Every Apple Watch band Apple released. Ever.

[athousandbands]

The way the solo loops, with their many sizes, clearly hit a wall and go out of stock for awhile right after launch, gives me the sense that having all the colors start from the same “starting line” probably simplifies things for apple.

Gauge demand for all SKUs in September or March/April instead of getting a whole hunch of sales data closer to the holidays or the quiet summer season.

And softgoods’ high cost keeps hardware cost down, this is how the industry works.

 

[the future]

Ya I get it…. You get what you pay for. But they are still overpriced IMHO, especially the ultra bands.…. But…. why would they lower the price if people are willing to pay it right? Business 101. Dumb ass me keeps buying them so there you go!

I, like all of us, obviously have no idea about Apple‘s margins on bands (other than them being high enough for Apple to bother at all), but often wonder why, if the OEM bands are supposed to be so over-priced, why there is no third party „middle ground“, i.e. bands of comparable quality but, say, half the price? All I see is high-priced Apple originals and cheap third-party crap. And a few third-party bands of (I guess) comparable quality but priced just like Apple bands (hello, Nomad). What gives?

And softgoods’ high cost keeps hardware cost down, this is how the industry works.

Also, this.

 

[Colepail]

haha imagine buying enough OEM bands to have a collection


..wait

Lmao

 

[chipsandsalsa]

116 sport bands - apricot on wrist. only one missing from this type is lilac. would pay good money for it too! 😂

 

[athousandbands]

I, like all of us, obviously have no idea about Apple‘s margins on bands (other than them being high enough for Apple to bother at all), but often wonder why, if the OEM bands are supposed to be so over-priced, why there is no third party „middle ground“, i.e. bands of comparable quality but, say, half the price? All I see is high-priced Apple originals and cheap third-party crap. And a few third-party bands of (I guess) comparable quality but priced just like Apple bands (hello, Nomad). What gives?



Also, this.

If the product matrix is “good-better-best,” I think for a thing we’re putting on our wrist, we want the best. I think the end of the classic buckle and woven nylon shows that. Collectors all have that aha moment when we first experienced an OEM rubber band type.

 

[Colepail]

If the product matrix is “good-better-best,” I think for a thing we’re putting on our wrist, we want the best. I think the end of the classic buckle and woven nylon shows that. Collectors all have that aha moment when we first experienced an OEM rubber band type.

I agree with your analogy of the “aha” moment. I can totally tell the difference between the apple sport band vs a knock off and my ocd is to blame. Most people must either be oblivious or just don’t care as long as the band is cheap. I have a large amount of knockoff sport loops I wear at work as they are harder to tell apart in appearance and quality, but when I get home from work an oem band immediately replaces it. Usually a leather link, but I have invested heavily in the ultra collection as well. I’ve even tried some knock off alpine bands, and trail loops, which really are not bad at all, but my OCD will not let me get by the fact that the end connecters are not titanium like the originals. Back to Amazon they went.

 

[athousandbands]

I agree with your analogy of the “aha” moment. I can totally tell the difference between the apple sport band vs a knock off and my ocd is to blame. Most people must either be oblivious or just don’t care as long as the band is cheap. I have a large amount of knockoff sport loops I wear at work as they are harder to tell apart in appearance and quality, but when I get home from work an oem band immediately replaces it. Usually a leather link, but I have invested heavily in the ultra collection as well. I’ve even tried some knock off alpine bands, and trail loops, which really are not bad at all, but my OCD will not let me get by the fact that the end connecters are not titanium like the originals. Back to Amazon they went.

I could see a third-party figuring out the silicone solo loop, getting a UV coating on there, but I wonder how well they do with the “color stays rich when you stretch it” thing.

But the sport bands are all a different chemical recipe, that sounds like a massive amount of r&d and materials science know-how, only to get undersold by AliBaba sellers and oversold by Apple. And I think we can safely say the rubber bands (and probably the sport loops) cost apple nothing, even when you factor in prototyping and color testing.

There’s also the question of IP…how can you convince investors to back your “pretty good sport band” venture when their being nicer makes you a bigger target for Apple to come after you for using their copyrighted shape.

If I recall correctly in the fake handbag world, the sellers get by bec the bags have noticeable quality differences and the lettering is slightly wrong. I feel like Apple lets the bad fake bands slide (and click) because they’re so inferior as to not be worth addressing.

 

[Patdt13]

I have like 20 OEM bands. All but 2 have been bought at less than full price on Mercari, Facebook, or eBay. You’re still paying more than the eBay special but I didn’t like the feeling of the fake sport band.

 

[heyyitssusan]

Gold/Royal Blue

 

[athousandbands]

or Royal Pulse/Black?

Too saturated

 

[mikedis]

116 sport bands - apricot on wrist. only one missing from this type is lilac. would pay good money for it too! 😂

View attachment 2160362

some guy in italy was selling lilac sealed for like $30 lol

 

[chipsandsalsa]

some guy in italy was selling lilac sealed for like $30 lol

Yeah, I saw that. They were spelling it liliac or something, but last i checked they were all gone.

 

[athousandbands]

Yeah, I saw that. They were spelling it liliac or something, but last i checked they were all gone.

And also didn’t ship direct to the US, right

 

[mikedis]

Yeah, I saw that. They were spelling it liliac or something, but last i checked they were all gone.

sorry you missed out. Honestly I didn't even notice until they were long gone, not sure who bought them all but in my mind it had to have been one guy.

 

[mikedis]

And also didn’t ship direct to the US, right

Shipped to the US directly, just was a bit expensive

 

[athousandbands]

sorry you missed out. Honestly I didn't even notice until they were long gone, not sure who bought them all but in my mind it had to have been one guy.

No one would hoard watch bands, it’s not the done thing

 

[mikedis]

posted these to the Show Off thread, been mixing bands lately and going two-tone matching the portrait watch face which, I have to be honest, I've never used before this. Pretty cool face! Makes the photos face feel dated.

 

[Modern Life is Rubbish]

First post, and all you people have cost me a lot of money.

My story, in brief: got a Series 3 soon after release, kept it happily with the one sport band it came with. Mid last year I bought a couple of (mid-price) third party bands in different types (Milanese-esque, Braided solo-ish, sport loopy, Nike sport band approx.) and was happy with my expanded options.

Then for Christmas I got (unexpectedly!) an Ultra. I also bought myself, around that time, another third party band that I really *didn’t* like. And, in flicking around the internet reading about the Ultra bands, I stumbled into this thread.

On Christmas morning I owned two Apple OEM bands: the one that came with my Series 3 five years earlier, and the one that came with my Ultra.

Today, less than two months later, I own 28 (including the two that I believe will be waiting for me at home tonight).

 

[Modern Life is Rubbish]

Can’t take a photo tonight, but today's two arrived: Hyper Crimson/Neptune Green (ordered entirely because of photos on this thread!) and Midnight Blue (I think Gen 1, it has a gold pin) - both new, but only the Hyper Crimson was boxed.

Um, and I ordered a Hermes (my first…) this morning. Lightly used Black leather deployment (I think!) for $250 AUD - see eBay photo.

 

[coredev]

I got the Flash Sport Band today. Despite it's age, it is still factory sealed, a true collector's item.

However when I added the band to the Bandbreite app, I noticed there is a weird color change when you export the band:

Is it just my eyes, or did the colors get mixed up a little here?

 

[coredev]

Slate Blue, Schieferblau, Bleu ardoise, Leisteenblauw, Blu ardesia, Azul pizarra, スレートブルー, 슬레이트 블루, 岩青色

We started to build a database with the official translations of bands in many different languages a while ago. Now, we're looking for help to fill the gaps in Japanese, Korean and Chinese. If one of these is your native language and you want to assist us in researching all of the official colours and shades please let us know.

We're currently working on German, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and Chinese. If you feel your language is missing, drop me a line and let's talk about it.

View attachment 2148984

@choreographics How is this database coming along? It would be really helpful to look for the "right" color in international markets.

 

[Pascal70]

Anyone noticed that European online store SBSupply has a large amount of the 2021 International Collection on sale?

 

[heyyitssusan]

Pride Braided

 

[RckyMtnJK]

Need some help from the pros here. Is it worth it to hunt for a while for reasonable (~$80) prices on 3rd or 4th gen saddle brown and black classic buckles (esp saddle) or go with the almost always available sub $50 leather links?

 

[ivantheipodder]

Need some help from the pros here. Is it worth it to hunt for a while for reasonable (~$80) prices on 3rd or 4th gen saddle brown and black classic buckles (esp saddle) or go with the almost always available sub $50 leather links?

My first consideration would be whether you want lugs on either side of the Apple Watch. As the classic buckles come with lugs and the leather links don’t. For me I don’t want the lugs so it was an easier decision for me when I was in your boat.

Depending on your Apple Watch case material or colour finish, the lugs may not match the case, but some people don’t mind.