Shiny water/sweat resistant brown leather strap for Tissot LeLocle

[milesandcoltrane]

Hi All,

After a long hiatus I'm back and itching for a new strap.

Bought my Tissot Le Locle (white face, roman numerals) with the stainless steel bracelet and have been wearing it stock for almost 2 years.

I would like to change to a leather strap, since it dressier.

I'm looking for a brown leather strap that's shiny and flat/thin. Problem is though I sweat quite a fair bit and live in a hot and humid climate. I do work in an office environment now but years ago I've been known to destroy leather watch bands - was in school then and was constantly running about sweating buckets.

These days I'm stuck in air conditioned environment for hours on end so it's less of a concern but still an issue.

Been eyeing some lizard bands from the likes of Di Modell and Hirsch but worried about parting with serious money - almost 100 bucks after shipping - and destroying these straps.

Any recommendations? Di Modell's Aero lining technology seems tempting but these straps are quite expensive and most don't look very shiny to me.

[CADstraps]

Food grade silicone spray. Cheap, and very effective. Easily obtained at any scuba supply store, and if you have none near you, it can be bought online. Costs me about $5/bottle, and will cover the lining of more straps than you would ever wear.

So, buy the strap you like, apply this spray to the lining (leave it according to the instructions on the bottle to let it set), and it will not allow himidity or sweat to permiate the lining. You will want to re-apply once in a while if the moisture is very great, but we're talking about once or twice a year if worn regularly.

That watch has 19mm lugs, but a 20mm strap will fit it fine, and won;t look out of place. I would reccomend against going to 18mm, as that tiny gap will be noticible, and won't have a clean look.

[milesandcoltrane]

Food grade silicone spray. Cheap, and very effective. Easily obtained at any scuba supply store, and if you have none near you, it can be bought online. Costs me about $5/bottle, and will cover the lining of more straps than you would ever wear.

So, buy the strap you like, apply this spray to the lining (leave it according to the instructions on the bottle to let it set), and it will not allow himidity or sweat to permiate the lining. You will want to re-apply once in a while if the moisture is very great, but we're talking about once or twice a year if worn regularly.

That watch has 19mm lugs, but a 20mm strap will fit it fine, and won;t look out of place. I would reccomend against going to 18mm, as that tiny gap will be noticible, and won't have a clean look.

Thanks a lot for your prompt reply CADstraps! Wow I've never seen this product before, I'll try it out along with any strap that tickles my fancy! Sounds like it would work with other leather products like shoes and bags as well.

Quick question though, if that's the case then what would bethe difference between expensive straps and cheaper leather straps. Is the difference in quality all that noticeable?

[CADstraps]

Quick question though, if that's the case then what would bethe difference between expensive straps and cheaper leather straps. Is the difference in quality all that noticeable?

Your quick question is a very big one. You could boil it down to an overly generic explanation: quality. But once you start peeling that onion back, you'll find many, many stinky layers, like:

- materials. even just basic tooling leather comes in many levels of quality. A $30 'croc' strap will be thin, cheap cow leather that has been embossed to look like crocodile hide. That same strap will be padded with a crummy felt-like material, whereing good quality padded straps use calf or similar. The hypothetical $30 croc strap in my example will also be lined with a poor/mid quality leather, maybe calf. Good liners are lamb, kid, deer... something of supple, but durable quality. It will also be stitched with a cheap synthetic finding. Now, some peiople prefer synthetic stitching, but a good dress strap should be stitched with a natural and treated thread or cord (IMO, I guess).

- construction. A cheap strap is machine made and stitched. A good one is made by hand, with all stages of construction inspected for quality and accuracy.

I could go on, but I think you can get the point. Whever I see someone say that leather straps are only good for X amount of wear, then I can only assume that they have never had the pleasure of trying one that was made from quality materials by a craftman, instead of one made from lesser materials in a sweatshop of machines.