Watch Gecko Vintage Highly Genuine Leather Watch Strap
March 14, 2019
Watch Gecko is a purveyor of very high value products that check a great many boxes. I have purchased many of their straps and have never been disappointed. This UK outfit has one of the most impressively useful websites that is both easy to navigate and equally visually entertaining. That alone would not be enough for a strong recommendation, but they also consistently deliver good quality products from spring bar removers to watch straps to watches of all styles.
Nothing says satisfied like a repeat customer. This Vintage Highly Genuine Leather Watch Strap is the fifth watch strap from Watch Gecko I have reviewed. This ties with B and R Bands for the most reviewed vendor on Strapsense. Nothing is guaranteed in online shopping as we all share the same handicap of seeing items without handling them and trusting they are as good as they appear to be. It is this shortcoming that led me to start Strapsense. Watch Gecko, however, is one of the vendors that I trust routinely to deliver more than you paid for.
The Vintage Highly Genuine Leather Watch strap is just another example of a complete, well-made product from end to end. My first impressions were once again met or exceeded when I opened the packaging and looked at this strap. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this strap and came away amazed and appreciative for how much watch gecko offers for the money. Having said that I will not be using this strap again as something about it was just off to me. I feel it suffers from over stuffed sausage syndrome and I will explain that in a minute. Have I peeked your curiosity? Good! Before the official strap sense regular highlights, a few words from Watch Gecko.
The leather we use for these straps is a lovely oiled Italian pull-up leather. The pull up leather gives you one of the most character-packed strap as colour changes slightly due to its oils and waxes being mobilized when it is pulled up while worn. The leather is supple and will age beautifully.
This is an exceptionally stylish thick padded strap featuring high-quality Italian leather, and shows off the beautiful natural leather grain.
Manufactured using the finest quality leather to guarantee highly comfortable wear around your wrist.
The strap boasts black painted edges, thanks to the cut-edge construction, which aids the vintage look and acts as a nice subtle detail.
This strap also features a solid polished 316L stainless steel buckle with solid tongue.
They like to make a point of how good the leather is in this descriptions and let me be totally honest. For leather with no named pedigree, with just the descriptor ‘leather’ it is truly quite good. Let us take a look at the details together.
DIMENSIONS
My strap was ordered as a 20mm (also available in 22mm) and it came in at 19.7mm at the lugs and 15.8mm at the loose and free ends. So a very healthy taper opening the doors to a more elegant wearing experience and definitely living up to the Vintage nomenclature in the title. The straps are listed as 125/75 in length on the free and buckle end respectively. That means on my 6.75” wrist, I am on the second to last adjustment hole for that comfortable not too lose / not too tight fit.
As Watch Gecko said, this is a heavily bolstered strap. They meant it. The strap is an honest 6.2mm thick at the lugs and stays that way until right before the adjustment holes where all the padding abruptly stops and then it is a consistent lovely 2.6mm thick for the remainder of the strap. By my calipers the padding goes on for about 47mm or 1.86” then it just stops like a snake that ate a large rat. The slimmer 2.6mm strap makes for an incredibly flexible and easy to wear strap, but it stands in stark contrast to the padding which is very soft, but not nearly as flexible. But we are getting into design.
DESIGN
Let me be frank here. The is a VERY well made strap. The leather used on the outer side is splendid in its visual depth of color and is an absolute joy to touch. The quality of the dying and stitching is in no way in question here at it is a fine example of the watch gecko ‘getting more than you paid for’ product. It would be easy to get lost in the rich varied colors of this strap. The strap has an old world feel, and looks far older than it actually is.
The black inner leather shows its grain very proudly and it feels smooth, but a tad rubbery to the touch. That is in no way a disparaging description as it feels treated to last against sweat and body oils that could prematurely age the strap. The inner leather shows the Geckota embossing on one side and fine Italian leather on the other. The two pieces are beautifully sewn together in a manner that does not affect flexibility or wearability in any way. The thinner portion of the strap has no memory of itself and will effortlessly take to any shape you bend it. This is the hallmark of finely made leather. This is not true, however of the padded portion.
The padded section of this strap, while done to a very high level of skill, and with good materials just does not appeal to me. It does have that stuffed sausage look to it. I have reviewed straps where the padding starts at the lugs and then gradually vanishes into the strap seamlessly just the same way as fog evaporates. On this strap the padding is thick and distinct and then just stops like they ran out. This causes a dichotomy inside the strap where it is like two straps in one. The padding is not done poorly and is still flexible and quite soft to an extent, but compared to the thinner supple leather at the end of the strap, it may as well be cardboard. The strap wants to bend at the end of the padding, rather than along its whole length. It leads to a very confused wearing experience. More on that later.
The sides of the strap are sealed in a perfect blacked out edge treatment. This always makes a strap feel completely high end to me. Sealed edges to me ooze refinement and while they make the strap last longer and appear more finished, it’s the visual appeal that wins me over every single time.
KEEPER AND BUCKLE
The Watch Gecko Vintage Highly Watch Strap has a standard two keeper system with one fixed and one floating. They are beautifully finished with a two roll marks and precisely finished edges just like the strap. I love to see this much attention to detail. They could have easily saved money and not done this. But that would not be the Watch Gecko way.
The buckle is stainless steel and formed with a wide surface for the pin to rest against. It is nicely polished and free of any visible markings. It was sized perfectly so the strap glides seamlessly through it. In fact, the buckle does its job so well you will not notice it.
HOW DOES IT WEAR
Right out of the box the strap just begs to be worn. The leather moves in your hand like an old leather shoe lace it is so soft yet feels strong enough to last decades. The padding (which I feel is excessive) here shows up to me and effects how the watch wears. Again, it is not that the padding is done poorly, but compared to the soft 2.6mm leather at the ends of the strap it is exponentially more rigid. The material wants to move where it is easiest and that is decidedly NOT in the 6mm thick padded section. Speaking with strap vendors, it is often quite hard to get padding right, as you must walk a fine line as to how much padding, what kind of padding, and where do you stop the padding when you design a strap.
I like a slightly padded watch strap. They give dimension and depth to the strap while adding a bit of class and visual presence. This strap definitely excels at all of the above. The inside of the strap is all day comfortable and the treated edges feed through the buckle with absolute ease. For smaller wristed people, having to wear the strap on the last or second to last hole means you will see the free end of the strap when you look at the time. It will wrap around that much which is often the case with straps over 120mm in length on the free end. Still not a big deal but worth noting.
The most notable thing you see when wearing that strap is the padding next to the case. The middle of the strap is over 6mm and the stitching is a mere 2.2mm thick. This 4mm change on both sides of the strap add dramatic curves next to the straight lugs of most watches. It will depend greatly on the watch if that is overpowering or complimentary. Which is a perfect Segway into the next section.
WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR
I tried this strap on my Hamilton khaki field auto 38mm and it was swallowed up by the straps charisma and geometry. Next I tried it on my Bronze Oris big crown as the threading is a dead ringer for Bronze. This brought a smile to my face and I decided to leave it on that particular watch. The old world design and vintage construction really just melded with the old School Pointer. So I could see this working with a pilots watch quite easily. A word of caution, I think this strap is better suited to larger watches. While the curves and design are pure elegance I think it needs a watch with some case bulk to balance out the 6+mm of strap padding. The Oris in the pictures just barely pulls it off and it is 12mm thick. On something like a Black Bay it could work beautifully with nearly 14mm thick sides or maybe a Sinn 356.
Which brings me to my main issue with this strap. It is supremely vintage and elegant, but its padded bulk make putting it on an actual vintage piece a bit of a mismatch. I am a firm believer in matching the watch dimensions with the straps dimensions and I think the pairing I have chosen works, but it is not ideal. Keep the case sizes 40mm and up and the thickness between 12-15mm and I think this strap could positively sing.
WHERE CAN I GET IT
The only place I know where to get Watch Gecko straps is at Watch Gecko
https://www.watchgecko.com/vintage-highley-by-geckota.php
SUMMARY
This is a case of perfect construction and material selection and preparation let down by design choices. Now do not get me wrong, this strap is beautiful to behold, and I am being very picky from my small corner of the watch strap world, but no watch I paired with this strap with clicked like some other strap combos. It felt off to me. Your results may be completely different than mine and if you like the aesthetics (which are easy to love) you should definitely give it a try. To me, this strap with a few design changes could be magic. For example, if the strap padding was cut down by 70% it would be a favorite of mine no question. Strap padding should be appreciated, but not noticed.
Always take my words with a grain of salt. I have tried to heap praise on this strap as best I could and it deserves a fair share. However, when I see something I do not like, I have to mention it to be fair to my readers. If my issues are not relevant, please disregard. These kinds of design choices are very individual. Your results may vary.