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Thursday, 18 February 2016
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Christophe Roulet
Editor-in-chief, HH Journal

“The desire to learn is the key to understanding.”

“Thirty years in journalism are a powerful stimulant for curiosity”.

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6 min read

Rubber or leather, satin or sparkling, hi-tech or low-key, the strap no longer plays second fiddle to the rest of the watch. Creativity spills from the dial onto the wrist, and even enlists the leading lights of couture in this charm offensive.

At the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie in Geneva, don’t expect people to look you in the eye. Not to begin with, anyway. They are far more likely to cast their gaze wristwards when sizing up their opposite number. Except, that is, at the last edition, in January, when visitors’ range of vision dropped a level to focus on footwear. As though an imminent invasion of red soles, the hallmark of Christian Louboutin, was expected. What, you may ask, does a famous shoe designer have in common with the foremost gathering of fine watchmakers? For those in the know, the answer was simple: to mark the 85th anniversary of its iconic Reverso, Jaeger-LeCoultre has invited Christian Louboutin to be part of its newly-launched Atelier Reverso. This service, which gives the brand’s customers the privilege of personalising their watch, is this year offering straps signed by the high priest of heels. Why wouldn’t aficionadas have been one step ahead and trod the aisles of the SIHH in red soles? Daniel Riedo, Jaeger-LeCoultre Chief Executive, even led by example!

Atelier Reverso naturally also enables a choice of straps in a wealth of refined shades as well as calfskin, alligator leather, ostrich and satin materials.

Such fancy footwork is nothing new. Already in 2011, IWC paved the way when it announced a partnership with Santoni, the Leonardo of the handmade loafer. Others followed in its footsteps. Indeed, Jaeger-LeCoultre wasn’t the only Maison at January’s SIHH to have put the boot in, so to speak. Roger Dubuis came to Geneva with a new Velvet by Massaro line. The opening style in the range was imagined as a tribute to Rita Hayworth. The thinking behind this new interpretation was clear: “The idea was to bring the distinctive beauty of creative shoemaking to the wrist through an instantly recognisable yet unequivocally original line. Gold, silver, feathers, beads, woven motifs, cinema costumes… but absolutely no spangles nor bling.” The result is a diamond-studded watch, characteristic of the Velvet range, whose highlight is the “pleated Haute Couture leather strap evoking the beauty, elegance and originality that Roger Dubuis shares with the Parisian shoe designer.” Glamorous straps are already familiar terrain for Roger Dubuis. For last year’s Velvet Haute Couture trilogy, the brand worked with a specialist in passementerie, experts in leather for a corsetry-inspired strap, and a furrier.

In 2015, Roger Dubuis presented the Velvet Haute Couture trilogy which included Corsetry, inspired by women's lingerie.
Iconoclast approach

When the watch first made the move from pocket to wrist in the early 1900s to begin a new life as a utilitarian tool, straps were designed to meet this need for practicality. The pilot’s watch made by Vacheron Constantin in 1903 and the Santos de Cartier one year later allowed function to dictate form, as would the military timepieces that largely contributed to the “democratisation” of the wristwatch. It would be some considerable time before the desire for beauty overcame more mundane considerations, riding on the petticoat tails of women’s watches, the first to be worn on the wrist à la Reine de Naples, made by Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1810.

Not that practical necessarily means dull. The NATO strap, named after the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, is a prime example. Introduced in 1973 at the request of the British Ministry of Defence for a hard-wearing, non-reflective strap that could withstand a humid tropical climate, these initially nylon straps today allow almost unlimited scope for watchmakers to show their colours. Tudor was among the first to seize the NATO’s potential when in 2009 it teamed up with French ribbon-maker Julien Faure, which continues to use traditional methods. Christophe Chevalier, spokesman for the brand, has this to say: “No other luxury firm at that time had this rather iconoclast approach. We wanted to give this strap more noble credentials through the sophisticated weaving of the fabric.” Mission accomplished, now that the NATO strap is part of Tudor’s new signature. A black silk version made from 640 interlocking threads, the maximum number for a loom at Julien Faure, took six months to develop.

Since 2009, Tudor has made NATO straps part of its signature, as seen here on the Monte Carlo.
The arts have it

No longer an afterthought, the strap is now an essential feature of the watches that brands unveil each year. Vacheron Constantin, which revisits its Overseas collection in 2016, proposes the entire range with three interchangeable straps, folding clasp included. The Manufacture’s engineers obliged with a practical and ingenious attachment system, proof that alongside the rest of the external parts, R&D departments are also looking into the strap’s potential. The Oysterflex strap from Rolex is another example. It makes for a sporty-looking alternative to the metal bracelet that equipped last year’s Yacht-Master. To ensure solidity and prevent the strap from being pulled off should the watch get caught in the rigging – one can’t be too careful! – Rolex’s first elastomer strap is actually moulded over supple blades in a titanium and nickel alloy which are anchored from the case to the safety clasp. This patented Oysterflex strap is both robust and supple, with longitudinal “cushions” on the inside to ensure maximum comfort when worn. A typically Rolex attention to detail.

The Oysterflex on the Rolex Yacht-Master 40, introduced in 2015, is a patented strap from the Manufacture's R&D department.

Innovation isn’t only technical. Having taken possession of dials, the métiers d’art have spread to the watch band too. Gem-setting is the obvious example, but is far from alone. On certain models, the bracelet is so beautiful it can even distract from the watch itself. When Piaget revived its Traditional Oval watch last year, it took the opportunity to show its skill in hand-working white gold, “conveyed through the beauty of a delicately crafted bracelet. The elegantly hand-engraved ‘palace’ finish gives the bracelet an almost iridescent effect, like a wild silk ribbon embracing the curve of the wrist. The multitude of assembled links creates an extremely refined overall effect, within which each part is precisely fashioned to form an incomparable light gold ‘fabric’.” Piaget reserves equally lyrical terms for the bracelet of its Limelight Gala, whose gold Milanese mesh bracelet ensures “a perfect match with the bezel and its diamond-set elongated asymmetrical lugs.” Clearly a match made in heaven.

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