Open-Ended Strap for Marathon Officer's Field Watch

A watch with fixed lug bars leaves you one option: a strap that wraps around the bar instead of threading through it. This order was an open-ended strap for a Marathon Officer's Field Watch quartz — 16mm lug width, 44mm lug to lug, and, in the customer's words, a “daughter's everyday watch” on a 6.75 inch wrist. It went out as a matched pair in Epsom calfskin, one navy and one black.

Build specification

Watch	Marathon Officer's Field Watch, quartz
Strap type	Custom open-ended, two straps
Leather	Navy Epsom and Black Epsom
Lug width	16mm (measured by the customer)
Lug to lug	44mm
Length	75/115mm (approx. 7.5 in total)
Buckle width	16mm
Buckle	Classic, stainless steel
Wrist	6.75 in (171mm)

Why these choices

An open-ended strap exists for one reason: some watches have spring bars that do not come out, so a conventional strap has nowhere to thread. Instead of a closed loop, the lug end is left open and cut to close around the bar. That makes the lug measurement the whole job. The customer gave us 16mm across the lugs and 44mm lug to lug, which is what let us cut the opening to sit flush against the case rather than leaving a gap you can see from the side.

Epsom was a sensible call for a watch that gets worn daily by someone who is not precious about it. It is a stamped-grain calfskin — the same leather Hermès uses on bags — and the embossed grain is light and holds up to scratches better than a smooth calf would. Two straps in navy and black means the watch changes character without anything about the fit changing, since both were cut to the same pattern, the same 75/115mm, and the same 16mm buckle.

On length: 75/115mm gives roughly 190mm of strap, and on a 171mm wrist that puts the buckle tongue near the middle of the hole run with room to move in either direction as a wrist changes over a few years. A 16mm buckle on a 16mm lug keeps the strap parallel, with no taper — a plainer line, and the right one for a field watch.

Questions

What makes an open-ended strap for a Marathon Officer's Field Watch different from a normal one?
Only the lug end. The strap is cut open there so it can close around a spring bar that stays in the case, rather than being threaded onto a bar you remove. Everything behind the lug — length, taper, stitching, buckle — is built the same way as any other strap.

What do you need from me to cut one?
The lug width, and the lug-to-lug measurement if you have it. If you are not sure, a jeweller can measure both in a minute. We would rather have a measured number than a catalogue figure.

Every strap here is made to order, so allow 2–3 weeks to delivery. If your watch has bars that will not budge, start with the open-ended pattern; if the bars do come out, the rest of the custom strap range is open to you, and the Epsom line is where to look for something that will take a knock.