We visited Atelier Jean Rousseau New York, a satellite boutique workshop of the French artisanal maker of watch straps and small leather goods, and witnessed the creation of a single handmade watch strap.
Follow along as the Rousseau team sifts through hundreds of colorful and rare leathers used to create these one of a kind accessories.
Jean Rousseau maintains leather stock of more than a half dozen ethically sourced species, ranging from classic Louisiana alligator in dozens of colors and finishes, to rare stingray, shark, python and more.
Jean Rousseau owns their own in-house skin treatment workshop where each of their alligator skins are dyed to their own exclusive colors.
Once a leather is selected, careful measurements with design details are taken.
Customers choose the size and location of the scales, and the facing of the watch strap is cut using a carefully placed die cut.
The leather is then sanded down to the desired thickness and paddings are added.
Linings can either be matched to the facings, or chosen from dozens of colored goat skins.
At the sewing stage, straps are prepared to be either sewn by machine or saddle stitched by hand.
Edges are sanded down, heated, then layered with edge paint.
Completed straps receive an embossed logo.
All ready-to-wear straps then receive six punched holes for the pin buckle closure. Custom straps are punches according to the size of the wrist and can have one or two holes if needed.
While our ready-to-wear straps and small leather goods are all produced in the France at the Manufacture in Besançon, close to Switzerland, the New York atelier represents the same high quality of artisanal craftsmanship that goes into each and every piece in our collection.
Shop Straps
If you can't find the right strap for your watch, we offer a custom service with selections from dozens of leather swatches and design options.
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