"White?!", I hear you say. Well, um, about that...
So I've had my AW for about a year now, silver Sport, with the white rubber band. Overall it's been a pretty nice combo - the rubber band is supremely easy to strap on and sits very securely. My two biggest issues have been sweat - because rubber obviously isn't moisture permeable - and weight. The white rubber band actually weighs more than the sport watch itself I believe.
I'm a middle-aged guy now. Wearing big heavy watches was nothing to me in the past (I wore primarily Casio G-shocks for a couple decades from the 1980s onwards), but after putting my AW on for the first couple days I started feeling pain in the lower arm muscles on my left hand. Eventually it got so bad I had trouble lifting stuff off of high shelves and stuff. I moved the watch to my right wrist - things started getting better and eventually the pain went away. I figured the convex back on the AW pinched on some nerve going down the topside of my left arm.
Anyhow! My right wrist is also my mousing wrist, so nearly 30 years of moving around computer mice has put a lot of mileage on that arm, and by this point in my life I'm really feeling it. For example I can't use cordless mice anymore - because of their onboard batteries and additional charging circuitry they're just too heavy and I get carpal tunnel pains in my muscles during heavy useage. Also, stuff like brushing my teeth - the repeated rapid movements of scrubbing with a toothbrush also causes some discomfort while wearing my AW. (Yes, I could just take it off I guess...)
One other thing is, the white rubber isn't as pristine looking as it was early on, and it won't get any better as time goes by. I have no scratches on the watch itself, either the top crystal itself or the alu casing, but the band is noticeably worn in places and features a very subtle mottled-grey discoloration despite my best attempts to keep it clean (newspaper printing ink is just death to the white rubber band... Ugh.) So I thought I'd kill both the sweatyness issue and the wear/discoloration issue with one stone by trying out a polyester band. I checked them all out and settled for the white version - which is almost as much black as it is white - because the lugs matched the plain alu casing of my AW best, I felt.
As a bonus, after first handling and putting it on my AW, I found that the woven fabric band is way, way lighter than the default rubber band. It really is a huge difference, and easily noticeable. My AW is not nearly as noticeable on my arm anymore, and doesn't bother me as much physically either during rapid hand movements. It's nearly like wearing a new watch (and with wOS3 installed, it will be...)
...Except, seeing the band for the first time in natural daylight I notice that the band isn't white! It's actually very slightly pink. Aaaaccckkk! I go back inside the store to inquiry if I received the wrong item perhaps.
"It's called 'pearl'", I'm now told, and it's the color I actually ordered. *sigh* Under lamplight inside the store, and especially in the display case, it looks almost completely white - to my eyes anyhow - so I'm not surprised I was fooled. Oh well! You can hardly tell the faint trace of pink, I tell myself. And the band is way lighter too. Still not as easy to put on as the rubber band unfortunately, but I guess it gets easier with more practice. And after using it for a few days now it doesn't handle sweating any better either. Worse maybe, as sweat might possibly absorb inside the woven fabric and you'd need to clean it more thoroughly. We'll see.
The weight reduction is a big saving grace though. And it's a really well put together product. Not really worth the 50 bucks perhaps as an aftermarket purchase, but my next AW will absolutely have the fabric band as standard. Since I've managed to keep mine scratch-free, I'll risk buying a space black model too I'm thinking, so black band. No risk of pink there...!
So I've had my AW for about a year now, silver Sport, with the white rubber band. Overall it's been a pretty nice combo - the rubber band is supremely easy to strap on and sits very securely. My two biggest issues have been sweat - because rubber obviously isn't moisture permeable - and weight. The white rubber band actually weighs more than the sport watch itself I believe.
I'm a middle-aged guy now. Wearing big heavy watches was nothing to me in the past (I wore primarily Casio G-shocks for a couple decades from the 1980s onwards), but after putting my AW on for the first couple days I started feeling pain in the lower arm muscles on my left hand. Eventually it got so bad I had trouble lifting stuff off of high shelves and stuff. I moved the watch to my right wrist - things started getting better and eventually the pain went away. I figured the convex back on the AW pinched on some nerve going down the topside of my left arm.
Anyhow! My right wrist is also my mousing wrist, so nearly 30 years of moving around computer mice has put a lot of mileage on that arm, and by this point in my life I'm really feeling it. For example I can't use cordless mice anymore - because of their onboard batteries and additional charging circuitry they're just too heavy and I get carpal tunnel pains in my muscles during heavy useage. Also, stuff like brushing my teeth - the repeated rapid movements of scrubbing with a toothbrush also causes some discomfort while wearing my AW. (Yes, I could just take it off I guess...)
One other thing is, the white rubber isn't as pristine looking as it was early on, and it won't get any better as time goes by. I have no scratches on the watch itself, either the top crystal itself or the alu casing, but the band is noticeably worn in places and features a very subtle mottled-grey discoloration despite my best attempts to keep it clean (newspaper printing ink is just death to the white rubber band... Ugh.) So I thought I'd kill both the sweatyness issue and the wear/discoloration issue with one stone by trying out a polyester band. I checked them all out and settled for the white version - which is almost as much black as it is white - because the lugs matched the plain alu casing of my AW best, I felt.
As a bonus, after first handling and putting it on my AW, I found that the woven fabric band is way, way lighter than the default rubber band. It really is a huge difference, and easily noticeable. My AW is not nearly as noticeable on my arm anymore, and doesn't bother me as much physically either during rapid hand movements. It's nearly like wearing a new watch (and with wOS3 installed, it will be...)
...Except, seeing the band for the first time in natural daylight I notice that the band isn't white! It's actually very slightly pink. Aaaaccckkk! I go back inside the store to inquiry if I received the wrong item perhaps.
"It's called 'pearl'", I'm now told, and it's the color I actually ordered. *sigh* Under lamplight inside the store, and especially in the display case, it looks almost completely white - to my eyes anyhow - so I'm not surprised I was fooled. Oh well! You can hardly tell the faint trace of pink, I tell myself. And the band is way lighter too. Still not as easy to put on as the rubber band unfortunately, but I guess it gets easier with more practice. And after using it for a few days now it doesn't handle sweating any better either. Worse maybe, as sweat might possibly absorb inside the woven fabric and you'd need to clean it more thoroughly. We'll see.
The weight reduction is a big saving grace though. And it's a really well put together product. Not really worth the 50 bucks perhaps as an aftermarket purchase, but my next AW will absolutely have the fabric band as standard. Since I've managed to keep mine scratch-free, I'll risk buying a space black model too I'm thinking, so black band. No risk of pink there...!
Watch (band) as I have. My white band looks fantastic and only has some minor staining on the rear (strangely it's kind of orange) which is unimportant and unseen (except for everyone looking at this pic 
