Collection: Which Watches Need Open-Ended, Notched or Curved Straps?

Fixed bars a strap can't thread through. A lug opening far narrower than the case. A case that curves over the strap and leaves a gap. Some watches simply can't take an ordinary two-piece strap — this guide covers all of them: which construction has been documented for each watch, with real customer-confirmed builds. You will still confirm your exact reference and measurements before we make the strap.

Custom straps for the watches nothing off the shelf fits

Made to your watch and wrist · Lug widths 8–32mm plus custom sizes · Original buckle reuse available

Shown: a customer-owned Omega Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M fitted with a custom orange alligator curved-end strap.

Open-ended Notched Curved

First, find your watch's problem

Watches that need an open-ended strap

On these watches the strap bars are solid — machined, screwed or soldered to the case, with no spring-bar tips to compress. An open-ended strap wraps each leather end around the fixed bar and locks it with a small flat screw: no gluing, no bent prongs, and you can still swap straps whenever you like. Unlike a pass-through fabric strap, it works like a regular two-piece — it lays flatter, keeps the watch centred, and dresses the same watch up for a shirt cuff.

Watches that need a notched strap

On these watches the strap opening is narrower than the case, or the case drops blocks into the strap end itself — usually because the watch was designed around an integrated bracelet and a flat leather strap was never part of the plan. A plain strap either won't seat at all, or goes in and looks wrong: a narrow band floating under a wide case. We cut the strap to the full width of your case and notch the end so it fills the opening the way the original did.

Which notch? Count the tabs on your original strap's end

1 tab in the middle

Corner-notched — the corners are cut away, leaving one tongue.

2 tabs, reaching the full width

Centre-notched — one notch out of the middle, corners intact.

3 tabs

Multi-notched Style A — two notches cut into a full-width end.

2 tabs, set in from the corners

Multi-notched Style B — corners and centre cut away.

No original strap left to count? Send us photos of the watch head and we'll identify the shape for you.

Watches that need a curved-end strap or curved spring bars

Some watches leave too little room for a normal strap; others use curved spring bars or a curved leather end to follow the case. Two different solutions — and they are different orders:

How to order without guessing

1. Send the exact model or caseback reference, plus clear top and side photos.
2. We confirm whether you need an open-ended strap, one of the four notched shapes, a curved-end strap, or a standard strap with curved bars.
3. You confirm the measurements before we cut the leather.

Don't see your watch? The guide is a list of supported examples, not the limit of what we can make. Send us your watch and we will recommend the right construction.

Fit can vary by reference, production year and installed hardware. A successful example proves that the construction has worked on that watch; it is not a universal measurement guarantee.

Order your custom special-fit strap

The open-ended strap, all four notched constructions and the curved-end strap are below. Every strap is made to order in 3–5 days and typically delivered in 2–3 weeks — and you confirm every measurement before we cut.