Forums Latest Members

Treating a vintage crocodile leather strap

  1. ClarendonVintage May 6, 2018

    Posts
    702
    Likes
    713
    Good day all,

    A while back I picked up a vintage leather strap to pair with a gold capped watch. This is a vintage 'Sandoz' strap. A search online returned absolutely zero results: I tried various permutations of 'vintage' and 'sandoz' etc. However I do believe this is indeed a strap produced by Sandoz, and I quite like it. As to which company this 'Sandoz' might be, I can only guess it is Henri Sandoz, although I am not sure if the logo on the strap is the correct trademark for vintage Sandoz. Does anyone recognise such a strap?

    20180406_005311.jpg 20180406_005308.jpg 20180406_005413.jpg

    As you can see the strap has cracked at certain positions, revealing its white underneath. I am looking for suggestions on how to prevent the strap from cracking further and possibly restore it to a better state.

    Also, I have a can of mink oil that I have used for leather jackets in the past: would this be a good solution?

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. Vitezi May 7, 2018

    Posts
    3,088
    Likes
    13,355
    I have used mink oil to soften dark-colored vintage leather straps with good success. The oil will darken the leather, so it may not be a good option on lighter-colored straps.

    Sandoz was a watch manufacturer, so perhaps you have one of their branded straps. Here'a a logo on a dial for comparison:
    [​IMG]
     
    Edited May 7, 2018
  3. Vitezi May 7, 2018

    Posts
    3,088
    Likes
    13,355
    Mikrolisk records this logo attributed to Henri Sandoz & Fils / Sandoz SA, Le Locle, La Chaux-de-Fonds, Moudon, Saviese and Peseux, Switzerland; registered on 11.6.1946
    [​IMG]
     
    NT931 and ClarendonVintage like this.
  4. ClarendonVintage May 7, 2018

    Posts
    702
    Likes
    713
    Ah thank you Vitezi! That looks about right actually, I was afraid it wasn't the right Sandoz I had in mind.

    I did some research on mink oil and tested it on a small portion on the strap. This morning it hasn't been darkened (thankfully) and the strap felt a bit softer. Will monitor and see :)

    Actually I am now tempted to remove the strap and store it away seeing how hard it is to come across a Sandoz strap...