The Great "Third Party Band/Strap" Thread

[zerolight]

Answering my own question. Installing Aliwangwang, can chat to the seller in English no problem. They can ship to the UK direct and take PayPal payments. I'm going to try the Flame Orange.

edit: Done. Hope it's nice, and not too Orange for a man! Fancied something different. Will be able to compare to my wife's Urvoi Indigo CO strap which is much cheaper and already in transit, in a couple of weeks or three.

 

[MuGeN PoWeR]

Yessir they are, credit where it's due!

Might have to hold on until tomorrow for those pics.. working later than expected tonight

How do you buy stuff from taobao?

 

[Chino3]

Who has the best milanese strap? I love my apple one, but all the knock offs report hair pulling, or cheap feeling.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Who has the best milanese strap? I love my apple one, but all the knock offs report hair pulling, or cheap feeling.

Interesting. And anecdotally, I have two - an Apple stainless and a knock-off black Milanese loop, and for me the Apple band is the hair puller... but I don't wear either that often...

 

[pkahleeb]

How do you buy stuff from taobao?

I spoke about this a few pages back. Linking the posts I made on this.

I was able to finally get in touch with the Taobao seller that has the Hermes replicas and other bands.

I used this app on iOS to speak with them
旺信-阿里旺旺手机版 by Taobao (China) Software CO.,LTD
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/旺信-阿里旺旺手机版/id420858151?mt=8

I created an account on the Taobao website using chrome to have it translate into English.

Then you use the little slime looking icon to initiate a chat on your computer. I signed in via the chat all above and their contact information was ready to start speaking to.

They told me that they make this as close as possible to the real thing and shipping for a single tour leather band is about $66 with shipping.

I was told I could do a direct PayPal to them if I had issues ordering on the website.

Attached is a photo I took of the seller information from the chat app.

Those of you who have had interaction before, does this sound correct to you? I hope this is helpful for those who want to order the bands.

Also, have any of you used the deployment style bands? I think I would prefer this over the standard way to clasp a leather band.

I spoke to the seller and asked for their email to post in a forum I was a member of. They told me you can contact them directly at: 630988@qq.com

I was quoted a price of $65 per band for the single tour with deployment adapter in two different colors.

 

[zerolight]

Alternatively, you can install aliwangwang on your Mac or PC then click on the link on the store (at the Taobao seller website) to chat to the seller. The guy we are talking about here was very responsive on aliwangwang, but not to that email address above. And indeed has an entirely different address for PayPal which I won't share. Aliwangwang is the way. I was quoted $66 for a single tour, regular buckle, shipped direct to the UK, paying with PayPal.

 

[Chino3]

Interesting. And anecdotally, I have two - an Apple stainless and a knock-off black Milanese loop, and for me the Apple band is the hair puller... but I don't wear either that often...

mind sharing where you got your knock offs?

 

[AZhappyjack]

mind sharing where you got your knock offs?

IIRC, it's a JTech... almost guarantee that it came from Amazon... I've had it for several years.

 

[TJ82]

How do I order for shipping to the UK? And what's the deal with that very phishing looking email address? I've emailed to see how I buy, but seller has not responded yet. Tried Superbuy.com but it pops up as "sensitive product" and doesn't allow PayPal.

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Hi TJ - I'm in the UK too. How did you manage to get in touch with the seller? I've tried the email address pkahleeb posted without luck.

I just chatted to him through Taobao. I speak Chinese and used a Chinese mainland address for registration. Not helpful I know

Was considering asking if a bunch of UK buyers if they wanted to do a group purchase which I would facilitate, but work is crazy at the moment. Haven't been getting home until after 11pm. Didn't even get a chance to take some pics and upload them yet of my straps. If time frees up I'll consider helping out. Can be messy trying to play the middleman especially online..

 

[zerolight]

I just chatted to him through Taobao. I speak Chinese and used a Chinese mainland address for registration. Not helpful I know

Was considering asking if a bunch of UK buyers if they wanted to do a group purchase which I would facilitate, but work is crazy at the moment. Haven't been getting home until after 11pm. Didn't even get a chance to take some pics and upload them yet of my straps. If time frees up I'll consider helping out. Can be messy trying to play the middleman especially online..

He speaks English and responds promptly on Taobao Aliwangwang. My strap has already shipped. Seems like a nice guy. Shipped direct to UK. Takes payPal.

 

[Fabian90]

I got my link bracelet and classic buckle today, genuine for sure!

 

[eedwinn]

Finally gotten my Sports Loop that I bought off AliExpress.

Really happy with the quality considering the price I paid!

 

[zerolight]

Just ordered a second item from the Taobao seller. This time the genuine link bracelet. Very easy once again over Aliwangwang.

 

[zerolight]

The cheap Urvoi single tour just arrived for my wife. Looks nice. Feels and smells close enough to leather, but has the springiness that suggests there's plastic sandwiched in the middle.

 

[mare92]

Hey guys, I’ve downloaded Taobao messaging app, but don’t know how to contact that guy? Thank you!

 

[zerolight]

Hey guys, I’ve downloaded Taobao messaging app, but don’t know how to contact that guy? Thank you!

Go to his Taobao store page and click on the little TaoBao icon and it'll launch the app start a chat with the store. It's like Whatsapp or imessagr, so if they aren't online they will replay later. Every time I tried he was online and responded very quickly.

 

[eedwinn]

The cheap Urvoi single tour just arrived for my wife. Looks nice. Feels and smells close enough to leather, but has the springiness that suggests there's plastic sandwiched in the middle.

Looks good! I may get one for myself as well. Could you show some wrist shots of those bands please?

 

[nieks]

The cheap Urvoi single tour just arrived for my wife. Looks nice. Feels and smells close enough to leather, but has the springiness that suggests there's plastic sandwiched in the middle.

I must disagree, i bought the same one in a different color from Urvoi as well, and it will get less rigid/stiff after using it a couple of times. It will get softer. If there would be a plastic insert, that would not be the case.

Finally gotten my Sports Loop that I bought off AliExpress.

Really happy with the quality considering the price I paid!
View attachment 802713
View attachment 802714

Looks great, reminds me that I promised you to show my sportloop. Sorry, i forgot all about it!

 

[eedwinn]

Looks great, reminds me that I promised you to show my sportloop. Sorry, i forgot all about it!

Yes, I’m still waiting for it!

 

[zerolight]

I must disagree, i bought the same one in a different color from Urvoi as well, and it will get less rigid/stiff after using it a couple of times. It will get softer. If there would be a plastic insert, that would not be the case.

My wife hasn't tried it yet - reckons a buckle is a faff vs her Milanese. You may be right.

 

[Thejameslavis]

So I received my four urovi bands. The link and sport loop are dead set matches to the real deal.

Pictured also is my legit leather loop and urovi version. 98% close. Material feels the same but the leather loop has no scent. Urovi is real leather. No quality differences at all from any of their bands that I’ve ordered.

 

[Lsmachado]

Just ordered these two from a company in the UK called The Watch Strap Company. They are made from the same material as the genuine Apple bands (fluoroelastomer). Got them on sale for a few dollars less than the Apple bands.

They have a great selection of leather, stainless and mesh bands as well. You just have to select your country’s currency at the top of the page.

What can I say, I liked the colors, lol. Can’t wait till I get them!

https://thewatchstrap.co/apple-watch-straps/

 

[zerolight]

@ismachado Ridiculously expensive for a counterfeit strap company. Their link strap is the cheap early gen with pins rather than tool-less links, but it is £80. I paid less than that for a genuine link. These all look like Ali Express bands with a 200% markup.

I'm guessing this is a stealth AD for a shady co.

 

[Lsmachado]

@ismachado Ridiculously expensive for a counterfeit strap company. Their link strap is the cheap early gen with pins rather than tool-less links, but it is £80. I paid less than that for a genuine link. These all look like Ali Express bands with a 200% markup.

I'm guessing this is a stealth AD for a shady co.

Idk, they have pretty good reviews. Hope I didn’t make a mistake ordering from them! Guess I’ll see when they get here. If they’re not good, I’ll return them. I really wanted to order the orange one next.

 

[nieks]

@ismachado Ridiculously expensive for a counterfeit strap company. Their link strap is the cheap early gen with pins rather than tool-less links, but it is £80. I paid less than that for a genuine link. These all look like Ali Express bands with a 200% markup.

I'm guessing this is a stealth AD for a shady co.

I have to agree with @zerolight on this one.
It looks like cheapass watchbands, paired with a good looking website, to give you the idea that you are actually buying quality. I bought all my bands at Aliexpress, and they look better than the ones from WsC. I would NEVER pay 30 pounds (that's 38 dollar people!) for a fake band. The original is only 10 bucks more. I very much doubt if these are even actual Fluorelastomer.

The Milanese Loop:
"This ultra-sleek, intricately woven stainless-steel strap is designed to fit your wrist perfectly". 75 pounds. Damn girl. That's 95 dollars. But of course, it's on sale. For "only" 55 pounds.

The Link bands: was 129, now on sale for 79 pounds. That's over a 100 dollars. Just, nah, don't do it. It hasn't even got the link buttons on the inside.

I would kindly advise: don't buy.

Ps: i visited the site for the second time, and the chatbot said: "welcome back, just to let you know, we've extended our sale".
Note: there is no sale. It's all about convincing you to pay a load of money for very cheap bands.

I have posted (IN THIS THREAD!) the very best ripoffs in all sorts, in my honest opinion. Look them up a few pages back.

-----------------------------

Edit: So i thought, let me look up the company on google maps. The adress stated on their website should do it, right? "17 Ensign House, Admirals Way, Canary Wharf, London E14 9XQ". Apparently on this adress, the following companies are located:
- Flex Office (telephone answering )
- Investor in customers (business development service )
- The Website Group (guess who made the website for the wonderful watch band company )
- some other small companies.

As we would say in the Netherlands: dat is geen zuivere koffie. (which translates to: that's no clean coffee, which means: there's something fishy about it ).

Ps2: the band you bought is probably just fine, you won't notice anything about it, it's just that the band is worth 2 dollars. That's it. And you paid 70 for two bands....

just a little lesson for you readers at home: always know where you're buying, what you're buying. before you're buying