Our made to order French Ammo Pouch Watch Straps are handmade from some of the rarest and most sought-after vintage French ammunition pouches available, dating back to the 1960s. We pair this ultra-tough military grade leather with a finely finished stainless steel buckle to create an exceptional quality watch strap that is guaranteed to enhance your watch as well as be a statement piece for your wrist.
Every nuanced detail, hole, crease mark, scratch, stitching line or stamp is purposefully presented, as each watch strap is truly a one of a kind limited edition masterpiece. We hand stitch every strap using the strongest 4 ply waxed linen thread for added durability, use precise finishing techniques and give meticulous attention to detail so each strap is built to last using only the finest materials available.
Enhance your watch with this luxurious handmade vintage leather watch strap, it will give years of all-day comfort and style. Each vintage French ammo watch strap is made to order by hand in our San Diego workshop from individually selected vintage ammunition-pouch leather. Please allow approximately 3–4 weeks for production before shipment.
Customizing Your Watch Band | How to Order
COLOR
The color of the leather is very important. Selecting a lighter color will allow the strap to age much more and gain a darker patina over time with wear and use. The darker colors already have patina and aging on them but are rarer for us to source.
TEXTURE
One of the unique characteristics of our French ammo pouch straps are the fact that they are vintage from the 1960s and earlier so the texture is an important selection as choosing "clean" will not show as much character but choosing "distressed" will include many stitching holes from the original ammo pouch manufacturer or perhaps a rivet hole from a slightly more used looking ammo pouch. The middle of the road selection "some marks" will display some of the vintage aspects and traits of our French ammo pouches without being too much.
WIDTH
Knowing and selecting the correct width is critical to the custom watch strap ordering process. If this detail is unknown then we generally perform a web search when trying to find a specific watch's lug width. For example when searching for an Omega Speedmaster Pro's lug width we would search for "Omega Speedmaster Lug Width", which can be a great starting point. You can add the specific model # to the search as well which can be even more accurate.
LENGTH
The average OEM strap length is somewhere around 115mm/75mm. The 115mm is the length of the longer strap with the holes on it and the 75mm is the shorter strap with the buckle attached. Depending on your wrist size you can go up or down from this starting point. If your wrist is 6" (150mm) then you can go shorter, if your wrist is 8" (200mm) or greater than you might want to increase those #s.
BUCKLE TYPE
The buckle is a very personal choice. Generally most people match the finish or material of the watch's case to the buckle, but this is not a hard fast rule. Also the general size or feel of the watch is matched here too, meaning a smaller watch might do best with a smaller INOX style buckle while a larger watch might pair best with an ARD or Pre-V style buckle.
STITCHING TYPE
We offer 3x main stitching types. Our most popular choice is the "side" stitching option which is a minimal single side tact stitch that we wrap around the side of the strap a few times and it gives a nice clean overall look with a nod to the past. It allows the leather to shine as the focal point vs the stitching. The "full" option is very similar to most OEM style straps and it will give you full stitching around the perimeter of the strap starting at the top right, going to the tip and then back up the left side. Our last option is the "top" option which is simple and very durable, it gives you a single line of stitching parallel to the bar that attaches the strap to the watch.
STITCHING COLOR
While there are many wonderful options to choose from, our top few choices would be matching to the leather, cream to give it a nice vintage look or white to offer a fresh, clean look. Black is another great option especially if you want to match the stitching to a PVD (Black) buckle. All of the other colors are a personal choice and that depends on the watch and your personality.
KEEPER
This option refers to the thin leather pieces that the tip of the long strap slides into after going through the buckle, so the tip stays nice and close to your wrist. We almost always recommend 2x of these, especially for larger wrist sizes, just to give you a 2nd keeper in case anything happens to one of them. Once we cut an ammo pouch it is nearly impossible to match the keepers in the future so this is your chance to get 2x from the exact same ammo pouch that your watch strap was made from and this is why we highly recommend getting 2x of these from the start.
VENETIAN CREAM
This is our go to leather conditioner in the shop and we have been offering this product since our inception. It is still made in Chicago and they still use glass bottles with a metal cap and make one of the finest leather conditioners out there. If you have not tried it or simply do not have a leather conditioner we highly recommend adding a bottle to your collection as vintage straps do get thirsty and need conditioning from time to time.
Details
This is where you can write and add any notes that are pertinent to the order that we need to know. We generally say the more details the better.
In 2009 DaLuca Straps was founded in San Diego, Ca as a passionate brand that focused solely on producing hand crafted watch straps. Since then they have expanded their in house manufacturing team to produce watch bands that fit virtually every watch + offer accessories such as wallets, belts, key chains & t-shirts. Quality, longevity and simplicity are always at the forefront at DaLuca Straps.
