Shell Cordovan Leather Strap 20/16mm [Cognac, Full Stitch]

They're 20/16 straps — 20mm where they meet the case, tapering to 16mm at the buckle. That fits our 20mm-lug cases and any other watch with 20mm lugs, on standard spring bars. Two exceptions in our own line: the Bauhaus 33 runs 18mm lugs, and the Seiko-Dweller's bracelet is integrated.

Straps are sold by wrist size. Small fits a 14.5–17.0cm wrist, Medium 16.5–19.0cm, and Large 18.5–21.0cm, measured around your wrist where you'd wear the watch. Between sizes? Size up — a 16.8cm wrist takes Medium. The long/short ends run 105/65mm (S), 115/70mm (M) and 125/75mm (L).

Yes — the strap comes with quick-release spring bars already fitted. Slide the little tab on the underside, drop the strap between the lugs, and release. No spring-bar tool needed, and no risk of scratching the lugs. It fits any watch with 20mm lugs on standard spring bars.

Yes — cut, chiselled and stitched by hand by our leather artisans. Every stitch is placed manually rather than run through a machine.

Keep it out of prolonged water. If it gets wet, wipe it and let it air-dry away from direct heat, never on a radiator. A soft dry cloth brings the surface back; shell cordovan can bloom a light haze that wipes straight off, and a little cordovan cream or leather conditioner a few times a year keeps either leather fed. Both darken and patina with wear — that's the leather ageing, not failing.

Best not to. Leather isn't waterproof — repeated soaking, sweat and salt will stiffen a leather strap and shorten its life. A splash is fine; swimming, showering or diving is not. If you want a strap for the water, rubber or nylon is the better call, and leather is for everything else.

It's where the stitching runs. A full-stitch strap is stitched along its whole length down both edges — a cleaner, more formal line. A side-stitch (sometimes called vintage) strap is stitched only near the ends, leaving the middle unstitched for a softer, more casual look. Both are hand-stitched and equally durable; it's purely the look you prefer.

Full grain cowhide is the workhorse: the top layer of the hide with the natural grain intact, handmade and priced accessibly. Shell cordovan is the upgrade — denser, glassier, and noticeably more expensive. If it's your first handmade leather strap, cowhide is the easy start; if you already love cordovan, you know why it costs what it costs.

A leather from the hindquarters of horsehide, where the fibres pack so densely that the surface takes on a deep, glassy smoothness. It's among the most prized — and most expensive — leathers in the trade, which is why cordovan straps carry a premium over cowhide.

Shell cordovan is cut from a small, dense part of the horsehide, so it's scarce and costly before anyone touches it. We then build ours double-sided — shell cordovan for the lining as well as the face, where most makers use a cheaper backing leather. That doubles the cordovan in every strap: no rough flesh side against your wrist, and nothing cheaper to crack or peel. It's why our cordovan costs more than the cowhide, and why it lasts.