hat happens when one of watchmaking’s most traditional accessories is approached through a radically different manufacturing process? With Breath, Hirsch turns to 3D printing to rethink the watch strap from the inside out.

Rather than reproducing the familiar codes of leather, rubber or textile straps, the Austrian specialist has developed an open, three-dimensional structure built layer by layer. The result is immediately recognisable: technical in appearance, highly ventilated and shaped by the possibilities of additive manufacturing.

Structure becomes function

The most interesting aspect of Breath is that its architecture is not simply decorative. The open construction is directly linked to the strap’s performance.

By incorporating ventilation throughout the structure itself, Hirsch aims to create continuous airflow around the wrist. At the same time, the strap is designed to remain lightweight, flexible, waterproof and quick-drying.

It is an approach that places construction at the centre of the product. Instead of adding perforations or ventilation zones to an otherwise conventional strap, the entire object is conceived around airflow.

For daily wear, sport or warmer conditions, the benefit is straightforward: less material against the skin and greater circulation of air.

Beyond conventional strapmaking

3D printing has long played a role in prototyping, but its use in finished watchmaking products remains more unusual.

Here, additive manufacturing allows Hirsch to work with geometries that would be difficult to achieve through traditional cutting, stitching or moulding techniques. The process creates volumes, openings and interconnected structures directly within the material.

That freedom gives the brand another way of approaching a component that has changed relatively little in its basic construction over the decades.

Yet Hirsch does not frame Breath as a rejection of traditional strapmaking. On the contrary, the project reflects a broader evolution of craftsmanship, in which technical knowledge increasingly extends to digital production methods.

Experience with materials, ergonomics and finishing remains essential. Only the tools have changed.

Black or luminous

Breath makes its debut in two markedly different interpretations.

Breath Black is the more understated of the pair. Its monochrome appearance reinforces the strap’s technical character while allowing the 3D structure itself to provide most of the visual interest. The result is contemporary without being overly demonstrative, making it the more versatile option of the two.

The Breath Lumen White – Glow Technology Edition takes a more expressive route. By day, the strap presents a clean white appearance. Once darkness falls, its fluorescent structure reveals a glow effect.

This transformation gives the strap an identity beyond pure functionality. The material effectively becomes part of the visual experience of the watch, changing according to lighting conditions.

Craftsmanship in transition

Breath ultimately says as much about changing production methods as it does about strap design.

In watchmaking, craftsmanship is often associated with continuity: techniques, gestures and materials passed down over generations. But new manufacturing technologies increasingly suggest another reading of the term — one in which expertise lies not only in preserving established methods, but also in understanding how and when to move beyond them.

Hirsch’s experiment with 3D printing is a modest but telling example of that shift.

The strap does not attempt to disguise how it is made. Its appearance, flexibility and ventilation all derive from the logic of additive manufacturing. In that sense, Breath is not trying to imitate a conventional strap more efficiently. It is proposing a different kind of object altogether.

For an accessory that is often treated as secondary to the watch itself, that makes Breath an interesting proposition: a reminder that innovation in watchmaking does not always have to take place inside the case.

Product highlights

• Open 3D-printed structure
• 360° airflow for increased ventilation
• Lightweight and flexible construction
• Waterproof and quick-drying
• Breath Black: monochrome technical finish
• Breath Lumen White: fluorescent glow technology