Slimmer Watchstrap

After wearing my watch with the Derweesh MkII strap for a few months, I decided it was just too bulky. Especially when wearing long sleeves. And especially when you wear gloves. Both of which you do when it's cold. Which it has been this winter.

What's more, the pattern I used has a flaw. The original Derweesh Mark II pattern has one working strand going in the opposite direction to the other (the best way I can think to describe this is that, when you start weaving, one of the strands initially comes out from under the belt, while the other goes in from over). This time, because of how I initially intended to pass the spine strands under the watch, it made sense to have the two working strands going in the same direction to make the join look uniform. This forced me to use a slightly different pattern in order to achieve the crossover. The difference is not obvious but it's a little less neat.

Anyway, I finally got around to weaving a traditional strap for the watch:

I forget the name of the weave, but it's basically a typical pattern for a watch strap. The two sides are separate straps, cutting the extra bulk up top, and the clasp removes the overlap and so cuts the extra bulk at the bottom. I did make the first piece a little too long, making the watch a little "unbalanced". I'm not sure if making the sides more even might have made it a little more comfortable or not.

This is the only type of suitable clasp I found that's actually adjustable to a degree, thought it is a pain to take on and off. Plus I think the watch is just generally a little less comfortable now (it's hard to say really), though I am enjoying the slimmer dimensions. I didn't undo the old strap, just slipped the watch off, I can always put it back on if I decide I don't like this one.

I'm contemplating using a one-piece strap like the old one with this kind of clasp and an ultra-thin watch. That should be comfortable without being too bulky, and would also have the (minor) benefit of using a single longer piece of cord rather than two shorter ones. I just can't seem to find a really thin watch that I actually like.

Derweesh Mark II Watchstrap

It took me a while to find a watch I really liked, but I finally settled on the Timex Ironman Dualtech. I used the Derweesh Mark II belt weave with black 550 paracord, which for some reason seems to be "flatter" than other types (colours) I've tried. The buckle is from a women's belt I bought cheap from a charity shop, and the leather loop is from another belt I stole the buckle from for a previous paracord belt.

The Timex Dualtech is a nice, clean analogue watch...

... with all the advantages of a modern digital watch.

I used four spine strands, and weaved around each one, which turned out to be just about the right width for the buckle. I used one loop-back row per crossover row to create as many holes as possible so the length would be as adjustable as possible. I think there's around 20 feet of paracord in the strap, I'm not really sure but it's certainly a little more than most thanks to the extra length.

You can clearly see the holes in this picture.

Admittedly it's quite thick where the two straps overlap.

Initially I weaved up to the watch, pulled the strands unwoven through the pins and under the watch, then took up the weave on the other side, but I found that it actually didn't wrap around my hand as well that way. Instead I tried to continue the weave the whole way, and attach the watch using the two inner spine strands (using all four would have interrupted the weave). This turned out to be more comfortable, and I believe it will be easier to remove and reattach the watch when necessary. It does mean the watch sits a little higher, but I don't think it will be a big problem.

The end was a little tricky to tie off neatly, but I've found that if you push the ends through the final loops without actually pulling the weave tight it gives you some wiggle room to fit one more cord through (since each row has two cords you might find yourself a little tight on space at the end, as I did), and luckily I was able to weave it tight and get a neat end.

Overall I think this is quite a unique watch; while paracord straps are not uncommon, I've only ever seen ones with snap clasps that are obviously not adjustable, while mine has (what I believe is) a fairly unique weave and a buckle making it adjustable. Typically I find watches quite uncomfortable to wear, I'm hoping the single piece strap will help this one to be more tolerable, but time will tell.