#Slapdash definition full#
#Slapdash definition professional#

On my desk, I currently have a crazy horse valet tray (something I never, ever thought I needed and definitely knew I didn’t want and yet has, somehow, become one of my most used possessions), two different watch cases in rich brown calf leather, a notebook with a lush leather cover (black), and a matching handled laptop sleeve, which is just big enough to accept my Macbook Air while protected by a button-closure envelope case in distressed gray leather. Instead, I was lured into Roarcraft by the leather goods that I picked up at the same time. And Roarcraft proved that to me once again.īut it actually wasn’t the straps that convinced me of this fact initially. But when it comes to a good, honest, no-frills but fantastically sourced and stitched leather watch band, less than a third of that investment can buy you an absolute banger. Yes, there are crazy artists like Hix Design USA in Oklahoma City that made the funky straps for my Tockr Air Defender Hydro Dip (picture below for reference). Yes, there are some outliers made from exceptionally rare (or downright illegal) skins that will command more. That sounds crazy, right? My gut feeling is your strap should be worth at least five percent of the watch’s value, which, for the modern Speedy, equates to €300.īut the reality of the situation is this: €300 is loads for a leather strap. How much is the watch that you’re buying the strap for worth? I’ve never been forced to come up with a hard rule for this question, but if I were buying a new strap for a new Omega Speedmaster, which retails for around €6,000, would €60 be enough? €120? €240? Those values represent a trifling one, two, and four percent of the purchase price. How much should I spend on a watch strap? Why wouldn’t it? For such a minute fraction of a luxury watch’s retail cost, a strap can be transformed from a disgruntling afterthought to a thoroughly gruntling selling point. This is probably why, whenever we see a new, luxury release from a major brand, anything but a strap of the highest order is sure to draw the ire of onlookers. Also, it seems far more “honest” and truly artisanal than much of watchmaking itself. The idea that a watch strap “can only cost so much” leads to intense competition. That actually works out as being a good thing for consumers because once strap makers start bumping up against those upper limits and rubbing shoulders with one another as they jostle for your coin, the best way to separate themselves from the pack is to improve quality. But what I’m trying to get across is this: the theoretical ceiling for a strap is very low in comparison to the theoretical ceiling of the watches that we frequently discuss here on Fratello. I mean, what on earth would a strap have to be made of to fetch £4,000? I dare not imagine. While I have one or two pieces in my collection worth 100 times that Fossil Big Tic, I do not have any straps worth 100 times the most luxurious Hirsch strap stocked by H. Nowadays, of course, things are very different… Why? Because on my wrist I wore a Fossil Big Tic, for which I think my girlfriend paid no more than £80. The idea of a forty-quid strap in those days seemed absolutely preposterous to me. Armed with a plethora of low-grade options (with retail prices starting at around £5), and running up to some “luxury models” from Hirsch (which themselves only commanded a ticket price of about £40), I knew little of the world beyond. One of my main duties while there was changing watch straps. As such, it caters to pretty basic needs. The retail giant operates around 300 stores in the UK alone. This store was (and still is) part of Signet Jewelers. When I started my watchmaking journey in 2003, I worked for a high-street retailer called H.

Am I becoming a soft touch? Has my biting tongue abandoned me? Or is it just possible that products like the ones sent to me recently by Roarcraft are every bit deserving of such praise? Could it be that rather than me being able to gripe about a reduction in quality, the accessories available to watch lovers are actually getting better?

#Slapdash definition full#

Much in the same way one assumes that “most” politicians start off full of bright-eyed, bushy-tailed optimism only to have their dreams and characters dragged through the mud of reality, I have feared for a long time that my critical eye might be failing due to how impressed I find myself on the regular.

#Slapdash definition professional#

I think whenever anyone gets into the business of professional product reviews, they start out with lofty intentions. For a long time, I’ve been rather skeptical of myself.