All About Delugs: A Watch Strap Brand That Gives Your Watch A Makeover
8 min read
When it comes to wristwatches, the strap often serves as the unsung hero, transforming a simple timekeeping device into a personal statement of style and sophistication. While the watch face garners most of the attention, the strap is where individuality truly shines. This offers endless possibilities for customization along with a chance to blend functionality with fashion to suit every occasion and preference. Enter Delugs- a third party watch strap brand that will serve as your go-to for all things watch straps.
Founded by husband wife couple, Chia Pei Qi and Kenneth Kuan, Delugs aims to guide you through the art of selecting the perfect strap to complement your timepiece, ensuring it not only ticks all the right boxes but also reflects your unique personality. It all began with a deep love for leather crafting. Pei, along with her husband Ken were self-taught leather crafters who would make smaller leather products such as card holders, wallets, belts, pouches as well as watch straps.
As their fascination with leather grew, the duo began to notice gaps in the market for high quality leather watch straps. While there were watch straps available in the market, there was a noticeable absence of different lengths, varied lug widths and a diverse range of materials. With an aim to fill these gaps coupled with a passion for watches, the couple embarked on their journey with Delugs - a custom watch strap brand that would offer a plethora of options for various watch models.
When it comes to working with her husband, Pei is all for it. “We see each other 24/7. I take charge of operations and business development. And Ken looks into product development as well as marketing. We split the pie a little bit. It’s great to work together just because we cover different perspectives. Ken has a great understanding of the technical nature of the business as he is a huge watch collector himself. As for me, I try to cover the ladies angle as well as have a keen interest in the styling portion of the brand. I think we complement each other really well,” she notes.
While most existing strap manufacturers are seen by watch brands as suppliers, many are beginning to see Delugs in a different light, almost as a partner. “From the very start, when we built Delugs, we’ve always wanted to be more than just a supplier. Most watch brands offer only OEM straps. In most of our recent partnerships, we have seen that brands are willing to co-brand the strap with us and find more ways to work together beyond designing the strap, which was always our goal. We began by working with micro brands, then independent brands and currently have a couple of exciting projects with bigger brands underway,” says Pei.
Having worked with respected brands such as Ulysse Nardin, Armin Strom and Sartory Billard, Delugs works along with the brand right from the design stage to offer to its consumers a quality product. While some watch brands are centuries old, they already have existing strap suppliers. A standing principle of the brand is to always give value- be it to the consumer or to the brand. Pei shares, “For us, when we work with brands, we don't want the strap to be an afterthought. We want it to be part of the design. The brands could share what they have in mind for the strap, and we would work from there. Or if they do not have specific ideas, we could propose a few designs that we think would complement the watch and story behind it.”
Delugs, however is not just a watch strap manufacturer. It is a thriving community that brings together people from different walks of life with a common passion for watches. This exchange of ideas, conversations and passion is what drives the brand making it a unique community of individuals. Focusing on its direct customers, the brand consists of industry insiders, media professionals, brand representatives and of course watch collectors.
When it comes to competition, Pei shares, “We are very focused on ensuring the quality of every single product. Our target audience are watch collectors, particularly in the luxury watch space. Watch collectors are particular about the strap that they put on their watch, and rightly so, as it needs to give them enough confidence to wear it on their precious timepieces. We pay attention to sourcing the raw leather directly from tanneries, refining our crafting techniques to improve our products over time, and to develop innovative strap solutions that may not be readily accessible in the market today.”
Another key element to the success of Delugs is technology. The use of the Delugs Strap Finder – an online strap configurator that allows one to mix-and-match strap and watches has enhanced the overall buying experience giving consumers an added layer of value when it comes to selecting a strap. “For online purchases the Strap Finder is definitely helpful because we know that a lot of our customers use it to visualize what their watches might look like with the straps. Some of them may even do screenshots. If they do meet us at trunk shows, pop-ups or even in our store, they bring out a couple of screenshots to let us know what they are looking for. We find it helpful in-store as well because sometimes people do not bring their watches along with them. Even though we do have the actual straps here in person, customers just want to see what it looks like with the watch itself. Every person styles a watch differently,” shares Pei.
Time for some expert tips from the founder herself. Pei shares some tips on straps and addresses some common myths of watch straps, and whether these are true.
1. When buying a watch strap, ask if it is made out of full grain leather. The term genuine leather doesn't actually mean that it's good quality leather. It just means that it's made of leather. Good quality leather will not lead to cracks or tears over time. So it's good if you could ask is this made of full grain leather versus bonded leather which you do not want.
2. Another one is the different lengths of strap. I think people assume that watch straps only come in a standard length. This is not true. You can always custom make or you could always buy from places like Delugs where we offer straps in different lengths and that should fit your wrist better.
3. Don’t forget to have fun with your watch. Typically, people may think if it's a very dressy dress watch, it has to go with an alligator strap. If it's a sports watch, it has to go on a rubber strap. But we want to tell people that they should style it according to their lifestyle in a way to express themselves. So there isn't really a right or wrong answer on how you should style your watch.
Being a watch enthusiast, Pei has an emotional connection with each of the watches in her collection. Her first watch the Oris Big Pointer Date was bought with her first paycheck. Sharing a glimpse of her personal collection. “I am partial to vintage Cartier. So I have a Cartier Baignoire along with the Tank. I really like how that flows on the wrist, how that curves really nicely. I think the Tank is a classic and suits all occasions. It can easily transition from day to night. One of my favourite watches that I own right now is the MB&F Flying Tourbillon. I think that it's just a marvel in watchmaking. To me, the way the crystal domes and tourbillon is just perfect,” says Pei.
One of the perks of working with your husband is sharing your watch collection. Although the couples shares watches, they seldom share watch straps! Taking one watch and adding a different strap to it gives it a new look that breathes new life into these watches. Pei comments, “Looking at the watch trends these days as well, I feel men are starting to like watches that are smaller in size. I would say among women watch collectors, the watch collecting community is growing. Women are moving beyond fashion accessories and learning about watchmaking and mechanical watches. So now's the time where it's starting to meet in the middle.”
Earlier this year, Delugs received an unexpected surprise when Singer Songwriter Ed Sheeran strapped on his Patek Philippe watch with a Delugs strap. “That was really quite a dream for us. We basically didn't know whether it was going to happen or not until the day itself because we have no connections to the music industry whatsoever. But it was the watch community that allowed us to reach out to him and finally gift him the straps. I think it was amazing that he actually put his Patek Philippe on a rubber strap, “ concludes Pei.
