Genteel Handmade — New Spring Colors POP!

Just like the seasons change, so too do our desires. Who wants to look at the same old watch strap day in, day out? A new strap can completely transform a watch’s character and, with it, your mood while wearing it. While darker colors make sense throughout the winter months, a fresh injection of energy feels perfectly on point whenever springtime rolls around. As such, Genteel Handmade has conceived a new range of spring-inspired straps that we’ve decided to shine a light on this week.

With the dark days of 2020 behind us, the time is ripe to bring a bit of color to our lives. And as many of us blow through our houses, dispensing with cobwebs and unwanted possessions, why not freshen up the watches that made it through the spring-cleaning purge?

For this project, Genteel Handmade is working with a new material called Maya. It is a fully vegetable-tanned leather that hails from Italy. The leather is finished by hand, resulting in a unique texture that works particularly well with the fresh and vibrant color palette that broadens an already expansive catalog.

Color for days

I bet you’ve all heard of brown watch straps. I’d wager that one or black watch straps have made their way through your collection at one point or another. Gray? Sure, I’m down with that too. But what about turquoise? What about purple? Heck, why not try salvia, yellow, navy, or pink? For the less extravagant among you, Genteel Handmade has also added some classic colors to its new lineup, including chocolate, “wiskey”, and charcoal.

Sure, these colors sound delicious, but the proof is in the pudding. How do they actually look on the watch? Check out the photos in this article to get an idea of the kind of vitality a new strap in one of these unusual shades could bring to your daily beater.

My choice

Most days, I wear my trusty Omega Speedmaster Replica Broad Arrow reference 3894.50. It has a very versatile, deep gray dial, which means it can sit comfortably alongside any of the colors on offer here. Whenever I think about a watch getting a new strap or bracelet as a reward for its time served on my wrist, the faithful Speedy is top of the list. As such, when I imagine these straps, I imagine them next to that watch head.

In light of that, my pick would definitely be the turquoise option, as it adds so much character to an otherwise reserved visage. I think also that the purple would look very much at home on the classic Speedmaster line, and would be happy to wear it that way, assuming I could find some purple trousers to match (which means finding a good tailor is the second thing on your to-do list after sourcing a great watchmaker to keep your collection ticking over nicely).

What makes Maya special?

I mentioned that this kind of leather has a unique texture. It appears like a rough finish from afar, scratched and aged, with a beautiful patina out of the box, but it is remarkably smooth to the touch. The crisp finishing of these straps, with delicate stitching and sharp edges, allows the colors to take center stage without distraction. We’ve come to expect this level of finish from Genteel Handmade before, but, to my eyes at least, it has never been more obvious.

With a black strap or a brown strap, even a gray strap, I think it is much easier to get away with imperfections when it comes to edging or stitching. With Salvia, Yellow, or Purple, there is nowhere to hide. Realizing this while simultaneously realizing that these products didn’t need to hide anything about their construction was a bit of an eye-opener.

I may seem like a dull guy (given that I talk ad nauseam about watches in both my professional and personal life), but I have an embarrassingly bright wardrobe. As such, this kind of fancy is directly up my street. It can turn a staid professional timepiece into the belle of any ball. And while we are unlikely to be dancing in halls or on the streets for months yet to come, I’m very keen to bring a little bit of color to the last days of lockdown. Learn more about these new straps from Genteel Handmade here.

This is a preferred position post. Learn more.