The Great "Third Party Band/Strap" Thread

[xDKP]

Finally found myself a army-green nylon-style band for the watch - been wanting one for years.

Yeah the adapters could fit a bit better, but the strap feels surprisingly good - especially considering the price of under $ 15 including shipping

 

[xDKP]

Got this one as well yesterday - pretty nice, even though it was advertised with silver adapter - doesn’t look that bad because it’s a black strap, but still not perfect. Was a good price though and I like the sports/racing look of the red dots

 

[chanerz]

Not bad!

 

[zerolight]

My genuine link arrived from that nice Taobao seller. It's perfect. Looks immaculate. Feels a lot more sturdy and solid than my gen6 clone did. Still waiting on my Hermes clone.

 

[sithjedi333]

My genuine link arrived from that nice Taobao seller. It's perfect. Looks immaculate. Feels a lot more sturdy and solid than my gen6 clone did. Still waiting on my Hermes clone.

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Can you share more info on this seller? Thanks.

 

[zerolight]

Can you share more info on this seller? Thanks.

Check out the discussion over the past two or three pages regarding Taobao.

 

[InfiniteJoules]

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’m going to order this one now. Looks sharp.

 

[KenAFSPC]

Has anyone found a comfortable leather watch strap that resembles the Redwing bands?

Link for more pictures: https://blog.endclothing.com/timex-x-red-wing-waterbury-collection-exclusively-at-end/

 

[zerolight]

My Taobao “Hermes” arrived. It’s nicely made. Soft leather that feels like good leather. Colour changes a bit depending on the light.

Edit: daylight pics added.

 

[myc5038]

Same taobao guy had them use gold accessories to match my SSG

 

[Boardiesboi]

My genuine link arrived from that nice Taobao seller. It's perfect. Looks immaculate. Feels a lot more sturdy and solid than my gen6 clone did. Still waiting on my Hermes clone.

I’m pretty sure that the link bracelet is genuine, eg coming as QA rejects from the factory. You seriously can’t tell the difference from the Apple one.

I’m glad so many of you like the Taobao bands.

I should really get commission from him cos I first posted it on here hahah

 

[zerolight]

I’m pretty sure that the link bracelet is genuine, eg coming as QA rejects from the factory. You seriously can’t tell the difference from the Apple one.

I’m glad so many of you like the Taobao bands.

I should really get commission from him cos I first posted it on here hahah

Agree. It’s definitely genuine. I was planning on getting an Urvoi as I was happy with my black Urvoi link, but when you posted that the Taobao seller was also doing the genuine link, too much to pass up.

It was your Hermes clone and review that encouraged me to get my Feu Epsom. At first I thought it was just too orange for me. But I love it now.
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Same taobao guy had them use gold accessories to match my SSG

Nice. I might get an Indigo from him next year.

 

[jon08]

My order is currently being fulfilled. I am going off the recommendation from here. I can tell you that ever cheap knock odd that uses leather is pretty terrible.

I have only found one Moko two toned leather that I found to have acceptable quality. All others might look nice but didn’t feel very nice.

My fingers are crossed that this is absolutely amazing quality or I will be asking for a big refund/fighting PayPal on it.

I don’t think it will come to this though. If the quality is that bad, why would they allow a direct PayPal transfer like this and require me to use Friends and Family as the option for payment?
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So my collection is pretty intimidating and I have a BIG problem. I have bands form all sorts of places but can confirm that Urvoi has really good Sport bands. They may not be fluorelastomer but they are the best non-Apple sport bands out there. My favorite ones have come from them on a AliExpress. They are usually not as cheap as some other sellers but definitely worth more than what Apple charges.

In the photo that is an authentic Milanese. I got it with my current Apple watch series 4. You can tell the difference in quality on these if you start to try and bend them sideways with a knockoff.

I love ceramic link bands on Aliexpress. I have a white and black.

I also have a few bands from the third party seller Nomad. The leather is good and has worn daily well. They sport bands are unique and I love their connectors and buckles.

Apple Leather Loops vary greatly in quality. I will be looking at Taobao next for this. The biggest issue here is the feel of the band and how well they fit in the connector. Most Aliexpress Leather Loop bands will be extremely inconsistent even from the same seller.

That's a very nice collection of bands. Aside form sport bands, would you also recommend Urvoi's link bracelet or other bands by this brand?

 

[romeo.xk]

I have a couple of questions about the Taboabo band.

How long did it take you to get it, and for those who got them in the US, how much did you pay in US$?

I most be missing something here:

And, for those who used aioexpress, how was the service, was shipping any faster? Do they help with the info they ask for?

If by any chance, someone has a black 42mm that they are willing to part with, please, send me a PM the model/source and your price.

 

[nieks]

And, for those who used aioexpress, how was the service, was shipping any faster? Do they help with the info they ask for?

Faster? Compared to what? And what do you mean by "do they help with the info they ask for"?
I'm from the Netherlands, and I've always had shipping within the shipping window that the Aliexpress store mentioned. If you have an account, you don't need to supply other info than payment and shipping information.

 

[pkahleeb]

Here are the two Hermes replicas I got from that awesome Taobao seller. The brown is a thicker leather than the blue/white one but both feel like it is very high quality leather.

I also asked for the deployment bands and I really like this style better than a standard leather band clasp.

They charged me $61 each with shipping and it took roughly 23 days for it to arrive from China to the US using the 4PX shipping method.

 

[romeo.xk]

Faster? Compared to what? And what do you mean by "do they help with the info they ask for"?
I'm from the Netherlands, and I've always had shipping within the shipping window that the Aliexpress store mentioned. If you have an account, you don't need to supply other info than payment and shipping information.

Yes faster, and I'm not talking about aliexpress, I'm talking about aioexpress a company that can help you buy things China, including TAOBAO a page that is in chinese...
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Here are the two Hermes replicas I got from that awesome Taobao seller. The brown is a thicker leather than the blue/white one but both feel like it is very high quality leather.

I also asked for the deployment bands and I really like this style better than a standard leather band clasp.

They charged me $61 each with shipping and it took roughly 23 days for it to arrive from China to the US using the 4PX shipping method.

Thank you! I wish I had the patience to wait 23 days... LOL

Last night I sent an email to the Taobao seller and he just got back to me nd told me that they are sold out.

 

[Applewatchgurl]

Gorgeous plum Nike style sport band from alie express.

 

[pkahleeb]

Yes faster, and I'm not talking about aliexpress, I'm talking about aioexpress a company that can help you buy things China, including TAOBAO a page that is in chinese...
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Thank you! I wish I had the patience to wait 23 days... LOL

Last night I sent an email to the Taobao seller and he just got back to me nd told me that they are sold out.

Yes, it completely sucked waiting 23 days while the package slowly made its way here. It does appear that it was carried on the backs of snails once it arrived in the US because it only took 7 days to get from China to the US.

Also, I don't think it would be worth paying a huge fee in working with anyone else. The pricing is already more expensive for these items because they are very good quality. But you can speak to the Taobao seller in English and I even made the transaction with them over a normal Paypal payment. I figured they would force me to use "friends and family" but they didn't.

The seller responded very fast in the chat app for Taobao (it looks like a white slime) and I will definitely buy from them again.

Wait, sold out? what is sold out?

 

[romeo.xk]

Yes, it completely sucked waiting 23 days while the package slowly made its way here. It does appear that it was carried on the backs of snails once it arrived in the US because it only took 7 days to get from China to the US.

Also, I don't think it would be worth paying a huge fee in working with anyone else. The pricing is already more expensive for these items because they are very good quality. But you can speak to the Taobao seller in English and I even made the transaction with them over a normal Paypal payment. I figured they would force me to use "friends and family" but they didn't.

The seller responded very fast in the chat app for Taobao (it looks like a white slime) and I will definitely buy from them again.

Wait, sold out? what is sold out?

aioexpress express does not charge you extra for placing the order, not sure how their shipping cost/times compares since I haven't use them.

The link bracelets are sold out, I emailed the seller last night (The email address posted a couple pages back).

 

[MuGeN PoWeR]

Yes, it completely sucked waiting 23 days while the package slowly made its way here. It does appear that it was carried on the backs of snails once it arrived in the US because it only took 7 days to get from China to the US.

Also, I don't think it would be worth paying a huge fee in working with anyone else. The pricing is already more expensive for these items because they are very good quality. But you can speak to the Taobao seller in English and I even made the transaction with them over a normal Paypal payment. I figured they would force me to use "friends and family" but they didn't.

The seller responded very fast in the chat app for Taobao (it looks like a white slime) and I will definitely buy from them again.

Wait, sold out? what is sold out?

when i installed the chat app on my mac and logged in, everytime i went to Launch Control, i found some text searched there. Anyone else faced this problem?

 

[zerolight]

aioexpress express does not charge you extra for placing the order, not sure how their shipping cost/times compares since I haven't use them.

The link bracelets are sold out, I emailed the seller last night (The email address posted a couple pages back).

Install Aliwangwang and deal with the seller direct. Very friendly and helpful. Cuts out any middle man charges and speeds up delivery.

He shipped mine direct to me in the UK. Took two weeks shipped by China EMS and 4px. No taxes.

$70 US for the Feu Epsom band and $80 US for the stainless silver 98% link Inc shipping. The Epsom leather is really nice.

 

[zerolight]

How sturdy is the deployment buckle? I read reports of the genuine failing. I like the brown barenia.

 

[romeo.xk]

Install Aliwangwang and deal with the seller direct. Very friendly and helpful. Cuts out any middle man charges and speeds up delivery.

He shipped mine direct to me in the UK. Took two weeks shipped by China EMS and 4px. No taxes.

$70 US for the Feu Epsom band and $80 US for the stainless silver 98% link Inc shipping. The Epsom leather is really nice.

Thank you, I guess I have to wait since he says he is sold out, so I guess I'll get something else for now.

 

[pkahleeb]

How sturdy is the deployment buckle? I read reports of the genuine failing. I like the brown barenia.

It seems very sturdy. I have only had it a few days but am not concerned at all about it breaking. It really makes the leather band feel like a much more expensive item.