Hey guys. I just got a link bracelet (Silver 42) from Apple, and hope this review helps give some people who are trying to decide on it some insights.
Summary: GORGEOUS, HEAVY, slightly uncomfortable, rattles, slightly cheap feeling, GORGEOUS.
Pros:
1. This thing is absolutely gorgeous. This is coming from someone who criticized it as looking too Casio. It wasn't even on my list of potential bands because in pictures, it looked so much like those old school Casio watches. And it does in a sense. But when you put it on your wrist, it just takes on a different character. The links wrap around your wrist like some futuristic exoskeleton from a sci-fi movie. And I can't help but think "metallic snake" for some reason when looking at it. It catches the light in the most spectacular way. It looks like a brushed chrome liquid metal. That's the best way to describe it.
2. It gives the watch a MUCH heavier feel. I am including this in both pros and cons, because as a pro, it makes the watch feel that much more luxurious and high-end. It's even heavier than the gold editions I've tried on.
3. The Apple watch looks like it was made for this band.
Cons:
1. It rattles. Because of all the intricate linking parts, like the links that are detachable, the whole band rattles and makes very cheap sounding noises. I am not saying it is a cheap band in any way. I know it is not. But those small tinny rattling sounds make it sound like it has pot metal or plastic parts when it doesn't. There is also squeaking when you use the butterfly clasp.
2. The weight makes the whole watch uncomfortable for me personally. I never noticed I had the watch on with the Milanese and BCB. I only noticed it with the sport band once I began to sweat and feel suffocation with the WSB. But with the Link Bracelet (LB), I feel the watch ALL the time. My wrist is starting to feel a persistent discomfort, like I have a very tiny dumbbell on there all the time. Hopefully I will just get used to it, or possibly my wrist just needs to get stronger to accommodate the extra weight. But for now, there is a very very slight discomfort. Not pain, but just something there nagging me.
3. While the top of the band is brushed stainless and looks gorgeous, the sides look like a duller finish. They just look murky or not as nicely brushed/polished. It's weird because on the DLC version, it has a very polished and shiny finish, which matches the watch body. IMO, they should have made it the same polished finish as the SS watch body so that it would blend in at the connection point. Right now, there is a sharp boundary between body (polished SS) and the LB (dull murky brushed finish on the ends).
4. Butterfly closure feels cheap, and squeaks. Yep. $500 band, but squeaks like a rusty tricycle. The butterfly closure is really cool, but it is not a precise lock, and the parts are so thin that they feel cheap.
In sum, it is absolutely gorgeous, but could use some improvements.
Summary: GORGEOUS, HEAVY, slightly uncomfortable, rattles, slightly cheap feeling, GORGEOUS.
Pros:
1. This thing is absolutely gorgeous. This is coming from someone who criticized it as looking too Casio. It wasn't even on my list of potential bands because in pictures, it looked so much like those old school Casio watches. And it does in a sense. But when you put it on your wrist, it just takes on a different character. The links wrap around your wrist like some futuristic exoskeleton from a sci-fi movie. And I can't help but think "metallic snake" for some reason when looking at it. It catches the light in the most spectacular way. It looks like a brushed chrome liquid metal. That's the best way to describe it.
2. It gives the watch a MUCH heavier feel. I am including this in both pros and cons, because as a pro, it makes the watch feel that much more luxurious and high-end. It's even heavier than the gold editions I've tried on.
3. The Apple watch looks like it was made for this band.
Cons:
1. It rattles. Because of all the intricate linking parts, like the links that are detachable, the whole band rattles and makes very cheap sounding noises. I am not saying it is a cheap band in any way. I know it is not. But those small tinny rattling sounds make it sound like it has pot metal or plastic parts when it doesn't. There is also squeaking when you use the butterfly clasp.
2. The weight makes the whole watch uncomfortable for me personally. I never noticed I had the watch on with the Milanese and BCB. I only noticed it with the sport band once I began to sweat and feel suffocation with the WSB. But with the Link Bracelet (LB), I feel the watch ALL the time. My wrist is starting to feel a persistent discomfort, like I have a very tiny dumbbell on there all the time. Hopefully I will just get used to it, or possibly my wrist just needs to get stronger to accommodate the extra weight. But for now, there is a very very slight discomfort. Not pain, but just something there nagging me.
3. While the top of the band is brushed stainless and looks gorgeous, the sides look like a duller finish. They just look murky or not as nicely brushed/polished. It's weird because on the DLC version, it has a very polished and shiny finish, which matches the watch body. IMO, they should have made it the same polished finish as the SS watch body so that it would blend in at the connection point. Right now, there is a sharp boundary between body (polished SS) and the LB (dull murky brushed finish on the ends).
4. Butterfly closure feels cheap, and squeaks. Yep. $500 band, but squeaks like a rusty tricycle. The butterfly closure is really cool, but it is not a precise lock, and the parts are so thin that they feel cheap.
In sum, it is absolutely gorgeous, but could use some improvements.
