Sport band manufacturing subtle differences?

[Laryl]

I bought a concrete sport band, if I remember correctly the seller said it came with the watch. See photos. The box has no picture on the front, but says concrete on back. Okay.
I bought a pair of bands together on eBay so I now have a second concrete but the tone is darker, a touch more tan if you really analyze it.
I’m thinking it’s just manufacturing runs, concrete wasn’t made for long.. but I’m thinking knock-offs are not exactly identical in every way other than a slight tone shift, right? I used to work with yarns, threads etc and know about dye lot differences so that’s what I’m thinking.
I’m curious about the box with the blank front..
I’m curious if anyone else has noticed subtle color shifts in the same color on any sport bands? My first set that came in the box is in the middle, lighter than the second band just received but with darker stamp inside
Just curious!

 

[44267547]

Apple has been known to make small incremental changes to the watchbands in the past, for example, the very first original blue sport band at launch, was updated with a newer blue sport band, almost the exact same color, but a slightly different tone. There really is no reason why they make these changes, but I have noticed it as well. But if somebody truly wanted to know the difference if the sport band was third-party or OEM, you can easily tell the difference by the texture, thickness, pliability and overall how it feels in the hand.

 

[Laryl]

Well the two blues, I have both, are really obviously different as you know, this is just so slight, it’s got to be a batch difference I guess. Do you know about the boxes with no printing on the front? What’s up with that

 

[44267547]

Well the two blues, I have both, are really obviously different as you know, this is just so slight, it’s got to be a batch difference I guess. Do you know about the boxes with no printing on the front? What’s up with that

Your Picture is not very clear. I don’t know if you can post another picture of the front of the box m, and I can compare your box to an official Apple Watch box that I have.

 

[Laryl]

Your Picture is not very clear. I don’t know if you can post another picture of the front of the box m, and I can compare your box to an official Apple Watch box that I have.

Sorry about the blurry photo, the front is TOTALLY blank except for the little 38mm sticker on the front lol.
I have lots of other boxes, some from Apple store, so it’s a real box, I was just surprised it was blank on the front.

 

[Brookzy]

The reason it has no picture on the front is that this is an item intended for display purposes. You will also notice the part number starts with a 3. These are sent to Apple Stores and Authorised Resellers by Apple, and some seem to be selling them on.

(Blank boxes are also issued as warranty replacements but these have different part numbers that don't start with a 3.)

 

[Laryl]

Thanks! I enjoy learning the details behind little mysteries.