A month-long hunt and another month-long wait for one of my dream projects to build a home for my beloved watches has finally come to an end.
The moment my collection started growing, I knew I needed a proper home for my watches. Initially, I was thinking about a wooden box with a glass lid and suede interiors. But with time, I realised that I wanted a versatile solution that could be both a home for my watches and a travel companion. That versatility, combined with my love for leather, led me to decide on a semi-rigid leather watch roll.
The next question was, how many watches should it house? My current collection has four watches, and a four-watch roll seemed like the ideal choice. But deep down, I knew that my love for watches wouldn’t let the collection stay at four forever, so I decided to go with a six-watch roll instead.
The moment I increased the capacity to six watches, my options on the internet reduced drastically. Most cylindrical watch rolls are designed to hold three watches. A few brands did offer six-watch rolls. For instance, watch rolls from some well-established Indian brands such as Nappa Dori seemed like a good option, but their use of fabric as the lining material discouraged me from making the purchase.
Given the specificity I had in mind for this watch roll, I knew I had to find a good craftsman and work with them. After looking through numerous websites and speaking with several artisans who could commission a custom watch roll, I finally found an Etsy shop named TunsLeather. The watch rolls in their catalogue looked almost too good to be true. At first glance, I honestly thought the product photos were AI rendered. But the reviews on their Etsy shop and website gave me enough confidence to trust them.
TunsLeather is a shop run by Đỗ Văn Trung from Vietnam. Because of my previous experiences, I already had immense respect for Vietnamese craftsmen. The opportunity to commission another piece from a skilled craftsman is exactly the kind of experience I look for. I discussed the project with Trung, and we finalised a custom-made watch roll for six watches where every detail was carefully thought out.
For the exterior, I went with forest green Epsom leather. Epsom leather is a lightweight, highly durable and structured embossed calfskin famously used by luxury houses like Hermès. It features a pressed cross-hatch pattern, resists scratches well and holds its shape over time. The exterior is naturally going to see the most abuse, so choosing a durable leather like Epsom was a no-brainer.
For the watch cushions, the obvious choice was suede. I wanted to be a little playful and bring in a pop of colour, so I decided to go with orange suede.
Choosing the material for the lining was a much more difficult decision. I knew I wanted a neutral colour, but the real challenge was deciding on the leather itself. Eventually, to achieve a softer and more luxurious feel, I settled on tan milled leather.
Milled leather is produced through a process called milling, where tanned hides are tumbled inside a dry wooden drum. The mechanical action flexes and separates the leather fibres, softening the hide and bringing out its natural grain, giving it a beautiful pebbled texture.
After finalising the design and placing the order, the wait began. To my surprise, the watch roll was completed and shipped in just six days. After spending another sixteen days in transit, it finally reached me in a total of twenty-two days, which is quite impressive for a completely custom made-to-order commission.
Unboxing something like this is always an emotional moment. The packaging was minimal and just enough to protect it during transit. After removing the outer packaging, there it was! A beautiful green creation peeking through the brown paper wrap, sealed with a sticker which read “Tuns”.
As I removed the wrapper, I was astonished. It was exactly how I had imagined it. The first thing that caught my eye was the gold debossed initials on the bottom right corner.
Both the Epsom exterior and the milled leather lining are made from full-grain leather with excellent hide selection. The cross-hatch pattern on the Epsom leather looks even better in person than I had imagined. The softness of the milled leather is exactly the texture I wanted to feel every time I open the watch roll. The suede used for the watch cushions is among the finest I have ever seen. It is velvety soft and feels like the perfect material for something that is going to remain in constant contact with my watches.
The craftsmanship is immaculate. The construction is padded with a thin foam core sandwiched between the Epsom exterior and the milled leather lining. This padded construction gives the watch roll a substantial and luxurious feel. I was not expecting a padded construction and it was a pleasant surprise.
I had asked Trung for matching stitches instead of contrast stitching, and it turned out exactly as I wanted. This meant the watch roll had to be machine stitched, as saddle stitching with matching thread across two different coloured leathers would have been nearly impossible. The stitching is clean, the tension is consistent, and the stitches have been hammered down to obtain a clean finish. The edges are beautifully done, and the edge painting is also well executed.
The hardware consists of branded YKK Mildex snap buttons, each stamped with the YKK Mildex branding. The snap buttons produce a wonderfully satisfying click upon opening and closing the watch roll. I often find myself opening and closing the snap buttons just to hear the satisfying click they produce. The snap buttons are attached to the leather in a way that they remain hidden and do not disturb the aesthetics.
The internal partitions appear to be glued together rather than stitched. Personally, I would have preferred stitched partitions. But considering the thickness of the leather and the overall construction of the partitions, I can understand why that would have been extremely difficult to execute.
The only thing I overlooked was the size of the watch cushions. I didn’t realise how important it was for the watch cushions to match my wrist size. Trung made standard-sized cushions that are about a centimetre bigger than my wrist circumference, so my bracelet watches fit a little too snugly around them. Apart from that, I don’t think there is anything I would change about this watch roll.
I am completely in love with this watch roll. It is more than just a place to house my watches. It has become a part of the experience of caring for them. Every morning, choosing a watch from it, and every evening, placing the watch back where it belongs, has become a small ritual that I genuinely look forward to.
