Veblenist Siena Watch Strap

If you have ever been to the picturesque United Kingdom and traveled anywhere from the stoic and historical London, England to small fishing village of Dingle, Ireland you will find happy people with which to chat, beautiful country to admire, and as many versions of Fish and Chips as their are rocks in the Irish Burren. On three different occasions I traveled across to the pond and found that even though local pubs all prepared it differently, it was almost always delicious and amazingly fresh.

In the same manner it seems everybody under the sun makes a vintage inspired watch strap, and I have reviewed and handled quite a bit more than a rational person who does not actively make them should. It is a relaxing strap and tends to gravitate toward a laid back, casual mindset. In short I love them. Like most similar things produced by a multitude of companies the differences from the norm become as important (if not more) as getting the basics spot on. Try to buy a 3 row SUV and marvel at how similar they all are save for the small differences that really stand out and start to matter. Watch straps are the same way. If you look at them close enough, they all have something that makes them a bit different.

Veblenist is a new brand for me. I have never reviewed anything from their catalog before, but like many new experiences in the watch community, word of mouth entered my Venn diagram of friends and here we are. Veblenist is like a growing segment of new start up watch strap manufacturers who base their creative energies and product matrix on offering quality over quantity. I am one who loves to see a market expand with sound well priced choices, as when the choices expand, so does the competition. And we all know, nothing improves the breed like Competition (original quote was far more poetic and can be found in the New England Farmer – 1824 its worth a read if your a masochist and are into verbose writing)

So I have been enjoying the Veblenist Siena Brown Leather watch strap for over two weeks now and I do like what I have seen. A quick clickity click through their website and you will find a nice thread of customer centric thinking and customization options that are available. Here is what Veblenist says about their strap:

Your inner James Bond emerges when you don your 60s-era Rolex Submariner. Your Omega Seamaster dates to the 50s and your military watch was made in the 70s. A vintage band is calling. Melding timeless Old-World style with contemporary flair, these Italian-inspired straps perfectly complement classic watches. Hand finishes with luxuriant oils and waxes ensure suppleness and durability. Keep it understated with tones of deep indigo, cedaro, and dusk green, or revel in colorful fun with sahara and summerwood.

Quite the piece of prose, but all that means little of the strap is rubbish. Luckily it is far from that.

DIMENSIONS

My Siena was 20mm as I wanted to try it on a great many watches. Vintage style straps tend adapt to many jobs and watches. Mine came in at 19.9 mm at the lugs and 15.7mm at the buckle and lose ends. A very noticeable and appropriate taper for a watch with Vintage aspirations. The strap is a pleasant 2.3mm thick along the whole length. This uniformity is pleasing to the eye and very comfortable to wear without being over thick or thin. I feel the 2.5-3.5mm range is just about ideal for daily wear watches most of the time.

The length for the strap is listed as 120mm/75mm for the regular size. Nice to say they also offer a short version for those who prefer that, and it is a good thing. On my 7″ wrist I was either on the last or the second to last adjustment hole (on a 38mm watch) for a comfortable fit. Wrists between 6.5″ to 7″ the short version of this strap will provide you with the needed adjustment without having to dig out an ice pick or nail to make more holes.

DESIGN

This is a vintage style strap like so many others. Two whip stitches at the lugs and buckle with some minimal level of stitching at the lose end with little else to distract the eye. Sounds easy, but it is not. With so much detail removed from the physical make up, vintage style straps absolutely must shine in the materials department. Veblenist is asking 85 dollars US for this strap and that puts them in competition with a great many strap manufacturers that tout names such as Wicket and Craig and Horween as the base of their straps. While those names are missing from the product description here, all is not lost.

Simply using the descriptor ‘Cowhide’ as the active ingredient on the website is sort of like putting ‘meat’ down for a meal description on a menu. It is more of a starting point than a real description. How that cowhide is treated and prepared is the secret in the sauce. The leather on the Siena watch strap has nice semi-gloss luster to it, and it feels to have a generously waxy surface which is pleasant to the touch. The small grains in the leather are almost imperceptible visually if it were not for the many wonderful variations of brown in the leather that serve to bring them out.

The sides of the strap have been heavily burnished which gives you not only longevity but a bit of much needed tidiness on this very clean minimal strap. Frayed or untreated edges would have worked against the surface finish of the leather you see. The underside of the strap has a very pleasant strip of matte black leather with no branding at all which sits kindly on the skin and seems impervious to wear.

The hallmark of a vintage strap are the whip stitches that secure the spring bars (In this case they are the quick release spring bar variety) and buckle. The way this singular detail is executed really gives the watch much of its personality. In the same way a smile or frown changes the face, the whip stitches thread thickness, color, separation, and leather pull can make the strap feel either home made and crafty or technically precise and mass produced. On the Veblenist Siena they tend to favor a hand made organic vibe without having any scout camp project look to it. The stitches cause the leather to bulge around the holes ever so slightly advertising its hand made nature. I happen to like this if done with some restraint and Veblenist delivers here.

KEEPER AND BUCKLE

The Siena has a typical two keeper system with one being fixed and the other being of the floating variety. Like the strap which they reside they are free of any decoration save the brown tone of the leather. The sides appear to be slightly burnished like the strap which makes for a homogeneous appearance and is welcome. They are properly sized to allow the free end to effortlessly slide through them and never buckle or snag on the strap.

The buckle is stainless steel and quite thin. It is lightly brushed with the Veblenist name neatly and discretely etched onto the outside. This thin construction pays dividends while on the wrist as it sits perfectly flat and melts into the leather for all day laptop work and comfort.

HOW DOES IT WEAR

In short it wears like a good vintage strap should. It plays best supporting actor to the watch at all times. To put it another way, it offers the beautiful back drop to the painting. Vintage straps should be free from ornate designs and details and the Veblenist upholds these key design traits with confidence and poise. The leather is soft to the touch and conforms with no fuss around the wrist. The strap has a quiet strength that elevates the watch while giving confidence for use as an all day strap.

I put it through the paces on my Oak and Oscar Olmsted for almost a month. It saw rain and it was on when I washed the dog. It was soaked on several occasions, but the finish always returned to normal. It looks as good today as it did when I first received it. The color on the strap has stayed true and the little pull up effect it has stayed consistent. Minor blemishes came off without any fuss with some light rubbing with your fingers.

I enjoyed my time with this strap as the warm browns a myriad of half shades lighter and darker look satisfying against the skin and should make most watches feel quite new to wear.

WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR

Any time you want to put some much needed age on a watch, reach for a vintage strap. It will give your watch a new story to star in. Put this on all field watches. I think it would look great on some modern pieces as well as the contrast is fun to play with. Any SARB seiko made would look good with this. A Hamilton Khaki Field would look great as well.

The warm color and the simple design lend this strap to a nearly limitless variety of watches on the market. It has a good thickness that allow it to handle watches up to and a bit over 15mm, while not being so beefy to overpower more dainty watches like a JLC Reverso. I would suggest putting this on any 20mm watch you own and see if it ignites anything in you. Universally good straps can fade away if not done right as they can quickly go to ‘meh’ status. As humans, we tend to like something that pops on one particular watch more than something that looks ok on all of them. I think the Veblenist and its vintage watch cohorts of similar quality are going to make quite a few watches pop.

WHERE CAN I GET ONE

Only place to get a Veblenist strap is straight from the vendor:

https://www.veblenist.com/straps/siena-watch-strap

SUMMARY

Do we need another vendor to make another Vintage Strap? Yes, we certainly do. Every one of those offered in the sweet spot of straps ($65-$105) offer something decidedly different and more choices are a good thing. Veblenist combines quality craftsmanship, with fine materials, and some nice customization options for the end user that help establish them as a viable choice in the watch strap world.