Each Watch Band is Unique and Tells Its Own Story

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Anyone who possesses a valuable and unique watch will also want something special from the watch band that is worn with it. HIRSCH artisanal watch bands are masterpieces, each created by craftsmen in a process involving over 60 separate stages, giving each individual watch band its own elegance and beauty.

HIRSCH artisanal watch bands

In the course of development activities which have taken place over a number of decades, HIRSCH, together with the finest Swiss watchmakers, have created and implemented standards of production and quality which today are a benchmark for the entire sector.

One milestone in quality optimisation has been the development of the Oysterglove Supersoft lining leather, which guarantees softness and comfort in wear. Oysterglove is a waterproof and perspiration resistant lining leather, tanned in a way that is kind to the skin and discreetly coloured, and contributing to a significantly extended duration of life for the replacement watch band.

The elegance and durability of a watch band depend largely on the quality of the materials used. It is essential to exercise the greatest care in the choice of materials, both for the upper leather and for the lining leather, in order to provide softness and comfort in wear.

Leather is a raw material of high quality and rich tradition, and it is also a living material that requires a great deal of knowledge and experience and a certain necessary "Rubber b " in order to be made into a fine bracelet. Working with leather presents a new challenge every day, for no two animals are alike and no single piece of leather is like any other, either in its appearance or in its consistency.

The tanning process

The process of tanning must be undertaken in order to make the animal skin durable and to transform it into a resistant and to some extent water repellent material. The chemical combination of the protein in the skin and the tanning agent turns the hide into leather. The tanning agents used are either of vegetable origin (wood, bark, fruits) or of mineral origin (metal salts containing chromium, zirconium, aluminium, titanium or iron), or a combination of the two.

Alongside the quality of the raw products, it is the type of tanning that determines the quality and characteristics of the leather end product: strength, elasticity, water tolerance and also such characteristics as resistance and flexibility are decisively influenced by the tanning process. However, the finished leather always represents a genuine piece of animal skin, a true natural product with its own unique character.

The refining process

The refining process significantly affects the aesthetic character of the leather. The leather can be dyed, or it can be given a shiny finish, or it can be patterned in various fashion "looks". A distinction is made between two types of leather, depending on the refining process used:

o Smooth leather is a general term covering all types of leather with a closed surface. It can be smooth, but also grained, patterned, structured or shrunk, e.g. calfskin leather, nappa leather, goatskin leather, patent leather...