“Does leather straps need to be taken care of just like leather shoes, leather bags, and other leather goods?” is a very common question among watch enthusiasts.
Normally, leather watch straps do need to be taken care of, just that not as complicated as most people think. It is needed to make sure the leather doesn’t over dried that causes cracks and eventually breaks because sweat from a human body can dilute the natural moisture of leather to gradually dry off and breaks after a long time (years).
How to take care for leather watch straps?
First you will need to identify whether your leather straps are glossy or matte.
If glossy:
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Front side (preference to keep the shine):
Use a any leather polish (shoe shine works too) to polish the surface of the straps. The ways to do this depends on the brands of the polish.
Normally,
1. Get a clean soft fabric
- Pick up some polish with the fabric, not too much
- Do light circular motion when applying to the leather
- Wait for 1-2 minutes
- Use a dry fabric to do fast and light circular motion again on the leather till you get the desired shininess.
(This is the way we do it using Saphir’s cream polish, which is the best in my personal opinion)
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Back side (actually the most important, to prevent crack or break):
Use a leather cleaner & conditioner to make sure the leather is moisturized (you can also use cleaner & conditioner separately).
Normally,
- Get a microfiber cloth/ clean and soft fabric
- Apply to the solution to cloth/ fabric
- Wipe it on the backside of leather strap
- Wait for 1-2 min, then wipe off the excess
- Repeat every 3-4 months, the more often you wear the strap, the more often you need to do this.
If matte:
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Leave the front side as it is, it doesn’t need any treatment whatsoever
For the back side, do the same treatment as for the Glossy leather straps.
However, whether glossy or matte, we usually recommend our customer to leave the front side as it is, and just use any leather conditioner for the back side.