Milanese Loop - Official vs 3rd Party

[musicpenguy]

I’m looking at getting the gold watch with milanese loop. For those with the silver and grey ones is it worth getting the official band or am I better off going 3rd party? I know they are less expensive, but is the quality and color matching better? Materials?

 

[iKevinT]

I’m looking at getting the gold watch with milanese loop. For those with the silver and grey ones is it worth getting the official band or am I better off going 3rd party? I know they are less expensive, but is the quality and color matching better? Materials?

I bought black and silver cheap ones on Amazon and they were both of our favorite bands until we got sport loops. I still go back to it when I don’t want the bulk of the sport loop. I compared my cheap black Milanese loop to an official one in the Apple store and couldn’t tell any difference. Think I paid $10-$12 each for them. One thing I have found with the cheap 3rd party sport loop bands is there’s a lack of tolerances with fit of the watch connection. One was so loose I bought an official Apple version for mine to get better fit and see if there was any other differences, my wife’s are all fine though in various colors. I’m guessing I got lucky with the cheap Milanese bands, no idea.