Babu Handmade Leather Watch Strap Review

Last Updated: December 24, 2023Tags: , , ,

If you tell me there’s a made-to-order strap that can be had for less than USD$35, I would send you away in a heartbeat. Fortunately, Babu handmade made it possible.

Babu is new in the industry starting up only back in 2016. Yet, the quality of the straps make it feel like he’s been in the industry far longer than that.

Pricing

I opted for his sheep skin leather which I haven’t owned before. I read more about the leather from his site before purchasing.

I decided on the chocolate brown with a different length and an engraving which costs USD$25. I was told they are included in the price. Shipping is an extra USD$6 to Australia. The total is just USD$31.

Shipping time varies as some were reporting more than two months. I received mine just in a month and a half from the time of order to my doorstep.

Packaging

The packaging is a cloth pouch which is more eco friendly than some other strap makers.

Babu Straps Pouch

Thoughts

What made this strap a steal is that you get a custom made strap at a very affordable price. It’s also a fully saddle stitched strap so you’re definitely getting a strap that will last to an extent.

Babu Straps Long Edge

The strap is very well stitched. I can’t see any major faults in this part of the strap. The glue marks on the ends aren’t that obvious and rough so you won’t even notice it exists.

Babu Straps 1

The edges are painted and sanded nicely. Not overly glossy which sometimes overpowers the strap.

Babu Straps Edge

The buckle is your ordinary buckle and it’s nothing special.

Babu Straps buckle

The engraving of my name is quite elegant. It’s deep and aligned to the centre which is a plus. Surprisingly most strap makers wouldn’t care if your name is angled or not, bit Babu made sure it’s centred. Compared to the laser engraved ones, I prefer this style of embossing.

The only downside of this strap are the keepers and maybe the underside of the strap and buckle holes alignment. For the keepers, it’s a very soft keeper that might be caused by the sheep leather. Everytime I slide the strap in, the keepers flex with it. Croc or alligator keepers doesn’t flex like this even if the thinness are the same. I am very conscious that it might snap after a couple of wears. My recommendation is ask for another layer more at the cost of a thicker keeper as this is definitely a weak point.

The underside is not a big issue, but more on just attention to detail. This is noticeable towards the edge where you feel the a slight bump if you run through your fingers. I am curious how this will hold up overtime.

The buckle holes are not perfectly aligned with the top half of the holes are angled a bit. Similar to the underside, it’s just the attention to detail.

Final thoughts

This is a near perfect strap and definitely worth the money. If the keepers thickens and strengthened and a bit more attention to detail, i wouldn’t mind giving them a 10/10. As of the moment, a sheep leather from Babu would get a 9.5 / 10.