the jargon. A quick search takes me to Monte & Coe, a Canadian leather goods producer. They have a nice description of the difference between the leather types as well as the processing methods.
Image from Monte & Coe
Leather Types
Top Grain Leather, is the same layer used to produce Nubuck, where the leather is buffed to have short and soft protein fibres that give it a velvety feel. The strap isn’t Nubuck, but I assume it’s made from the same part that Nubuck shoe leather comes from. I have to do some more research, I love this voyage of discovery. They state that:
Generally speaking, the closer the leather is to the epidermis or the hair, the higher the quality.
Monte & Coe
Monte & Co state there are various tanning methods used. The most common are Vegetable Tanned and Chrome Tanned.
Engineered 19th century, chrome tanning is the modern method of tanning using a heavy metal chromium sulfate. These treatments are typically completed by placing the hides in large spinning drums where a tanning liquid is absorbed by the hide. Using this method, the tanning process normally takes only one day, however, the trade-off is the negative impact this method has on the environment due to the metallic nature of the chromium chemical and acids used in the liquid.
Vegetable Tanning is an ancient, more eco-friendly process that uses oils from vegetation, like bark, to treat the leather hides. This method is far more labour-intensive taking up to three months to complete, hence the higher price tag on any goods made using Vegetable Tanned Leather.
So, you can see where the costs of the higher quality straps are. Absolutely. The hand finishing and tanning processes, and owning a few of these, I really appreciate how they feel and wear. Barton are clearly manufacturing to a price point that appeals to the vast majority of consumers. Their USP is to offer the ability to have multiple colours and styles to suit your everyday mood. This all comes at a cost to the environment, which is an everyday decision for most consumer products these days.
Conclusions
I don’t regret buying the Barton Watch Band, I think they understand their market with what they offer. The quality on first impressions is very good. The fitment of the quick release spring bar is great for fuss free, daily strap changing. The spring bar is left a little loose next to the quick release pip though. Space has been designed in to aid insertion of the quick release.
I hope you found this post informative, and a nice companion to the video. Please also check out my other video on straps for my Speedmaster, below, and check out the affiliate links in the description.
Don’t forget to leave any comments and please subscribe to my YouTube channel.
