Custom Shell Cordovan Leather Strap

It's the same double-sided shell cordovan strap as our standard range, made to order. You choose the leather colour (Black, Chocolate, Cognac, Green, Navy Blue or Red Wine), the lug/buckle width — anywhere from 17/14mm up to 24/20mm, so it fits watches a standard 20mm strap won't — the length (XS 95/60mm through XL 135/80mm), the stitching style (full or side), the thread colour (tone-on-tone or a wide range), and whether you'd like quick-release spring bars. It's cut and stitched by hand at 2.8mm. Need a width or length that isn't listed? Choose 'Others' or email hello@luciusatelier.com and we'll build to it.

Eight standard lug/buckle widths: 17/14, 18/16, 19/16, 20/16, 21/16, 22/18, 23/18 and 24/20mm. If your watch needs something outside that range, choose 'Others' at checkout or email hello@luciusatelier.com and we'll cut it to your measurement. (Our standard shell cordovan and cowhide straps, by contrast, are a fixed 20/16mm.)

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.