Backes & Strauss

Most Backes & Strauss watches use a 20 mm lug width: 29 of the 51 Backes & Strauss references with a listed width in our database (57%).

Lug widths at Backes & Strauss

Backes & Strauss collections

The story · Since 1789

The Backes & Strauss story

1789 Founded in Hanau, Germany by Georg Carl Backes.
1814 A London branch opened at 10 Hatton Garden, run by the founder's son Johann Franz.
1873 Max Strauss, hired in 1856 as an office boy in the London office, was managing J.F. Backes & Co. fifteen years later, and from 1873 the firm traded as Backes & Strauss.
1878 The Backes & Strauss hallmark was registered at Goldsmiths' Hall in London.
2003 Vartkess Knadjian, who joined as a trainee diamond buyer in 1976, led a management buy-out of the company in 2003 as mass certification squeezed specialist diamond traders. The same year Franck Muller became a client, the start of the relationship that turned the diamond house to watches.
2006 A strategic tie-up with the Franck Muller Group began, and the flagship Regent, Berkeley and Piccadilly watch collections launched in November 2006.
2007 Backes & Strauss showed its watches for the first time at the World Presentation of Haute Horlogerie (WPHH), with retail launches at Harrods, Asprey and Theo Fennell in London. Europa Star notes the Berkeley, Piccadilly and Regent were its core collections that year.
2012 The Regent Diamond Jubilee watch launched at Harrods in London.
2015 The brand opened a boutique in Mayfair, London.
2019 Prince Michael of Kent launched the Royal Kent Collection, which he co-designed with Backes & Strauss, at the Aman hotel in Tokyo. Based on the oval Regent, his favourite design, the men's model sets elements of his coat of arms on a dark blue dial; the ladies' model carries Princess Michael's arms on diamond-set mother-of-pearl.
2021 The Vitesse Collection, made with Princess Michael of Kent, whose interest in cheetahs dates to the orphaned cub Vitesse she raised as a child in Mozambique, was unveiled at Kensington Palace. Its metiers d'art dials show hand-painted cheetahs on enamel, mother-of-pearl, silk and green jade, and the watches are sold in support of the Cheetah Conservation Fund.

Backes & Strauss ambassadors over the years

Prince Michael of KentRoyal Brand AmbassadorFrom 2018

Prince Michael of Kent became Backes & Strauss's Royal Brand Ambassador in 2018, after the CEO asked him at a London event; he visited the Geneva workshops in November 2018 and co-designed the 2019 Royal Kent Collection. The maker now lists the partnership on a page titled past collaborations, without an end date.

Source: Backes & Strauss (maker), MasterHorologer

More Backes & Strauss references, by line

Lines without a guide page yet: every reference we list for them, with its strap size.

Tonda PF

Tonda PF Sport Automatic Mayfair Golden Sands20 mm

Tradition

Strauss Mayfair 40 REN.PC.40.D0R.ST20 mm

FAQ

What lug width do Backes & Strauss watches use?

20 mm is the most common (57% of Backes & Strauss references with a listed width), followed by 16 mm and 18 mm.

Do all Backes & Strauss watches take the same strap size?

No. Backes & Strauss uses 5 different lug widths across its collections, so check your exact model or reference.

When was Backes & Strauss founded?

Backes & Strauss was founded in 1789 in Hanau, Germany by Georg Carl Backes.

Who are Backes & Strauss's ambassadors?

Over the years Backes & Strauss has partnered with Prince Michael of Kent (from 2018).

Help

What is lug width?

The gap between the two lugs that hold the strap, in millimetres. A new strap must match it exactly: 20 mm lugs take a 20 mm strap.

Measure it in 30 seconds

Take the strap off, or look at the back of it: many straps print their width.
Measure the inside gap between the lugs with a caliper or a millimetre ruler.
Round to the nearest whole millimetre. Most watches use 18, 20 or 22 mm.

Strap, quick release or system?

Most watches use spring bars, so any strap of the right width fits. Many smartwatches use their own band system instead, such as Apple Watch bands or Garmin QuickFit.