Selection of Watch Straps – Straps By Fleur

Being infected by the hobby of her husband, Fleur started her interest in watches a few years ago. While owning a Rolex, TAG Heuer Aquaracer, and an Omega Speedmaster she found that she could easily change the look of her watch by switching straps. Shortly after, the idea was born to start her own little webshop, with only those straps she likes and are of good quality.

While going through piles of straps from different manufactures, and through piles of leather samples, she selected only those that offer good quality and thus will last a long time.

The selection of straps Fleur carries are carefully selected and with the following in mind: Bring a bit of that vintage touch to modern watches, and make a vintage watch look fresh again. Colors and materials are often a matter of taste, but the quality should be good. Comfortable and soft leather and with the right thickness for most watches. Till now, most of the straps she sold went to Omega Speedmaster and Rolex owners. “But sometimes I get e-mails from customers that need a strap for something different, like the guy who needed a nice strap for his Zenith El Primero A386”. 

“A lot of straps I came across when I started my little business, before even opening a webshop, felt not right. It is no problem to find strap suppliers, but a lot of straps were not of the quality I was looking for. I don’t want to have a strap on my watch that feels like cardboard box and pay 90 Euros for it.“

All straps that are sold by Straps by Fleur are hand-made, by Italian artisans. One of the best sellers is the grey suede strap, as pictured below, but the camel (tan) leather performs good as well. It is also what Fleur wears herself on her Explorer, for example.

Fleur has a full time job, but she makes sure that the straps are shipped within 24 hours after the order takes place. Also, she is planning to visit Italy soon to try to get more different straps. For now, the focus is a bit on vintage looking straps, with the typical stitching, but she also thinks of getting a bit more variety in her shop, different colors and materials.

She personally loves the tan strap and the black strap, as pictured below. The black strap is cordovan and a bit more expensive (€65 Euro) than the regulars (€59 Euro). The most expensive one in the shop, for now, is the brown vintage leather strap, at €75 Euro. The quality of that strap is the same as the others, but the appearance is different and required extra steps (and time) from the artisans in Italy.

The idea of Straps by Fleur is to create a webshop that is easy to use, no hassle to purchase (PayPal or simply by bankwire) and free shipping worldwide. “I run this little business by myself, I only need help from my husband with some of the references of watches when I take pictures of new stock. It is also good to see that he actually wears them, as I know he is very critical towards watches and straps. However, as a woman, I pay a lot of attention to details, and every strap goes through my hands before sending them out.“.

All straps come with a steel buckle. You can easily exchange them for the original buckle that came with your watch of course, except for folding clasps. You might need to check first on those as they are not all similar when it comes to fit and distances (holes).

Visit the Straps by Fleur website here.