It depends on leather, I believe most of leather straps has some coating that prevents them to get wet. If you don't go swimming with you strap, it can stand some splashes.

Don't worry about strap. Even if it get's wet put it overnight in dry place and let it dry.

 

It depends on the type of leather and also on the quality.
Some leather straps are "waterproof" and marked as such.
But even a normal, cheap strap can be dunked occasionly in water.
IMO and experience, a expensive strap lasts me about 5 years. A cheap one maybe 2.

 

occasional wetting of a leather strap is OK, even "waterproof" leather will not look good with constant wetting. If planning on getting it wet often as in swimming, recommend divers type strap or bracelet.

 

The coatings on some waterproof leather straps keep the sweat from getting soaked into the strap and some can also protect that strap against mild water splashes too. For any other applications (showering, sauna, diving), as stated above, you should not use it, unless you want to shorten its life span.

 

Thanks Guys,

Sounds like what I thought. No plans on swimming with it and I like the looks of the leather so I'll just take it off when there's a good chance of it getting soaked (eg kids in the tub :-!).

I'm thinking about adding a SS bracelet to dress it up too..man this is an addiction....

 

I just got my first leather strap, and I have what is likely a really dumb question... how wet can you really get it?

The watch is rated for 200m but I'm thinking I don't want to go swimming or even dunk the band in the tub or sink. How much (or little) do I need to baby this thing?

Thanks!

Dan

You can splash it with no problem. Remember the inside gets wrist sweat, so water on the outside should not be a problem unless it is continuous or salty.

 

You can get it as wet as you want. Leather can get wet but does NOT like water or even humidity. I use leather straps on various watches, and the most wet they'll ever get is one or two drops of water (if it can't be avoided) when I wash my hands. For anything wetter or potentially wetter I take them off.

And one more important detail: leather is not eternal, so someday you will have to change your leather straps, even if you are careful with them.

 

I like mixing and matching leather straps on my watches and have found a great product to make them extremely water resistant. Not sure if forum rules allow me to say the name of the product...

It is a kind of polymer-wax liquid. You wet the strap, massage this liquid into the leather, wipe off excess after a few minutes, and let dry thoroughly.

I can swim with my leather straps now and the water doesn't soak in...even through the springbar loop or buckle pin holes.

It needs te be reapplied occasionally, and of course nothing will make a leather strap last forever, but this stuff is quite amazing especially for an old skeptic like me. I got it at my local outfitter/outdoor store.

 

Thanks Luciano!

 

Popoki! Of course you can post the product. It wil benefit us WIS.
As long as you have no interest in the company etc etc!

 

Alrighty then! No, I have no interest in the product or company at all.

Although I like big watches, I don't really like the masculine steel bracelets and hence I change out all of them to leather (or sometimes rubber) straps. Hated leather straps falling apart in the water, so I went to my local Valhalla outfitter store and asked what they had to waterproof leather (and I mentioned watch straps in particular).
They recommended NikWax Aqueous Wax. It's a kind if milky-white liquid smelling faintly of acetic acid (like silicone). You wet the leather, and apply this stuff liberally, wipe up the excess, and let it dry.

So far, so good. Outdoor swimming is over for the year here in the PNW area, but the straps I've treated since August are holding up well. Water just beads up and runs off without soaking into the leather. I've done swims and snorkelling sessions of an hour or so and no problems so far. No idea how long to go before re-treating the straps or how the straps will do long-term.

 

NikWax or SnoSeal-ive used both on my leather hiking and crampon boots. Great stuff. SnoSeal is Beeswax based so the ideal application (no joke) is to put you leather in a warm oven for a few minutes, then apply the SnoSeal paste and let it soak in. It WILL darken your leather, though, and if you have a 'frilly leather strap" (sorry guys, I like heavy leather it will stiffen it up. You won't like the next step, which is to crumple the strap up in your hands until it softens up.

Ive used this with jackets, straps, and boots-wear the crap out of the boots after, and ball the jacket up and sleep on it, or sit on it throughout the day to remove the stiffness. It will be really water resistant and also it will help with the suppleness with time.

 

Great info! thanks everyone!

 

Many thanks, Popoki and Alathea!
It takes ladies to discover those things......

 

Im a man, baby! Just too many boots and leather coats around in my closet.

 

Sorry, Alathea has a female touch to it, it sounds like a lady name from the Greek mythology!
I should have realised that, looking at your watches! Sorry!

Googling Alathea, I get some interesting results!

With the Boots and Leather Coats hidden in your Closet, do you have any intersting hobbies? ;-)

 

right on, good catch! I am an alum of a professional music fraternity, so I ended up using that name on the internet in college in the 90's and its stuck ever since. I started out spelling it wrong though, back then, so now its a bad habit.

I take apart watches, and mostly unsuccessfully put them back together. Im prior service (hence the boots) and my day job is as an IT/Software tester. I read sci-fi (classical and modern) and fantasy. I like gears and springs and things that go "pING" so that's how I got into watches.

I sing-I was a music major in college the first time and almost finished my senior year before my mom got sick. I can sing barbershop, madrigal, baroque, classical, and some light opera. Ill probably never be a Heldin tenor or do Wagner, but I do a mean Elijah, so im ok with that. I also play acoustic guitar. I don't know if there are any interesting hobby's in there, but there you go!

 

If you know ahead of time a leather strap will get dunked, a rub of mink oil all over will be a good protector. I will wear
an unpadded panny strap in a pool sporatically.

 

Hirsch also makes a line of waterproof, leather straps, with rubber backing. They are very comfortable to wear, and Hirsch even rates them to 300m and gives them a 30 month warranty.