Bulang and Sons Degrade Honey Leather Watch Strap

There are moments in life, where everything is in perfect balance.  Sitting outside on a lazy Saturday enjoying the feeling of warm sun soak through your shirt on a December day just South of Houston.  December in Texas is absolutely spectacular.  The lows are not that low, and the highs are not that high.  The normally suffocating humidity is just a bad memory now as a cool breeze keeps the trees moving and leaves applauding the sublime conditions in waves and rustles. These are casual days.  A worn in T shirt, a pair of comfortable walking slip ons, and if you want to be completely honest a pair of warm ups all matched by a smile that can only be found on days like this. 

To accompany this harmonious scene, you would normally have a nice whiskey in one hand and on the other, a field watch with lots of character gained through an adventure or two with any strap on it but the one I am about review.  As completely inappropriate as a pair of wingtips would be for a Spartan Trial Race, so would this beautiful watch strap from Bulang and Sons be for an adventure watch. Again, I was eager to take a dip into the Bulang and Sons catalog and tried to find something a bit different and a bit dressy.  The picture of the Degrade Honey Leather strap struck me immediately as a strap with depth and character and reminded me of an old warn out belt to some degree. What arrived, was a quite a bit away from what I expected. 

A few words from Bulang and Sons first though to see if the description matches the watch:

Eternal Sunshine 

With its various hues of a zesty brown coating an almost orange leather, this watch strap carries a hue of finest golden honey that will suit any eternal summer style.

The natural sheen of the high-grade material of the hand made strap and keepers is countered by a concise side stitch. Handcrafted by Italian Artisan JPM.

DIMENSIONS

I ordered the 20mm version of this strap so all my dimensions are based on that.  At the time of writing this article, that is the ONLY size that was available.  The length of the strap is 125mm and 75mm at the free and buckle end respectively.  The way the adjustment holes are made, on a 38mm watch I was on the second to last adjustment hole on my 7 inch wrist.  

The strap is not very thick as it comes in at a slim 2.0mm thick.  This is a uniform thickness from the lugs to the ends of the strap.  The strap starts out at 20mm and then tapers to a very elegant 16mm at the extremities.  This kind of thickness and taper usually pigeon hole a strap to formal duty, but it is really the finishing that complicates things. 

DESIGN 

The degrade honey is an orange leather strap that has brown patina applied to it.  This can be fraught with dangers as applied finishes, if not done right, can wear off extremely quick.   Up to this point, this the Bulang and Sons strap seems to be immune to wear and the artfully applied coloring is staying put admirably well. 

The colors vary beautifully from orange to what I have been calling old suitcase brown.  Having visited a few train museums lately, the luggage on display was from many eras, but the ones that were all stitched leather and cloth were extremely eye catching.  These straps have that world traveler look about them that I find extremely attractive.   Besides the organic orange and brown coloring, the finish of the strap is without a doubt the first thing you will notice.  While some straps are satin or matte, this strap is decidedly glossy. If you think of highly polished old leather dress shoes, then you would be extremely close.  

The sides of the strap are well protected with extremely well done burnishing.  To bring the shoe analogy back, from the side, it resembles a multi layered sole construction.  The look and feel fit the aesthetic perfectly and it seems like it will last a lifetime. The other notable feature is the stitching that acts like an anchor for the darker tones to originate. Texturally the stitching is noticeable to the touch as it sits a tad proud of the leather surface but no demerits for that, as the stitching is a wonderful contrast to the glass smooth straps surface.  

All of these design elements come together in an old world handmade kind of way. While this was not made back in the 20’s, 30’s or 40’s, these aesthetic and color palette is whole-heartedly old world Americana. 

KEEPER AND BUCKLE

The Bulang and Sons uses a standard two keeper system. One is fixed between layers of the strap and the other is free to float to contain the free end after it goes through the buckle. The keepers are spot on in width as well as overall shape.  They allow the strap to glide easily through but post positioning, they stay put with landmark reliability. 

The buckle on this strap appears to the same standard B&S buckle I have seen on other straps from them. It is well done and nicely shaped to hug the wrist. It is neither bulky nor lithe in construction and has a slight linearly brushed appearance. 

HOW DOES IT WEAR

I struggled with this section at first as this strap came out of the package and immediately gave me pause. The glossy finish make the strap feel extremely plastic like. I was disheartened at its glass like texture and feared it would be so stiff as to be nearly unwearable.  Or worse, if I bent it, I thought it would crease and crack. This is not a strap that you can put on and have it melt onto your wrist like some others. Initially, suppleness and flexibility are as foreign to this strap as folded swan napkins were to the early Vikings.  However, like a new pair of Johnston and Murphy shoes (or a good pair of work boots), time has a way of changing things. 

I worked this strap through my normal break in fully expecting it to crease and wrinkle irreversibly but I was pleasantly surprised.  Not Luke watching his X-wing come out of the swamp surprised, but still expectantly happy. The hard surface started to give way to flexure, and with apparently no loss in glossy texture or color from the strap.  Things were definitely looking up. 

After the fourth and fifth day the strap started two wear like a typical Bulang and Sons strap, which is to say quite good. A natural curve set into the material, and while a few wrinkles did appear near the buckle and clasp, it was very superficial and did not affect the overall surface finish or appearance negatively. All the stiffness of the strap, which is most apparent when you try to buckle and feed it through the keepers started to vanish by this fifth day and things continue to improve with wear. 

WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR

This review I decided to put this strap on my stalwart Hamilton khaki 38mm auto.  This watch has appeared in many a strapsense reviews but this will be its last.  I accidentally dropped the watch from what can only be described as an unhealthy altitude directly on its crown on the tile in my kitchen.  I attempted to mend this as best I could but after getting the back off and getting a few plates deep into the movement, my skill (and appropriate tools), quickly ran out. So this strap will be the sendoff for the perennial Hamilton whose ability to adapt to so many straps has always amazed me.

Moment of silence for my fallen colleague. 

So was the field watch right for this strap. I would argue no.  This strap absolutely needs a dress watch to be happy.  Its relatively thin 2mm construction means it will be overpowered by most watches north of 12mm. I also think the finish and elegant taper means that a vintage piece would be the most perfect match.  A watch which will never see water and whose purpose is to look good and take the wearer back in time while looking very dapper would be the ultimate match for this lovely strap. A vintage Omega or Longines would be amazing.

WHERE CAN I GET IT

The only place I know of to by a Bulang and Sons Watch Strap is from the fine folks at B&S:

SUMMARY

I gravitate to field style tend to like tougher watches, so my watch straps are keenly aligned with that.   Now I realize that this will make my strap reviews resemble a hundreds flavors of vanilla, so every once in a while I try to pick something that will add some variety. I was a bit concerned when I first opened up this strap, but as Alton Brown says, “Your patience will be rewarded.” I think once broken in, this strap will endear itself to you and be a favorite as it is well made with care and its creators imbued it with durability and character to last a very long time.