The Great "Third Party Band/Strap" Thread

[fischersd]

@puckhead193 - he said the OEM (i.e. Apple) band locks fine - so pretty much a given that the locking mechanism in the watch is working fine, or the Apple band wouldn't be locking either.

@bigdaveindubai - for $20 bands QA is going to be hit and miss. Return it, or get a set of replacement adapters from somewhere else (never had a problem with the clockworksynergy ones). If you get the pin adapters, then you can just swap out many bands as you would on a traditional watch.

 

[cosmogs]

I have recently received these 2 beautiful straps, and I am extremely happy with both of them. This one is the "Red pull up leather" from the Strap Smith. I have been curious about trying a strap who is 24 mm all the way, and I think this one does it with style. I find the buckle a bit too wide, so I have ordered a bit more discrete one. It will arrive soon. The pull up leather is real soft and thick, love it! : )

I bought the Apple Watch as soon as it was available, and have been wanting a black strap ever since. I just haven´t found the right strap. That is, until now. Ullu "Knight Rider" made of stingray leather, was just what I was looking for. I think the sparkle of stingray is gorgeous, without being too bling. The only drawback, I think I might want more stingray straps, there´s such a wide variety of colors... ;p

 

[Denpech]

Does it really exist or is it just a beautiful picture?

 

[CarlJ]

Does it really exist or is it just a beautiful picture?

Well the screen is complete fiction. Looks like just a render of someone's desired watch.

 

[pcall1128]

I have recently received these 2 beautiful straps, and I am extremely happy with both of them. This one is the "Red pull up leather" from the Strap Smith. I have been curious about trying a strap who is 24 mm all the way, and I think this one does it with style. I find the buckle a bit too wide, so I have ordered a bit more discrete one. It will arrive soon. The pull up leather is real soft and thick, love it! : )
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I bought the Apple Watch as soon as it was available, and have been wanting a black strap ever since. I just haven´t found the right strap. That is, until now. Ullu "Knight Rider" made of stingray leather, was just what I was looking for. I think the sparkle of stingray is gorgeous, without being too bling. The only drawback, I think I might want more stingray straps, there´s such a wide variety of colors... ;p
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Thanks for posting, I've always been curious to see an Ullu strap IRL. They look gorgeous on the website, but I was never sure about quality. Now I know would you mind posting some more photos of the sting ray in brighter light? Thanks!

 

[CarlJ]

By way of an update... got my replacement Nato band... and same situation... one half of the band won't fit into either side of the watch... clearly, their quality is slipping... writing off Clockwork Synergy bands for the time being.

Interesting to read this. I've had good luck with Clockwork Synergy before (for straps for my Marathon watch before the Apple Watch debuted), and based on that I bought a nylon strap from them several weeks back - the strap was fine, but I was seriously underwhelmed with the connectors - they latched in, but were seriously loose - they'd wobble in the channel in the watch, not reassuring. Clearly the factory/supplier they're getting the connectors from decided to cut corners by undersizing them a bit so they could let tolerances slide and have them still "fit".

I ended up taking Clockwork Synergy's adapters off the strap and pulling out my old pair of Click adapters (from the original Kickstarter that took so long to ship that all the cheap clones beat them to market) and putting those on instead (they're both for 22mm bands). The Click adapters fit/function perfectly (and they still sell them, so I've ordered another pair).

 

[AZhappyjack]

Interesting to read this. I've had good luck with Clockwork Synergy before (for straps for my Marathon watch before the Apple Watch debuted), and based on that I bought a nylon strap from them several weeks back - the strap was fine, but I was seriously underwhelmed with the connectors - they latched in, but were seriously loose - they'd wobble in the channel in the watch, not reassuring. Clearly the factory/supplier they're getting the connectors from decided to cut corners by undersizing them a bit so they could let tolerances slide and have them still "fit".

I ended up taking Clockwork Synergy's adapters off the strap and pulling out my old pair of Click adapters (from the original Kickstarter that took so long to ship that all the cheap clones beat them to market) and putting those on instead (they're both for 22mm bands). The Click adapters fit/function perfectly (and they still sell them, so I've ordered another pair).

Not a fan of the process of paying $15-40 for a band from CWS and then having to purchase adapters from somewhere else and then do a modification. I was a huge CWS fan, but I've jumped off that bandwagon with the steep decline in the quality of their stuff. No thanks.

 

[markusbeutel]

Not sure if these have been posted, but $40 for 7 silicone straps. High quality - colours look great like in the images, and the fit is excellent on all of them as well.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01N4Q71IY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[xDKP]

Not sure if these have been posted, but $40 for 7 silicone straps. High quality - colours look great like in the images, and the fit is excellent on all of them as well.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01N4Q71IY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Great price but you lost me at "silicone"

 

[markusbeutel]

Great price but you lost me at "silicone"

I actually much prefer the silicone feel - it’s soft and smooth, and doesn’t feel tacky/dirty like Apple’s fluoroelastomer sport bands do after like a week of use. Apple’s bands also irritated my skin while these don’t, but that seems to be a pretty random occurrence.

 

[xDKP]

I actually much prefer the silicone feel - it’s soft and smooth, and doesn’t feel tacky/dirty like Apple’s fluoroelastomer sport bands do after like a week of use. Apple’s bands also irritated my skin while these don’t, but that seems to be a pretty random occurrence.

Obviously I can't say how it feels to your skin but the crazy dirt magnet is exactly why the silicone sucks! I've used Apple Sports bands for over a year for running and more (my current ones aren't that old) and they still look and feel surprisingly good - Silicone attracts dirt and feels bad after hours of use

 

[bruinsrme]

Obviously I can't say how it feels to your skin but the crazy dirt magnet is exactly why the silicone sucks! I've used Apple Sports bands for over a year for running and more (my current ones aren't that old) and they still look and feel surprisingly good - Silicone attracts dirt and feels bad after hours of use

Dirt magnet - the exact reason I stopped purchasing silicon straps

 

[Quake1028]

42MM Nike+ Silver Aluminum on a 3rd party orange sport strap from eBay.

 

[WarHeadz]

I actually much prefer the silicone feel - it’s soft and smooth, and doesn’t feel tacky/dirty like Apple’s fluoroelastomer sport bands do after like a week of use. Apple’s bands also irritated my skin while these don’t, but that seems to be a pretty random occurrence.

Really? That's been the opposite experience of most people here. The silicone ones feel like crap to me and they attract dust and lint like crazy. The Apple ones stay in perfect condition and are beyond comfy for me. I have both, but I very rarely ever use the silicone ones, they just feel so cheap.

 

[bruinsrme]

42MM Nike+ Silver Aluminum on a 3rd party orange sport strap from eBay.

Love my orange band with my edition.

 

[CarlJ]

Dirt magnet - the exact reason I stopped purchasing silicon straps

Oh, admit it, you've never bought a silicon strap. That'd be expensive, uncomfortable, and fragile.

Silicone maybe...

 

[AZhappyjack]

In honor of America's birthday... I picked this nylon red/white/blue band on Amazon a year or so back...

 

[Quake1028]

Yearscase 42MM Milanese Loop from Amazon

 

[markusbeutel]

Silicone strap that came in a pack of 7 on amazon for $30. Doesn't pick up lint so must be some weird hybrid silicone.

Also xdoria defense edge case and curved glass screen protector.

 

[nieks]

hm, the case doesn't do the Watch much good, does it

 

[xDKP]

Just saw the new Nomad sports strap - sounds like it's the same material but a different take on the design. I actually like the "normal" vulcanized strap the best because of the adapters look great, but it's not a bad take on the sports look... Seems to be a bit too much of a copy of Apples closing mechanism but still nice

 

[Dino F]

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Just saw the new Nomad sports strap - sounds like it's the same material but a different take on the design. I actually like the "normal" vulcanized strap the best because of the adapters look great, but it's not a bad take on the sports look... Seems to be a bit too much of a copy of Apples closing mechanism but still nice

...yea, I got Nomad's email this morning too. Nice strap and I may have seriously considered it if I hadn't literally just purchased my official Nike strap!!

I also have Nomad's vulcanized strap and whilst it is indeed a good looking strap (the adaptors are awesome looking), I find the actual strap to be a big lint magnet (lint tends to gather in the small grooves/dimples of the strap) so stopped wearing it purely for this reason.

 

[xDKP]

...yea, I got Nomad's email this morning too. Nice strap and I may have seriously considered it if I hadn't literally just purchased my official Nike strap!!

I also have Nomad's vulcanized strap and whilst it is indeed a good looking strap (the adaptors are awesome looking), I find the actual strap to be a big lint magnet (lint tends to gather in the small grooves/dimples of the strap) so stopped wearing it purely for this reason.

I was fearing the magnet-aspect of them because of the use of silicone.. Read in a review that they didn't attract dust like the Apple Sport copies does but guess they do anyway? Really great looking though for a day on the beach etc

 

[Prabas]

It looks great, I think that I could wear it with a suit or something fancy and it'd look great. The magnet is really strong, it stays in place. Oh and I paid only $10 for it.

Bought it here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Original-...ple-Watch-Sport-Edition-Series-2/261982443968

 

[Shawn9987]

hm, the case doesn't do the Watch much good, does it

Those cases are protect the casing of Watch. So many people make those comments know squat about the product lol. “Defense edge “