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A watch strap has the hardest job of any leather we make. It is against skin for twelve hours a day, in direct sun, absorbing sweat — conditions no wallet ever faces. Understanding why it wears helps you get years out of one instead of months.

Salt is the real problem, not sweat

Perspiration itself evaporates. What stays behind is salt, and salt is hygroscopic — it keeps pulling moisture in and out of the leather fibres. That cycle of swelling and drying is what stiffens a strap and eventually cracks it at the fold by the buckle.

This is why a strap worn every day fails at the same two places every time: the fold, and the holes.

Body heat accelerates everything

Leather against skin sits at body temperature all day. Warm leather loses its oils faster, which is the same mechanism that makes a radiator so damaging — just slower and every single day.

What actually helps

Take it off at night. The single most effective thing you can do. Leather that gets twelve hours to dry and recover lasts roughly twice as long as leather that never comes off.

Wipe the underside. A dry cloth after wearing, especially after exercise. That is where the salt is.

Never swim or shower in it. Repeated soaking and drying is the fastest way to destroy a strap.

Condition the underside more often than the top. Every few weeks rather than twice a year — this is the exception to our usual rule, because the underside is losing oils continuously. Buff off any excess so it does not transfer to your wrist.

Own two

If you wear the same watch daily, alternating two straps will roughly double the life of each. Leather recovers when it rests, and a strap given a day off between wears simply does not stiffen the way a daily one does.

Straps are cut from the same hides as our wallets — see Understand the Leathers.