Trench Watch, Authentic Strap and Rare Lath Shrapnel Guard Marriage PART 1

Well, I started this blog in June of 2018, wrote four entries and stopped. I went back to check on it recently and found that essentially no one has seen any of the posts. Hmmm ... I may need to change my strategy, or perhaps more accurately stated, employ a strategy to drive traffic to it. But at the very least a new post is in order.

This time, another trench watch is profiled. Actually, the accouterments are more interesting than the watch itself. Let’s begin.

The watch itself is another Patria similar to the watch discussed in my prior post. It is not exactly the same: the case and dial are a little different as is the movement but to the uninitiated they look nearly identical. I bought this watch off of eBay likely from a US seller, since Patrias were mostly marketed in the US. European trench watches tend to be either unbranded or branded in the name of the department store through which they were sold. The watch did not come with a strap or shrapnel guard: the ones shown were added later.

It is primarily the shrapnel guard and the strap I will be writing about in this post. The watch, the strap and the guard were all separately purchased and associated by me.  The strap was a tag along with a mesh style guard that at the time of purchase on eBay  I had hopes of its usability but I did not make the purchase because of it.  The pictured guard was also an eBay purchase.

Admittedly, the strap and cuff were in rough shape and clearly showing signs of deterioration. The 10mm strap was a bit too spongy and stretchy.  The strap-keeper loop near the buckle was missing. One of the holes was elongated an beginning to tear laterally.  The cuff had similar issues and appeared ready to tear at a couple locations. Nevertheless, it was wearable, which is pretty amazing for what is almost definitely a 100+ year old strap.

I lightly cleaned the leather and applied a bees wax leather preservative/conditioner to protect and soften the leather a bit.  I made a keeper loop out of some scrap leather and bonded it in place. Most importantly, I reinforced the strap and cuff by laminating thin pieces of leather to their respective back sides at strategic locations using a flexible adhesive. I could have and should have taken more time and care in fashioning the leather backing, but my ramshackle fix did the job. The result is a wearable authentic WWI trench watch strap.  It may not look fancy or even have much monetary value but it certainly is my favorite strap and is surprisingly comfortable as well.

The extremely rare Harry Daw Lath Shrapnel guard in sterling silver is discussed in Part 2 of this post. It is easily my best ever watch-related eBay score.