A decade of watch straps, made by hand in Vietnam.

AKC has manufactured leather watch straps since 2014. What began as a small workshop is now a factory of master craftsmen producing for watch brands across Asia, Europe and North America.

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The AKC bench in Vietnam photographed from above: two craftspeople's hands at work among pricking irons, hammers, edge tools and trays of cut leather watch strap blanks
The bench, Ho Chi Minh City — where every strap begins

Who we are

We are a manufacturer, not a label. Almost everything we make leaves here under someone else’s name.

1,000,000+
Straps made
40+
Craftsmen
10+
Years of handmade expertise

What we do best

One strap, from hide to box. Every stage below is done by hand at the bench you have just looked at.

  1. An AKC craftsman drawing a swivel knife along a glass straightedge to cut an alligator watch strap on a glass cutting plate

    Cutting

    Every strap is cut by hand against a straight rule, so the pattern can be placed on the hide rather than nested by a machine that cannot see the grain.

  2. Two hands pulling a saddle stitch closed through an orange leather watch strap at the AKC bench

    Saddle stitching

    Two needles, one thread, pulled closed by hand. A saddle stitch holds when a stitch is cut; a machine lock stitch unravels from the break.

  3. Edge paint being laid onto the finished edge of a leather watch strap with an applicator at AKC

    Edge finishing

    Edges are creased, sanded, painted and burnished in successive passes until the grain is closed. It is the slowest stage, and the first thing a buyer looks at.

  4. A dial thickness gauge being used to measure a finished leather watch strap during quality control at AKC

    Measurement

    Thickness is checked with a dial gauge against the approved sample, not by eye. The sample you sign off becomes the standard the whole run is measured to.

  5. An AKC inspector in white gloves examining a finished leather watch strap before packing

    Final inspection

    Every strap is handled once more, in gloves, before it is boxed — checked for stitch pitch, edge finish, hardware seat and colour against the run.

How we work

AKC is an OEM and private-label manufacturer. You bring the design and the name; we bring the pattern-making, the leather, the hands and the quality control.

A heated edge-iron stand at the AKC bench, its wooden block holding a full rack of interchangeable creasing tips, with a craftsman's hands reaching in on either side
  1. 01

    Specification

    You send a drawing, a reference strap or a finished sample. We confirm materials, dimensions, hardware and finish in writing before anything is cut.

  2. 02

    Terms

    Pricing, minimum order quantity and delivery schedule agreed up front. Minimums start at 100 pieces per model.

  3. 03

    Sampling

    A physical sample in 7–10 working days. We revise until it matches your specification, then that approved sample becomes the quality standard for the run.

  4. 04

    Production & QC

    Bulk production in 30–45 days, inspected against the approved sample at every stage.

  5. 05

    Delivery & after-sales

    Shipping and export documentation handled in-house, with warranty support and follow-up after delivery.

Partners

Responsibility

Responsibly sourced leather

We buy from tanneries that document their supply chain, and we offer a vegan leather option for brands that require one.

Offcuts become fertiliser

Excess leather is hydrolysed into organic agricultural fertiliser rather than sent to landfill — the waste from making straps goes back into the ground.

Handcraft over machinery

A workshop that cuts and stitches by hand consumes a fraction of the energy an automated line does, and produces far less scrap.

The AKC leather store in Vietnam: a long empty cutting table under strip lights, hides and rolls racked floor to ceiling on both walls, a board of leather swatches hung between them
The leather store — where a run is chosen before it is cut