Tempesti — The Family Behind HMS Babele Leather

August 30, 2026

Some leather comes from an anonymous factory.

Ours comes from a family.

Behind our Babele watch straps is Tempesti — a historic family tannery working in the heart of Tuscany for nearly 80 years.

1. A Family Business Since 1946

In 1946, two brothers, Tullio and Osvaldo Tempesti, founded their tannery in Ponte a Egola — a small town at the center of Tuscany's historic leather district.

In the 1970s, cousins Giovanni and Giovanna took the helm, and today the fourth generation of the Tempesti family continues to run the business.

Nearly 80 years of family stewardship, rooted in the same town.

2. Vegetable Tanning, the Slow Way

Tempesti works exclusively with traditional vegetable tanning — a time-honored process using natural plant tannins rather than fast synthetic chemicals.

The process takes weeks rather than hours.

The reward is a leather with a warm, organic feel, exceptional depth, and an evolving patina that only improves the more you wear it.

3. A Founding Member of the Tuscan Consortium

Tempesti is a founding member of the Consorzio Vera Pelle Italiana Conciata al Vegetale (Genuine Italian Vegetable Tanned Leather Consortium).

Every hide produced follows strict, shared production standards verified by independent external audits.

Their quality and sustainability aren't self-declared marketing claims — they are independently certified from the outside.

4. The Craft Behind HMS Babele Leather

Our Babele watch straps come directly from Tempesti's Tuscan workshop.

Babele is famous for its distinctive, linen-like surface texture — resembling fine woven cloth rather than flat, smooth leather.

5. What That Means on Your Wrist

Achieving Babele's unique cross-hatched, fabric-like finish requires decades of specialized finishing experience and precise hand-buffing — it is a true art form, not a simple machine setting.

On the wrist, Babele offers a relaxed, tactile, and highly artistic look that patinas beautifully as the raised textured surface burnishes with daily friction.

HMS Tip 💡

Look for named leathers and certified tanneries.

When a maker credits Tempesti Babele, you know the leather carries verified Tuscan provenance, independent consortium certification, and nearly eight decades of family craft.

At HMS, we name our tanneries because a watch strap should carry a verifiable story.