I've had my Abercrombie & Fitch Rolex for several years, but have just decided to do more research on the strap. I believe it to be the original strap (circa 1927), but need to find the date that the patent was originally granted. Patent number on the strap is 1.996.276 and in another place on the strap it says "sweatproof leather." I went to the official U.S. Patent search site, but my computer didn't have a certain plug-in so I could view the info. If anyone can provide info on this patent, I would greatly appreciate it.

Here is the embossed "sweatproof leather" stamping.

This is just a shot showing some of the age-related wear the strap has picked up over the years.

This is the watch the strap is attached to.

US 1996276: "1 , 9 9 6 , 2 7 6 April 2, 1935. D. F. COWEN WRIST WATCH STRAP Filed June 2, 19.34 (OCR)"

http://www.archpatent.com/search
just type the patent in and you will get the pdf file on it.

Peter, thank you so much for this information. I am wondering...if the patent was granted in 1935, do you think the strap was being produced and used before they applied for the patent. I often see old products with "patent pending" shown on the product. Based on the onion-style Rolex crown, my watch was produced between 1926 and 1929. If 1929, that would be 5 years before the patent was applied for in June of 1934. Any comments would be appreciated :-)