Local news outlets were abuzz when English singer‑songwriter Ed Sheeran was in Singapore this February, not just because he played two sold-out shows but also for what he was wearing on his wrist. Images of the four-time Grammy Award-winner and avid watch collector performing on the Capitol Theatre stage wearing his bespoke Patek Philippe World Time 5230G watch were shared across various platforms. Granted, the watch is a one-of-kind masterpiece, but the topic of conversation was how Sheeran had paired the luxury dress watch with a navy rubber strap from homegrown brand, Delugs.
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The headlines certainly brought the watch strap and accessories brand on the radar of more Singaporeans. Co-founders Kenneth Kuan and Chia Pei Qi say they experienced increased interest from locals through Instagram, the Delugs website and at its showroom. But to the global watch collecting community, Delugs has been a well‑known strap maker for some time now. Currently, its largest market is the US, which makes up about 40 per cent of the customer base.
Kuan and Chia, who are married, picked up leather crafting in 2016 from online tutorials and YouTube videos. Making small leather goods like key fobs, cardholders and watch straps, the self-taught hobbyists took on a few commissioned orders in the beginning and soon noticed a gap in the market.
Chia Pei Qi and Kenneth Kuan, the co‑founders of Delugs
“As we received more projects, we realised that there was a long wait time for customers who wanted to buy a good-quality handcrafted strap from leather crafters like ourselves—it can take months or even years,” says Chia, who oversees business development and operations, while Kuan helms product development and marketing. Both look at the overall strategy of the company. “And on the other end of the spectrum [with] ready‑made straps, the options were limited in terms of length, lug width, quality and design. So we decided to fill that gap with quality handcrafted straps that were readily available.”
With this vision, the pair launched Delugs as an online retailer, with a range of ready-stock straps in a variety of lengths, widths and leathers that customers could purchase instantly, and made their first sale in 2018. Over the years, the company has grown significantly.
In 2022, the pair officially moved their operations out of Kuan’s bedroom and into a new 2,500 square feet unit in Ubi, which functions as a showroom, office, studio, fulfilment area as well as an event space. The couple later left their day jobs in 2023 to focus on Delugs full time.
No longer just a two-man operation, the company comprises 19 staff in Singapore and seven in the Philippines. Delugs also works closely with a team of leather crafters in Vietnam, which produces exclusively for the brand, and has grown together with it from just four people in 2019 to about 40 currently. Beyond stocking nearly 20 different leathers in a range of colours, styles and options for customisation, Delugs has also ventured into making straps in other materials, namely fabric and rubber.
The first rubber strap, launched in 2022 specifically for the Tissot PRX watches, was a significant milestone for the brand as it took nine months of research and development (R&D) to produce. “People tend to wonder why a rubber strap is so expensive [as] compared to a handcrafted leather strap because there’s the assumption that something handcrafted requires more hours. But the rubber strap has a much longer and more expensive R&D process,” says Kuan.
Delugs CTS rubber strap
The Delugs rubber CTS strap fitted with a leaf-spring deployant clasp
“For leather straps, you can see how it’s handcrafted in each individual stitch, but for rubber straps, people don’t really see the work that goes into it,” Chia adds. “Most of the work happens at the designing and prototyping stages of making the metal mould and then about two or three more iterations to get it right. Every time there’s a slight adjustment that we need to make, we have to redo the entire mould and repeat the cycle.”
The decision to launch the first rubber straps for the Tissot PRX, as opposed to watches from brands with a larger market share, was an unconventional one. “For us, it’s always about bringing value to the customer. We don’t want to just be another option,” asserts Kuan. “If the first model we came out with was for a Rolex Submariner, it would probably get us more sales but I think people won’t appreciate it as much because there already are so many rubber straps available for Rolexes. Whereas when we made it for the PRX—back then Tissot hadn’t offered their own PRX rubber straps yet—people were thanking us for finally giving them this option.”
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Following the success of these rubber straps in 2023, Delugs introduced cut-to-size (CTS) rubber straps for a wider range of watches, which can be easily customised to fit any wrist. This included the navy rubber CTS strap Sheeran wore on the second night of his concert here. The duo met him backstage and presented him with a few Delugs straps.
Pairing the more casual rubber strap with a luxury Patek Philippe dress watch may surprise some people, but it made sense for the star who loves to wear his watches but needs them to be practical enough for a few hours of performing. This is where Delugs comes in.
“I think we’ve always been very focused on our product, making them good-quality and available to customers at an accessible price point,” says Chia, who shares that more rubber strap variations and metal bracelets are in the pipeline. “But as we grow, we also want to explore making strap-changing part of a lifestyle. There are a lot of misconceptions around straps like not knowing that you can change out your watch strap, or thinking that dress watches have to go with exotic alligator straps only. Your watch strap should suit you and your lifestyle—and this is a message we want to communicate more.”
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Better Together
While the pair’s encounter with Sheeran cast a spotlight on Delugs, it meant even more to them that it was only made possible with the help of the strong community they have built over the years.
As a passionate watch collector himself, Kuan has been active in the watch community on social media since the early days of Delugs, both on the brand’s platform and his personal one. “I think social media is the biggest asset,” he says. “I see it as a good way to not just broadcast the things that we’re doing, or to build awareness of the brand, but to connect with customers. And for the watch community, I think there’s no social media platform that’s as vibrant and active as Instagram.”
Their experience with Sheeran is a testament to just that. A week before Sheeran’s concerts here, the Delugs team had posted a video on social media about their desire to meet the singer and introduce him to the brand. They sought the help of their followers for any leads that could make that happen, and the watch community pulled through.
“We knew we had a strong community and following, but to see everyone rally together, rooting for us as we go through this journey, that was very heartening,” says Kuan. With so much competition for attention online, the strength of the Delugs community is not easy to come by.
“We also don’t take it for granted that the watch community would just support anyone on their endeavours. It took us years to build up our reputation, not just as founders of a strap brand but as part of the community and as fellow collectors,” he adds. “This word gets used a lot, but I think it’s really about being authentic; showing not just the successes and achievements, but also the vulnerabilities and the journey over the years.”
Now that they have a team representing Delugs, the duo encourages the same approach to authenticity. “Whether they’re talking to our customers or partners, I tell them to just ‘be yourself’ without being too burdened about carrying a certain image,” says Chia. “Because Delugs is really just a bunch of watch lovers, and if you’re true to yourself, people will feel it and that’s how we connect.”
She adds: “I think it’s also important to remain humble and keep listening. Sometimes criticism can be hard to take but at the same time it’s necessary for us to keep improving.”
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