Strap Tailor Alran Goatskin Vintage Minimal Stitch – Black

Welcome to the 100th review from Strapsense! Not so long ago I was sitting at my computer typing an overly long and needlessly verbose complaint to a vendor of a watch strap I had just received. It was a far cry from what I had seen in the storefront online. Out of three straps I ordered two of them were just halfhearted facsimiles of the promised project. The frustration of any substantiative watch strap guide or review seemed like a huge oversite which compelled me enough to start writing about what I bought (good and bad) and just where a good watch strap could be had. Hundreds of watch straps later we have arrived here. The 100th review. Along the way I have learned a great bit about tanning processes, waxing and oil infusion techniques, stitching, water resistive treatments, leather types (bovine, equine and many others), construction techniques and terminology. I have had to learn about cloth, rubber, and nylon and what each brings to the table in so far as design, performance, and aesthetic accountability.

Reviewing watch straps conjured a mechanism which allowed me to delve deeper into the watch world. Waxing on poetically about leather, while fun in its own right, brought me closer to watches and more importantly the people who wear them. I have met a great many wonderful and interesting people along the way. Like all hobbies, it is the community that really drives us forward, the shared passion that unites us and gives us all a not insignificant feeling of belonging and kinship. To all the people who have purchased used straps from my store or bought a new custom Strap Butler (made by my own hands) or the people who wrote in comments and questions, I want to thank you for the kind words and nourishing my desire to provide something useful and hopefully mildly entertaining.

The watch strap world is full of different vendors with various business models. There are huge conglomerates that outsource everything from procurement to construction to distribution and drop ship the product without even seeing it with lowest price being the ultimate goal. Then there are the strap sellers that do have a hand in working directly with producers and do some designing and product improvements themselves either to chase a specific corner of the strap market or creating a new corner all their own. Here, having good quality and varied selection rather the lowest price is business model of choice. I would say that this group is one of the largest and does a good job of democratizing some of the best the watch strap world has to offer and making it available to the masses. Finally, there are the vendors like the one we are reviewing today. The Strap Tailor is a very small business based out of the UK. This is a hands-on passion driven operation and each strap is brought into existence by a pair of human hands from the owner David, or one of his personally picked Artisans. I have been watching The Strap Tailor grow and the variety of his product is expanding. I chose from his selection the exceedingly precisely named Arlan Goatskin Vintage Minimal Stitch Black. Before I kick this review off, this is what David had to say about his creation.

This is what the Strap Tailor has to say about his fine product:

This is the most luxurious of goat skins made with a unique multi step tanning process that takes almost a month to complete each hide. The result – a very supple and beautiful leather. With this incredible attention to detail the result is a uniform and subtle lustre. Good resistance to moisture and with good longevity this is the epitome of luxury goatskin!

The Strap Tailor

Now for the 100th time, let’s get this review done is Strapsense style.

DIMENSIONS

If you have been following along for many years now you know I have a remarkably large size of watches with 19mm lugs. Any watch fan who favors Grand Seiko and Omega will be faced with the same situation. 19mm is really mainstream now, and as much as watch lovers enjoy complaining, having 19mm lugs is really not nearly as limiting as it was when I started my blog. With that said, The Strap Tailor is not rigid as he is not limited by batch orders or minimum order sizes. When you think The Strap Tailor think bespoke. If you want 23mm fine, 17mm that is okay as well. My suggestion is to have a conversation with him and his team as any size and length are doable. Have a wrist that would shame Popeye’s, no problem order the strap extra-long. David will work with you and bespoke sizes within reason are no extra cost. Well done Mr. Tailor.

My 19mm Alran strap came in at 18.9mm at the spring bars with a lovely taper to 15.4mm at the free end. This plays true to the vintage moniker in the title perfectly while providing the user a strap that is very comfortable to wear. My strap was listed as a medium and measured 122.8mm/75mm on the free and buckle ends respectively. This is close enough to the 125mm/75mm advertised length that the difference is negligible and well within strap making norms. These are animal hides after all, not stainless steel or ceramic. With the way the strap’s adjustment holes are placed, this put me on the very last adjustment hole on my 7″ wrist (King Seiko has a lug to lug of 43.5 mm). If my watch was larger or my wrist was smaller, I would definitely have to order a size small. Another reason I chose this strap in particular is it has a decidedly uniform thickness along its length. Despite its man-made origins, the strap held a computer precise 2.9mm thickness everywhere I chose to measure. This speaks volumes to the quality of the leather used and the care with which it was worked. All top marks.

DESIGN

In order to do this strap justice, I think we must first talk about what is Alran Goat Leather, as it was so carefully placed in the title of the strap. Specifically, Alran Chevre Goatskin Leather hails from France. This a handmade product from Alran S.A.S tannery (and has been for over 100 years), and exceptional in its scratch resistance (it is dyed through) while maintaining a soft temper. When you hear the term temper when talking about leather it is referring to how pliable and soft the leather feels. Goat skin has a more visible grain than other leathers and is particularly suited to shoes and any item that is hard wearing, so use in a watch strap gives long lasting looks with some added water resistance (not water proof mind you).

Since we talked a bit about the Alran in the name let us move on to the Vintage aspect of the design. As mentioned above, the taper is indicative of classic vintage leather straps in the 50’s and 60’s. Slim and elegant were the currency back then and a tapering watch strap fits the bill. Continuing this theme of clean and simple lines the adornments are few with only a simple cluster of impossibly parallel and symmetrical whip stitches near the spring bars and buckle in waxed polyester. The pride of construction shows here, as placement and attention to detail is mind bending. I have had countless watch straps that use this type of construction, but I have never seen anything as painstakingly placed as this. Chefs kiss here Mr. Strap Tailor.

Chevre means Goat in French (La Chevre according to google translate). The open porous nature of this hide gives a very pleasant tactile and visual feedback to the user. The grain is homogenous in nature from afar, but revealing its secrets the closer you examine its texture. The color is a deep saturated black that has been impervious to my fingernail and my 50 pull through the buckle tests. The leather has a statuesque finish that exhibits no pull up or discoloration when bent or folded. I would say the leather is doing exactly as advertised and any watch attached to this would benefit.

Starting with a great leather is the key to an exceptional strap. However, what the strap maker does with it is important. The edges of the strap have been burnished, which is a method of sealing through heat obtained by friction (often by hand with many passes over the edge of the leather). Benefits to the user are tight and controlled edges that resist fraying and look newer longer. Post burnishing the edges are sealed by a thick paint/epoxy like coating that moves with the strap. This is color matched to the strap and like the leather has been faultless in its application as the edges are laser sharp and so far impervious to wear. Around the outer edges on the top of the strap a slight crease is applied to frame the grain of the hide and give a bit of formality and order to the organic material. Overall, the effect is very nice and oozes class.

On the back side of the strap that lives next to your skin is a toffee-colored rich leather with the singular marking of The Strap Tailor on the buckle side to denote its providence. The origin of this leather is not mentioned but it feels like it will wear well over time. Mine shows no signs of deterioration of any kind in over a month.

KEEPER AND BUCKLE

The Alran Goatskin Vintage Strap has two keepers in the traditional configuration. One is fixed by the buckle and the other is free to float to keep the extra end of strap tidy. These keepers are made of the same sublime Goatskin and even have a slight crease to match the strap. They are an adequate width to appear uniform and do a good job of holding the strap in place. Feed through is simple and does not require any noticeable effort.

Strap makers choice of which buckle to attach to their craftsmanship is often overlooked. While it is simple to choose a buckle based on price alone, spending a bit of time (and money) on a nicer buckle shows dedication to the final product. A well-chosen buckle can complement the leather and also help in its fit against the wrist and aid in longevity of the leather. The buckle The Strap Tailor has chosen is a sturdy linearly brushed model with his logo discretely engraved onto one side of the clasp. He is not yelling he made this strap, but rather nodding from across a room.

HOW DOES IT WEAR

As you may have guessed that with all the praise I have heaped onto this strap in terms of leather choice, construction and design, it wears wonderfully. I was stumped at trying to find something to write since the strap is so good, so OEM like, it does not give me much to insult. It moves wonderfully. It is thick enough to handle larger watches, but its design and taper allow it to function as a dress watch strap. It can do modern (think Nomos) or vintage (Cartier Tank) without missing a beat. The straps wants to be on your wrist. The keepers make feeding the lose end effortless and yet they hold it together neatly against your wrist all day.

Some straps feel thick and stiff while others feel lithe and fragile. This strap threads the needle effortlessly and feels like it is ready to make your grand children feel lucky to inherit it. This strap exudes all the longevity and quality of something that only something made from the finest materials can reproduce. The strap feels honest and complete and well thought out. No shortcuts in any single aspect are apparent. The artisan let the material do what it is known for. The goatskin is the star here, and you are able to enjoy it daily without worrying about degradation or deterioration. My strap looks brand new after over a month of wear including dishes, mowing the yard, and splitting some wood at the lake.

WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR

As I alluded to before, this strap can support a great many watches. Black goes with everything right? Not really if I am honest. There is shiny black, satin black, black with a texture, black with grey tones, etc. You get the picture. This strap is a deep saturated black. Watches with grey or tropical dials will look off with this. I put this on my Trilogy Omega railmaster and the grey dial looked off with this strap. Conversely my trilogy Omega Seamaster 300 had a jet black ceramic bezel and it worked far better. This strap excels at pulling the black out of a watches dial/numbers at the same time, the vintage taper means it probably errs on the side elegance over sporty. But do not let that stop you from trying.

The natural resistance to abrasion would make this a great field watch strap aided by some of the natural resistance it will have to water. With that being said though, this is not appropriate for a dive watch that actually gets used as intended. Keep it mostly dry and the sky’s the limit. I would also suggest a simple dial texture as well. This strap is heavy on texture and visual and tactile appeal. A clean simple watch dial will provide some textural harmony to the eye and avoid looking like a collection of clutter on your wrist.

WHERE CAN I GET ONE

The only place to buy a bespoke watch strap made to your order is from the hands of a craftsman. Watch Tailor straps come from David or a member of his team in the UK. Do not look to find them at an outlet like Temu or Etsy. If the strap is in stock it will arrive quickly. Mine, however, was not and it took about a month to show up in my mailbox. It was packaged smartly with the strap having a nice clear sleeve inside a branded envelope. It felt special opening it up and feeling the strap for the first time, and it was whole heartedly worth waiting for. The communication after the buy button is clicked is good as well, as routine updates are provided as your strap is being produced. You get can your very own Alran Vintage Watch strap made of the finest French goatskin here:

Alran Goatskin Vintage Minimal Stitch – Black (thestraptailor.com)https://thestraptailor.com/product/alran-goatskin-vintage-minimal-stitch-black/

SUMMARY

I have enjoyed my time writing on watch straps and I look forward to many more reviews in the future. This hobby shows no signs of slowing down as more and more independent watch makers are surfacing with more individualistic ideas and concepts that will all benefit from some fun and complimentary watch straps. For my 100th review I feel it is only fitting to review a strap that combines all aspects of what I have learned in my writing and research. Leather, Craftsmanship, Design, and Quality all come together in a watch strap that rival and even surpasses some of the OEM straps from high end brands. David and his team’s passion is on full display for you to see and enjoy. I would wager if you have a special watch that needs something worthy of heirloom status, then the Strap Tailor can make something as unique as you are. I strongly recommend you giving him a call and see what he can custom make for you.