WHO TO FOLLOW: @_aboen
In the market for a watch strap that doesn’t exist yet? It’s time to dial into the feed of Drew Boen, watch collector and custom strap maker. We hear he’s in such high demand that you may need to exercise a little patience while you wait, but while you do, enjoy some of the best wristshots on Instagram. NAME: Drew Boen OCCUPATION: Full-time private jet manager, part-time maker of custom watch straps. HANDLE: @_Aboen FOLLOWERS: 23.7k LOCATION: San Francisco Bay Area You make watch straps. Tell us about that. I LOVE straps – all my watches are on straps 99.9% of the time, and I think a nice combo makes the watch pop. Although I do appreciate a good bracelet, personally I just don’t like wearing them. I’ve been making my own straps since 2009, when I couldn’t find many all-canvas straps; they all seemed to have leather backing back then. When I first started, I used some techniques I learned in aviation when I worked as a sheet metal mechanic. It kind of worked! The quality of my work definitely improved after I took several weekend leather-working classes. You’ve made straps from old belts, attache cases, rifle slings – where…
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Mechanical watches are very important to me. Not only are they the way I earn my living, they’re also a real passion. So it was with a sense of very real unease that I prepared for this review. Not because I have a fundamental aversion to quartz, connected or smart devices, but because I was concerned, deep down, that what the Apple Watch offered might be more compelling to me than the bridges and barrels I love so much. You see, while I’ve been a ‘watch guy’ for the past decade or so, I’ve been an ‘apple guy’ for far, far longer. I learnt to type in ClarisWorks, to create in Paint. And later, the covetable objects of my teenage years were iPods, iBooks and (later) iPhones. I’m typing this right now on an iPad, surrounded by a sum total of five Apple screens, so it’s fair to say I’ve drunk deep from the Cupertino Kool-Aid. And if any smart watch can win me over, it’s likely to be the Apple Watch. The hardware From its launch in 2015, the Apple Watch has evolved from a few products into a fully-formed ecosystem. Now offered in two sizes, numerous case materials and finishes as well…
