DEPARTURES STYLE MATERIAL MATTERS 46 the watch’s steel, gold and leather finishes to be seamlessly attached. The metal bracelet even comes with a patent-pending SmartLink system for tool-free adjustment of the length. Speaking of easy strap swapping with a single flick, Hublot’s patented One Click system has been part of its hero Big Bang collection since the early days, pitting Hublot as watchstrap fashion arbiter par excellence. Its One Click straps even have their own lines tied to the fashion calendar – autumn/ winter and spring/summer collections – with choices galore: there’s neon, hologram, psychedelic rainbow, rubber, alligator, python, even funky ethnic and tweed-effect, courtesy of St Gallen’s famed Bischoff workshop, the go-to fabric purveyor to the top couture houses. But the design that will really turn heads this winter? The delightfully-named Cuddly Cuffs that engulf your beloved Big Bang in luxuriant, winter-warming shearling – or electric purple, blue, pink or white fur, if that’s more your thing. Also with impressive strap game is Hermès, whose famed leather atelier has been kitting out its watch buyers with luxury straps for over a decade. Its ultra-chic Cape Cod and Nantucket models, and the H-motif Heure H – all of which look especially smart in wraparound styles – come with tool-free, built-in interchangeability. But, really, any Hermès watch can be paired with a personalised strap. There are 32 different colours and Clockwise from left: Hermès’ Heure H, with the Etoupe Ambiance calfskin band, hermes. com; La D de Dior Satine, featuring a steel bracelet in Milanese mesh, dior. com; the Hortensia Eden, by Chaumet, here with a lizard-skin strap, chaumet. com; Hublot’s Big Bang with a One Click Cuddly Cuff in ice blue, hublot. com; the Pasha de Cartier with a steel QuickSwitch band, cartier.com sizes to choose from, not to mention more customisation options in terms of stitching and loops. Finally, Hermès’ fashion counterparts Dior and Chaumet are also getting in on the strap action. The likes of the La D de Dior and Chaumet’s Liens Lumiere and Hortensia Eden collections all promise easy, at-home interchangeability for their multiple coloured straps, with Chaumet boutiques even equipped with a dedicated strap bar. Fellow LVMH stablemate TAG Heuer has also added contemporary straps – like the funky perforated rubber number in lime yellow – for its popular Connected smartwatch. A digital watch with fashion straps? Let’s hope the watch purists really did stop reading. ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE WATCHMAKERS
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