It started with a watch that didn't fit

When the AP × Swatch Royal Pop launched on May 16, 2026, it was supposed to be one of the most exciting watch releases of the decade. Eight pocket watches reimagined from the Royal Oak, bold, playful, technically beautiful. People stood in line for hours.

And then they got home, opened the box, and realized they couldn't actually wear it.

No strap. No case. Just a calfskin lanyard, a clip, and a desk stand. A four-hundred-euro piece of horological art that lived in your pocket, on your desk, or around your neck like a 1990s keychain. For most people who bought it, that wasn't the point.

A studio for second choices

The name is intentional. The strap a watch comes with was someone else's choice — the manufacturer's, the designer's, the marketing team's. It tells you how they think the watch should be worn.

The next one is yours.

secondstrap is built around a single idea: that the way a watch leaves the factory shouldn't be the only way it lives on your wrist. That every watch lover deserves the option to choose how they wear what they own — leather on a Sunday morning, rubber on a Friday night, whatever fits the day. That the watch should bend to you, not the other way around.

We started with the Royal Pop because the problem was loudest there. But the principle goes well beyond one watch.

Who we are

Secondstrap was founded in 2026 by Abel, a watch enthusiast based in the Netherlands. What started as a personal project solving the Royal Pop problem for himself became a small studio dedicated to the watches enthusiasts actually love.

We're not a hype merchant. We're not chasing every drop. We're not trying to be the biggest strap brand on the market.

We're trying to be the one that gets it right.