Leather watch straps vary from grained and smooth leather to naturally vegetable tanned hides, from the most popular genuine leather straps made from calfskin to exotics such as lizard, ostrich, alligator, shark, snake, stingray or buffalo. Naturally, bands made with hides from exotic animals such as shark, stingray, ostrich, crocodile or lizard are considered as the most exclusive watch straps. The most popular though are calf leather black watch bands.
Alligator Leather
Alligator leather is produced from the belly area of an alligator, as the back area is horned and very hard. It is one of the most popular and fashionable luxurious hide choices for watch straps. It is strong and tough, yet flexible.
Calf Skin Leather
Calf skin is produced from a hide of a calf or a young cattle, it is characterised by its softness, fine grain and durability. The scratches on the strap can be filled in with a leather conditioner.
Cowhide Leather
Cowhide leather is produced from a cow’s skin and is the most popular material used in genuine hide leather watch straps thanks to its affordability alongside its durability, breathability and easiness of maintenance. It does not smudge easily, is water resistant, has insulation properties and can be dyed to gain variety of colors.
Lizard Leather
Lizard skin leather most commonly comes from iguanas, ringtails and tejus. This distinctive skin is durable, supple, and most importantly, ages very well maintaining its esthetic values. Lizard leather watch straps are commonly found in luxury goods.
Vegan/Faux Leather
Faux leather is a great alternative for people not wanting to wear genuine leather goods, either from health or personal/ethical reasons, yet still want the simple and elegant look of leather. Nowadays, faux leather can be constructed to imitate any type of real leather and comes in vide variety of colors. Artificial leathers come from factories and are known under many names, such as pleather, vegan leather, PU leather or bicast leather.
Genuine Leather
Genuine leather is theoretically real leather, but is made from what is left over when other, higher layers of leather are stripped away. Higher layers of leather are considered to be higher-quality and are used to produce top-grain and full-grain leather. Genuine leather is made of several layers of lower grain, glued together and painted to resemble higher-quality leather. This kind of leather is very similar in appearance to top-grain or full-grain leather, but is not as durable and does not age so well. On the other hand, it is a great, cheap and eco-friendly alternative, as it does not waste or produce any byproducts during its manufacturing.
Buffalo Skin Leather
Buffalo hide leather have similar properties to cowhide leather, it is strong and durable, yet quite soft and supple. It has a more distinct hide grain and is resistant to scratching and abrasion.
Deer Skin Leather
Deerskin leather nowadays is produced from hides of domesticated deers rather than the wild ones, which makes them extremely soft, supple and comfortable.
Ostrich Leather
Ostrich leather is considered as one of the finest and most durable leathers in the world, which makes it also one of the most expensive. Thanks to the ostrich hide being rich in natural oils, it is resistant to drying and cracking and is very elastic. The most characteristic and desirable treat of the ostrich hide is its unique quill pattern.
Shark Leather
Shark leather is considered (alongside stingray leather) to be one of the toughest leathers used to produce leather goods. There are many types of shark leather watch straps, varying from rigid to silky smooth, but they are all very durable, water resistant and comfortable. They are characterised by the unique speckle pattern.
Snake Leather
Snakeskin leather is produced from various types of snakes such as cobras, rattlesnakes, boas, pythons and water snakes. The most popular and durable is python skin. Snake leather watch straps require special care to maintain them. They are often dyed as the natural color of snakeskin turns yellow with age.
Stingray Leather
Stingray Leather is characterised by its dinstinguish pattern made out of calcium beads situated on the back of a stingray, which are often dyed white to highlight decoration. Stingray leather watch straps are extremely durable, water-resistant and require close to none maintenance, they will also last much longer than ordinary leather products.
