He Desires to Make the World’s ‘Most Stunning Watch Straps’

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TOKYO — Nineteen years in the past, when he started working at a manufacturing facility that made watch straps, Kunitaka Kojima thought they have been simply one thing that got here together with a timepiece. “I underestimated watch straps,” he mentioned.

Now Mr. Kojima, 48, is an impartial artisan who makes them by hand: “My want is to take advantage of stunning watch straps on the planet, that can be used and admired for a very long time.”

In 2012 he established his personal model, Galuchattail. Galuchat is a time period for stingray and shark leathers (named — though misspelled — for Jean-Claude Galluchat, Louis XV’s grasp artisan, who launched the unique supplies to France through the 18th century). As for the phrase “tail” within the model identify, Mr. Kojima mentioned, it refers to “the stingray’s tail, which is sharp and edgy, how I would like my designs to be.”

The straps, which begin at 150,000 yen ($1,085) for the best model in crocodile, are designed to be taken aside for repairs. “If the fabric is broken, you possibly can change it, or if the loop breaks, you may make a brand new loop and restore it time and again,” Mr. Kojima mentioned.

His clientele consists of watch collectors from all over the world, impartial watchmakers in Switzerland and Japan and microbrands akin to Naoya Hida & Co., the Tokyo maker that outfitted its first watch, the Kind 1C, with a hand-stitched brown leather-based strap from Galuchattail.

Mr. Hida mentioned his preliminary go to to Mr. Kojima’s workshop was in 2018. “I used to be enormously impressed by his unparalleled dedication to high quality and creativity,” the watchmaker mentioned. “I instantly requested him to provide leather-based straps for our watches.”

Leatherwork is a part of Mr. Kojima’s heritage. An awesome-grandfather was a tanner and, as a baby, he performed with small items of leather-based from his mother and father’ leather-based manufacturing facility.

When he started working, he spent seven years as a tailor, however the price of tools deterred him from opening a store. “I used to be on the lookout for work the place I may use my chopping and stitching abilities, so I joined a watch strap manufacturing facility in Tokyo,” he mentioned, noting that he was a part of a six-member crew that produced 20,000 straps every month. “I labored 18-hour days, from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m., with at some point off per 30 days.”

The thought of a strap that could possibly be repaired intrigued Mr. Kojima, and he arrange a small atelier in Asakusa, a district on Tokyo’s japanese facet that’s identified for the Senso-ji Buddhist temple, a significant vacationer attraction. Asakusa additionally was the place Mr. Kojima was born and raised, though he now lives in Ebisu, on the town’s west facet (“I maintain a sleeping bag within the atelier,” he mentioned, “for once I’m too targeted on manufacturing and I can’t return dwelling after the final prepare runs out”).

In July, Mr. Kojima walked some company, together with myself, by way of the method of creating his three strap types: the 3-D Flex, a strap that matches the curve of the client’s wrist; the 2-D Straight; and the Prepared-Made, which, regardless of its identify, is also customizable. He mentioned that an ordinary Prepared-Made strap may take three to 5 hours to finish, however {that a} custom-made one may take so long as six months.

Mr. Kojima makes use of each form of animal pores and skin, however his signature alternative is galuchat, which he buys from Thailand and Indonesia by way of Japanese leather-based wholesalers. He mentioned he most popular items which are about 12 inches by 6 inches as a result of the floor pebbling, additionally known as denticles, is proportionally small and appears higher than on bigger skins. Whereas he makes use of each bit of every piece, the portion with the white star-shaped mark discovered on a stingray’s backbone instructions a premium, elevating the price of a {custom} 3-D Flex galuchat strap to ¥250,000 from the same old ¥220,000 worth. “The star mark is taken into account a good-luck attraction that brings you in direction of the sunshine,” Mr. Kojima mentioned. Then he displayed a stingray cover coated in star marks, noting, “I waited 5 years to acquire it for a buyer.” When that strap is completed, he mentioned, it would price round ¥500,000.

Mr. Kojima dyes his personal skins. “For galuchat, I first polish the denticles one after the other, by hand, with a file to take away the small scratches, and polish them till they shine,” he mentioned. Then he makes use of a brush to use the dye, often darkening the colour as he works it towards the sides. “Nonetheless, when dyed, the luster turns into slightly cloudy, so I polish it manually once more after the dye has dried,” he mentioned. “And once you polish it, the colour of galuchat will fade slightly as a result of friction, so I dye it once more.” He repeats all the course of, typically as many as 10 occasions, a course of that might take so long as a month.

For a {custom} order, Mr. Kojima measures the consumer’s wrist with a particular gauge, an orange and black piece of plastic that envelops the wrist and appears like one thing fabricated from Legos. “It’s the identical as garments’ tailoring, aside from a wrist,” he mentioned.

Utilizing the measurements, he attracts the strap on graph paper after which, guided by the sketch, creates a sample from a clear sheet of plastic about half a millimeter thick. He then organizes his supplies in a form of sandwich: the galuchat; the core layer, a powerful materials known as Cordura, made by the U.S. firm Invista; and the liner, which often can be a leather-based (Mr. Kojima recommends sharkskin as a result of its uneven floor means the strap is unlikely to stay to the wearer’s wrist in sizzling climate). He locations the sample on prime after which cuts by way of the layers utilizing a leather-based knife made by a blacksmith who makes a speciality of Japanese swords.

“Earlier than I assemble the watch strap, I shave the leather-based so the strap doesn’t look untidy and I alter the thickness of the leather-based,” Mr. Kojima mentioned, displaying a kawasukiki shaving machine from the Sixties that he picked up secondhand. To reveal, he put a strip of leather-based in opposition to the machine’s spinning wheel, which rubbed it till Mr. Kojima determined it was skinny sufficient to make use of.

As stingray leather-based could be very arduous, Mr. Kojima makes use of a small hand drill with a spiral bit to create holes and switches to a pointy straight bit to redrill each. Then, with a bent needle and polyester thread coated with wax, he stitches by way of the galuchat and the core materials (however not the liner as a result of, he mentioned, that may permit sweat or water to work its approach up). “I sew by hand as I can completely management the stress and velocity, not like utilizing a machine,” he mentioned. Lastly, Mr. Kojima makes use of one of many 5 adhesives he retains available to connect the liner.

Mr. Kojima has his personal methodology to seal a strap’s edges. First, he brushes dye on the uncooked edges after which applies a wax that he formulated. As soon as it’s all fully dry, he heats a trowel over a lamp and gently rubs the nice and cozy device over the sides to make the wax permeate the leather-based. He repeats the method 21 occasions to realize a shiny and resistant edge, a course of that usually takes a few week. “Portray the border means it’s simply repairable if broken, and it’s additionally sweatproof and waterproof, because the water can’t enter,” he mentioned. As for the buckle, Mr. Kojima will make one, or reuse one from an outdated strap offered by the client.

The strap now could be accomplished. Along with his persistence, dedication to perfection and detailed explanations, I instructed Mr. Kojima he ought to be a instructor. “My dream is to open a college,” he mentioned. “I’d like to show younger craftsmen to know the essence of creating a watch strap.”