Doing another strap review for vario.sg and this time round I am looking at their latest Harris Tweed strap.

Tweed is a fabric that originated from Scotland more than one hundred and fifty years ago. It is made from wool and is handwoven by skilled weavers. Some Tweeds are named after the sheep that produced the wool or the region where they are produced while others are named by their design or by their specific brand names.

Harris Tweed is the most famous brand in the Tweed industry. It is handwoven by islanders from their homes in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland using pure virgin wool that has been dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides.

Here, I have three Harris Tweed straps from vario.sg. The black coloured one on the left is called “Coal”, the brown one in the middle is “Pecan” and the green one on the right is “Peacock”.

These straps are made with genuine Harris Tweed material. The fabric is of high quality as you would expect. The colours on the tweed are not plain black, brown and green. This particular tweed has a very rich texture which gives the straps a soft look.

The padding is pretty thick with the thickest part being 6mm. The three samples I have here are 22mm models. They taper to 20mm at the buckle. Besides 22mm, they are also available in 18mm and 20mm.

The measurements are as follows:

Long end: 115mm
Short end: 70mm (excluding buckle), 83mm (including buckle)

Tweed is a rough and thick fabric. Harris Tweed straps by vario.sg, however, has a layer of soft leather backing, making sure that the Tweed fabric does not come into contact with the wearer’s wrist. On the wrist, it feels like wearing just about any leather strap that has leather backing. It feels comfortable and certainly does not make the wrist feel warm.

As these straps are made with genuine Harris Tweed, you will find the Harris Tweed trade mark on the leather backing of the straps.

Below is the Harris Tweed trade mark that comes with clothing made with genuine Harris Tweed fabric.

The Vario logo is engraved on the stainless steel buckle. Vario.sg offers other buckle options including polished gold, polish rose gold and matte black.

Tweed as I understand was a sports fabric in the United Kingdom during the nineteen century and early twentieth century. Today, it is mainly used for making casual outfit although it can also be worn in certain business events that are regarded as less formal.

Here, I have the brown Harris Tweed strap on the burgundy Tudor Black Bay. Tweed fabric is water resistant and the earthy brown colour makes this strap suitable for casual and sports watches.

I have the green Harris Tweed strap on my Tudor Black Bay chronograph. Green reflects the colours of nature which I feel is a good colour choice when getting a Harris Tweed strap.

The black Harris Tweed strap is a little more versatile. It goes well with casual watches as well as dress watches. I have it on my Tudor Black Bay 41 which we know can be used as a sports watch and a dress watch.

For Seiko fans, I also have the straps on a few popular Seiko divers as shown below. I find that Harris Tweed straps go well with Seiko divers, particularly the Seiko Turtle. The fabric matches very well with the classic design of the watch. (You need use a thinner spring bar in this case as the original 2.5mm Seiko diver spring bar will not fit the strap)

Brown Harris Tweed strap on Seiko SRP777.

Brown Harris Tweed strap on Seiko SRP775.

Brown Harris Tweed strap on Seiko SRPA83.

Green Harris Tweed strap on Seiko SRP775.

Green Harris Tweed strap on Seiko SRPA79.

Black Harris Tweed strap on Seiko SRP777.

Black Harris Tweed strap on Seiko SRP775.

The Harris Tweed straps from vario.sg are very well made. They are soft and comfortable to wear and take the shape of my wrist after wearing for some time.

Here are some wrist shots of the Harris Tweed straps.

Conclusion

The Tweed industry is quite similar to the watchmaking industry in certain ways. They are about tradition and heritage. Watch straps made with Tweed fabric certainly go well with fine watches in this aspect.

Harris Tweed fabric has a soft look that makes it a very unique material for making watch straps. It is suitable for sports watches and dress watches, modern and vintage. Harris Tweed straps offer watch wearers with something that is different from the standard leather straps found in the market. For those looking for alternative strap material, Harris Tweed strap is definitely something worth considering.

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Harris Tweed straps featured in this post are provided by:

https://vario.sg/

Each strap is priced at USD36.00.

Please check out the above site for introductory price.

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This review is written by Yeoman.

Thanks for reading.

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Printed NATO Straps by vario.sg