Black two-piece watch strap with silver-toned buckle, keepers and adjustment holes

Before You Buy: Look Closely at Three Watch Straps

The QUBZI Edit / Craft & Materials

Changing a watch strap often starts with a number, and the number isn't always easy to find. Before you settle on a strap, spend a minute with your watch maker's own documentation. The three listings below state their lug-end widths in plain figures; the rest of the story lives in the photographs.

20mm Black Sheepskin Watch Strap

Start with the 20mm Black Sheepskin Watch Strap, listed at 20mm at the lug end and tapering to 18mm at the buckle. The listing describes black imported sheepskin with a fine pebbled grain and a semi-gloss finish, a polished silver-toned tang buckle, two leather keepers and seven holes on the long piece. In the photo, the two pieces read as a deep blue-black. Dark stitching runs along the edges, nearly disappearing into the leather.

Dark navy-black watch strap in long and short pieces, with holes and silver-toned buckle visible
Long and short pieces, holes, silver-toned buckle. QUBZI catalog image.
Hand shows black strap ends, holes, silver-toned buckle, and a bent side angle QUBZI product video. View this QUBZI product.

18mm Elephant Grey Epsom Watch Strap

The 18mm Elephant Grey Epsom Watch Strap is listed at 18mm at the watch attachment point, tapering toward the tip. The listing calls the surface pebbled Epsom palm grain leather, muted taupe-grey with tonal variation. Its photos and clip show a brown-toned strap, so go by what you see rather than the color name alone. Look at the fine grain across both pieces, then the reversed view where the holes and buckle appear.

Brown-toned watch strap with fine grain texture, long and short pieces side by side
Fine grain texture across both pieces. QUBZI catalog image.
Watch strap laid in reverse arrangement showing adjustment holes and buckle, brown-toned
Reversed view showing holes and buckle. QUBZI catalog image.
Hand shows brown-toned strap texture, sides, and holes QUBZI product video. View this QUBZI product.

22mm Black Top-Grain Leather Watch Strap

Third is the 22mm Black Top-Grain Leather Watch Strap, listed at 22mm at the lug end and 20mm at the buckle, with black top-grain cowhide and light grey stitching along both edges. The listing gives five adjustment holes and a polished silver-toned buckle. What catches the eye is the grain: deeply pebbled, catching light on the raised texture, with the pale stitching standing out against the black.

Two black watch strap pieces held in hand with visibly grained texture and edge stitching
Grains and edge stitching on black pieces. QUBZI catalog image.
Close view of silver-toned buckle against grained black strap length
Silver-toned buckle against black grain. QUBZI catalog image.
Hand shows grained black strap, light stitching, holes, silver-toned buckle, bent end QUBZI product video. View this QUBZI product.

Reading the widths

The listings state 20mm, 18mm and 22mm at the lug end. Compare those figures with the lug width in your watch maker's documentation. A matching number makes a strap a candidate; it doesn't confirm that the strap will fit. Hardware and overall fit are outside what this short guide can tell you, and photos can't stand in for your watch's own specifications. If you can't find the number, hold off on a choice until you do.

For more on reading texture and edges up close, see Leather Grain, Stitching and Edges, or browse how to look at handmade objects for the small details worth noticing.

Mara is a fictional editorial pen name for QUBZI Material Notes. This article was developed with AI assistance and reviewed by the QUBZI editorial workflow. QUBZI handles orders and customer care.

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