Mach Leather, at its core, is the culmination of my many hobbies and passions in one entity. My wife and I always joke that both of us have more hobbies than we’ll ever have time (or frankly, money) to fully dedicate ourselves to. It’s a fun, if not somewhat frustrating problem to have. Watches, leatherworking, aviation, style, reading, and star gazing are just some of the things I fill my ever-waning spare time doing. I find myself being hyper-focused on one or two of these for a month or two, then move on to another. It’s a vicious cycle of interests coming and going.
Sometimes while reading, or researching new watch releases, I will get the feeling as if I were looking across a circular chasm at one of the next hobbies in the cycle.
“Not today stargazing, I gave you attention two weeks ago.”
Mach Leather is, in part, the solution to that issue, a marriage of many of my favorite things.
I have been doing leatherworking since late 2020. Yes, dear reader, I picked it up as a hobby during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many others, I was looking for more things to do indoors, and leatherwork had always interested me. Little did I know at the time just how much I’d fall in love with it.
My interest in small details, and well-made products meant I had a natural desire to try to perfect the craft. I love burnishing an edge, “melting” layers of leather together into one glossy facet. I love getting that beautifully straight stitch, where the chosen thread color contrasts so nicely with the leather. And I love the functionality, and craftsmanship of the finished product.
That interest bleeds into my other hobbies as well. Mach Leather is primarily focused on leather goods aimed at the everyday carry and watch enthusiast crowd, both of which I am heavily passionate about.
Leather and watches are such a natural combination. And I’m not just talking about strap pairings. There’s something so analog, out dated, about working on leather. It’s an old craft that is underappreciated in an age of high-tech, disposable commodities. In a fast-paced world, leatherworking forces one to slow down. Each product is meticulously hand-made with tools that have been used by human hands for centuries. High quality leather goods aren’t mass-produced in billion-dollar factories. They’re made one-by-one, with care, and attention to detail. My hand-made process for making leather goods is, by all means, obsolete.
The same obsolescence can be said for watches. They come from a time gone by. Almost nobody today needs a watch. Our phones tell us the exact time much more reliably. But there’s something about a good-old analog (or digital) watch that just feels different. Like leather, watches are about detail. Even inexpensive, or mass-produced watches carry a sense of design prowess that smart watches and smart phones simply can’t match.
That is where Mach Leather and watches come together. Design, attention to detail, and old-world craftsmanship. Much like a fine watch, I want to provide an heirloom product that can be passed down from generation to generation, something that your children, and children’s children will fight over.
1 comment
You should incorporate leather watch straps to interchange on watches. That would be neat.