Hong Kong · six leathers
every strap named by species and by cut. every time.
You have replaced a strap before. What you could not do, by looking, was tell which animal it came from or which part of that animal you were wearing. We put both on the page, and we price the cut rather than hiding it.
“genuine crocodile” is not a species.
There are several crocodilians in the leather trade and they are not the same animal. Crocodylus porosus, the saltwater crocodile, has the smallest and most even scale tiles of any of them. Alligator mississippiensis is smoother, without the small sensory pore you can find beside a crocodile scale. They cost different money and they come with different paperwork.
The same is true of the cut. A belly strap and a flank strap can come off one hide, on one day, and be worth different amounts — because roughly 85% of a crocodilian's commercial value sits in the belly. A label that says only crocodile leather is two words doing the work of a species and a cut.
We are not arguing that crocodile is the wrong choice. It is the best skin on this page and it is the top of the trade's own hierarchy. We are arguing that you should know which one it is.
the species
Named on every product page in English and in Latin, with its CITES listing. The listing is public record. What governs the strap you buy is the species written on its export permit, and that is the name we will use.
the cut
Belly, flank, hornback, crown, leg. Named on the page, and the price follows it. Belly costs more than flank here because belly is worth more, not because it sounds better.
on video
The hide before it was cut, and the strap being made from it. Filming access at the tannery is to confirm and nothing is published yet — when it is, it will be linked from the strap it belongs to.
six leathers, six stories.
Croc, gator, lizard, python, ostrich, calf. Pick one and we will tell you its story.
the price follows the cut.
Some sellers charge one price for every crocodile strap they make, whatever part of the hide it came from. It is a clean way to sell and it removes a question the buyer would otherwise have to ask. We do the opposite, because the whole reason this shop exists is that the question is worth asking.
So a centre-cut belly costs more than a flank. A crown-cut ostrich with the quill bumps costs more than an ostrich leg. And hornback costs the same as belly, because nobody in this trade charges a premium for hornback and charging one would only invite the question of why.
the fit, in four numbers.
If you know them, set them on the product page. If you do not, tell us the watch and we will look them up.
| lug width | 16 to 24 mm, including the odd sizes — 17, 19, 21 and 23. A Cartier Santos takes 21 and a Tank often wants 19 or 23, and those are hard to buy in this city. |
|---|---|
| taper | 4 mm from the lugs to the buckle as standard, so a 20 mm strap finishes at 16 mm. Another taper is possible — the cost of a non-standard one is to confirm. |
| length | Standard is roughly 115 mm and 75 mm. Short and long are one notch either side. Under about 16 cm of wrist, take short; over about 19 cm, take long. |
| buckle | Most people keep the buckle that came with the watch. If you need one, the buckle we supply is to confirm. |
the questions people actually ask.
How do I know it is really that skin?
Honestly: not from a photograph, and not from us saying so. Three things settle it, and only the first is on this site today.
One. We name the species in Latin and the cut, on the page, before you buy. If it ever turns out that a skin is not what we called it, that is a false trade description in Hong Kong and it is our problem, not yours.
Two. The export permit. A crocodilian skin leaving Indonesia moves on a document that names the species. Per-strap permit numbers are not published here yet to confirm.
Three. Video of the hide and of the strap being cut from it. Not filmed yet.
Do you ship outside Hong Kong?
Not as a normal order. Sending a CITES-listed specimen out of Hong Kong needs a licence from the AFCD, issued in advance, one shipment at a time — and most of what we sell is CITES-listed. Ostrich and Italian calf are not listed, so those are a different conversation. Message us before ordering from outside Hong Kong and we will tell you honestly whether it is possible.
The same rule is worth knowing for your own travel. Wearing a crocodile strap through a border is not automatically fine, and collectors have had straps taken off their watches.
Why is this less than the boutique in Central?
Because there is no shop, no window on Pedder Street and no staff. The saving is a rent line, not a quality line.
It is not because we buy a cheaper skin, and we would rather you did not take our word for that either — which is the whole reason the species, the cut and the paperwork are the product here.
Should I be buying crocodile at all, or one of the others?
Crocodile is the best skin we sell and there is nothing wrong with buying it. It is also not the only good answer.
Ostrich is hard-wearing, instantly recognisable, and nobody has ever mistaken it for something else. Lizard has very fine small scales and is the traditional skin for a slim dress watch — a different job, not a lower rung. Python is the most decorative and the most demanding to look after. Italian calf is where a lot of collectors start and keep coming back to.
Six leathers. One of them is right for the watch on your wrist this week.
How long does it take, and how do I pay?
Lead time is to confirm. We will not publish a delivery week until we can hold it. When we can, it will say a named week, not a range.
Payment today: you place the order on this site, we reply to confirm the fit and the total, and we send you a payment link. Nothing is charged when you press the button. Card checkout on the site is being set up.
What if it does not fit?
Tell us the watch when you order and the fit is on us to get right. Our returns and exchange terms are to confirm — they will be written down and published here before this shop takes a card payment, rather than decided case by case.
A strap is two pieces with the watch in between. That is the mark. In Hong Kong it also reads as eight.