Bund Strap for a 34mm Shinola Birdy

Some strap projects start because a watch never had the right band. This one started because it did, and then the band stopped existing. The customer's 34 mm Shinola Birdy shipped from the factory on a bund, and as he put it, Shinola no longer makes this strap. A bund strap for the Shinola Birdy is not a style upgrade in that situation — it is the only way to put the watch back the way it was designed to be worn.

Strap specification

Watch	Shinola Birdy, 34 mm case
Build	Custom bund
Leather	Barenia
Length	75/115 mm (3.0 in / 4.5 in)
Buckle width	8 mm (0.31 in), classic stainless steel
Spring bars	Quick release

Why these choices

A bund is two pieces of leather working together: a conventional strap, and a broad pad underneath that the watch sits on top of. The pad is what gives a bund its look, and it is also why the build has to be sized to the specific case. A 34 mm watch on a pad cut for a 40 mm one looks like a coin on a placemat. The pad here was cut around the Birdy's case, not around a generic outline.

Barenia is the natural leather for this. It is hot-stuffed with fats and oils, comes out of an equestrian tradition, and is traditionally water-resistant — which is worth something on a bund, because the pad sits flat against the wrist all day. It also breaks in rather than wears out, so the pad softens to the shape of the wearer instead of staying stiff.

Note the 8 mm buckle width. That is the buckle end, not the lug end, and it is the narrowest we have made in some time. A 34 mm case with a proportionally narrow band needs a buckle scaled to match; an 18 mm buckle on this strap would look like hardware borrowed from a much bigger watch. The taper from lug end down to an 8 mm buckle is what keeps the whole thing in proportion.

Common questions

Can you make a bund strap for a Shinola Birdy if the factory one is discontinued?
Yes, and that is most of what we do. We need the case diameter, your lug width, and your wrist size. We cut a fresh pad and strap to those figures rather than adapting something off the shelf.

Does a small watch look right on a bund?
It can, as long as the pad is cut to the case. Bunds got their reputation on large pilot watches, but the proportions scale down cleanly — a smaller pad and a narrower buckle keep the balance that a big pad on a small case would lose.

Bunds are cut to order, so allow two to three weeks to delivery. Start with the custom bund strap builder, read up on Barenia leather, or look through our brown leather straps and the wider custom strap range.