Reply With Quotethe best way to make it smooth is just to wear it a lot.
you can speed up the process by rubbing the leather in with some leather cream to make it more soft.
We all know the feeling, lovely new strap, stiff as a board (the strap! - a new strap is exciting, but there are limits...)
You fit it to the watch, admire the look, then try it on and the whole thing becomes really unsatisfactory. So you flex it a bit, roll it around, bend it, shake it, anyway you want it...
But still it is far from supple.
So what do you do next? Any suggestions? What is your best way for breaking in a strap quickly - I don't have time to wear a watch for long!
So clever my foot fell off.
the best way to make it smooth is just to wear it a lot.
you can speed up the process by rubbing the leather in with some leather cream to make it more soft.
Put it on a watch winder, the pad/cushion will get it more used to the shape when worn.
Vaseline....works with my Dr Martens boots!
If you want an 18 or 20 mm strap, and have a medium to thin watch, you might consider a Nomos shell cordovan. Very little break in required, they will last WAY longer than any other leather strap, and are unbelievably comfortable. There is literally no other leather like it. There are custom shell cordovan strap makers that will make you thicker versions for 3-4 times what Nomos charges (though some of the Nomos ADs charge quite a bit more, citing import duties, etc., etc.). Their "verstärkt" strap is slightly thicker than their regular strap, and comes in both 18 and 20 mm, I think. I recently put a 20mm one on a 40mm, relatively thick (around 13 mm I think) watch, and I think it looks fine. It feels great! Beats having to break one in....
Try an Edinburgh GTG :wink: :D
Respect the past, live the present, protect the future
Originally Posted by Scottishtrunkmonkey
A horrible image just flashed into my fevered imagination there of a group or WIS'ers using the time honoured traditional method of softening leather and all standing around having a, er, "wis" on it...
:shock:
So clever my foot fell off.
Says more about you but you could be spot on, maybe
A horrible image just flashed into my fevered imagination there of a group or WIS'ers using the time honoured traditional method of softening leather and all standing around having a, er, "wis" on it...
:shock:
Respect the past, live the present, protect the future
Get it wet. Nice warm water whilst the watch is on your wrist, then let it dry out whilst still on. Keep it moving a little bit as it dries.
Worked with breaking in my Boots, Combat, High. I used to wear any new pair in a bath of warm water for a short while, then walk about the barracks for a bit as they dried - they would be broken in within an evening. Not the most comfortable sensation, but effective.
God knows what I must have looked like with a soaking wet pair of boots and soaking wet beret (same trick worked for shaping them!) squelching aimlessly around the camp of an evening :lol: :lol:
Using exactly that technique at the moment with a Di-Modell Jumbo strap.
Yes, I also did the soaked beret and boots thing in an earlier life.
If you haven't tried it then don't knock it. It was the recommended method of softening fire boots when I was a recruit in 1975. :wink:
A horrible image just flashed into my fevered imagination there of a group or WIS'ers using the time honoured traditional method of softening leather and all standing around having a, er, "wis" on it...
:shock:
F.T.F.A.
Good grief, this thread is warping my poor innocent mind.
;-)
When not wearing it, do the strap up on the tightest hole [so has the most curve in it] and carry it in your pocket - worked with a Di-Model Chronissimo.
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