Watch Strap Review 54 — Terrycrafted From Canada

If it weren’t for the 50th special Watch Strap Review article, I would’ve never been able to feature today’s brand here. Better yet, if it weren’t for the Canadian watch lover’s community, this article would’ve never happened. After that piece came out, many of you sent me emails and DMs about a strap maker residing in Canada responsible for the brand Terrycrafted. It turns out that Terry is not only a lovely bloke but a talented strap maker as well.

Terrycrafted

Terrycrafted is a one-man show — for now – that consists of Terry (duh), an investment manager and watch lover. Like many small ateliers, he started doing straps, which quickly turned into a side business. Terry’s goal is to turn this little venture into a full-time job, hire some help, and dedicate all his time to creating excellent leather goods for the watch community. Impressively enough, Terrycrafted managed to build this business only by word of mouth to the point where there is a 2-month waiting list. Lucky for us, he bumped us to the top of the list (apologies to all others on the Terrycrafted list), so we could bring his creations to you, dear readers. Terry blessed us with two straps, a lovely brown rally strap, and an exciting reversible canvas strap. Needless to say, I’m beyond stoked to be able to check them out.

Rally Strap

Rally straps are often tricky to match with watches for they add a tad sportiness to the piece. This is no issue when we have a sports watch in mind, but they might not always (i.e. never) work with a dress watch. Having said that, Terry asked what watch I’d like to wear the straps with, and I told him it must be the Speedy, of course. So, this Terrycrafted Rally was made exclusively for my Speedmaster. We have a Horween leather strap here in caramel brown with the signature rally-strap perforations. The size is the traditional 20/16mm with 120/70mm in length. While the strap has padding, it is super soft and only 3.9mm thick (including the padding).

It goes without saying that Terry has strong attention to detail. Firstly, the lining is a matching brown calfskin from the French tannery Hass. Secondly, the beige stitching is an excellent match to the leather’s colors. While Terrycrafted offers full customization other than the size, I did not give him any requests or instructions. I wanted to see his products in their purest form. Lastly, the full stitching is combined with side stitches at the buckle end. And what a buckle! If anything can ruin a nicely made strap, that’s a generic buckle. Luckily, this time we had something else entirely. The quick-release spring-bars are also a nice bonus.

Fair prices

As I mentioned before, the leather is soft and comfortable. The strap does not feel stiff at all. I threw it on the Speedy, strapped it around my wrist, and I was good to go. You don’t need to break the strap in. The padded part adds a bit of heft to the strap, but it is comfy on the wrist since the buckle/hole end is only 2.3mm thick. Lastly, let’s talk a bit about the price. Terry charges CAD 180 (or about €120) for the rally strap. I assume most of you are familiar with custom-made leather strap prices and will know that this is more than fair. Especially since the service Terrycrafted offers walks you through from the first step to the last to ensure that you get the final product you want.

Reversible Canvas Strap

The second strap that fell out of Terry’s envelope is something I have not had the pleasure of wearing since I’ve been doing this series. That is a Terrycrafted Reversible Canvas Strap. I had canvas straps in the past, of course, and I quite like them. Though, I’d never seen a reversible canvas strap until this one came my way. One side of the strap is blue; the other is gray. At the top, there is a leather part that gives stability and holds the spring bar. While the canvas is a flexible material, the edges are painted, and the strap has black box stitching. If you want to flip the strap over, the only thing you must do is reverse the buckle, and you’re good to go.

When it comes to measurements, we have the same results as before. 20/16mm width 115/70mm length and finally 2.4mm in thickness. The strap’s leather ends are a bit thicker, at around 4mm. Canvas can be crass, but this Terrycrafted canvas strap is not like that. There is a different feel on the wrist than you’d have with the Rally Strap. It’s not better or worse, just different. As far as the alligator leather goes, Terrycrafted sources it from American Tanning. Getting sustainable leather these days can be tricky, so Terry makes sure that he only works with this type of leather. For a Reversible Canvas Strap like this, you can expect to pay CAD 250 (€166). Just like above, it is a fair price for what you are getting. Especially if we consider the fact that you are technically buying two straps.

A few more things

Terry is working on a website that would allow future customers to get in touch with him in a more professional way. It will also showcase his services, the materials he’s working with, strap prices, and so on. Until then, you can find him on Instagram (@terrycrafted). Feel free to DM him. Eventually, he’ll move the chat over WhatsApp, which we did as well. This makes it much easier to exchange ideas and talk about details. I hope to feature Terrycrafted soon with a Part 2, but buy from him with confidence until then.

So that’s it, folks. I hope you enjoyed the read. If you have any tips for watch strap brands that have not been featured on the series yet or want us to revisit one of the previously featured brands, let me know in the comments. Or feel free to DM me on IG (@ferenczibazs). We’ll be back soon. Until then, don’t forget to follow the Fratello On Air Podcast and give WASP — Watching Sports and Sporting Watches (featuring Rob and me) a listen.