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The Great "Third Party Band/Strap" Thread

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The first post of this thread is a WikiPost and can be edited by anyone with the appropiate permissions. Your edits will be public.
rstark18 said:
I have been on this form for quite some time and have a quick question.
Are there any third party Sport Bands that have a material texture that is like the OEM Apple Sport Band? The ones I have gotten in the past are standard silicone and a little uncomfortable because it tends to pull on the hair on my wrist. The Apple bands are much smoother less sticky material.
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AFAIK, all third-party sport bands are silicone... only the Apple OEM bands are fluoroelastomer.
 
clutchm3 said:
Ok I have a question about this and would love some help. So my wrist is 7 inches which is 177.8MM. Going off of the photo that aliexpress seller you linked has, should I be going for a Large or a Medium? The medium on your wrist seems tight? Or is it loose and comfy? Thank you for your help. Anyone else feel free to chime in.

Also What size band do you usually use with the silicone band? And which hole/dot? Want to get a reference of sizes. Thank you.
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Order both, the price won't be the issue ;) Our wrist seems almost similar. Mine is not tight, nor loose. Like I said, the sizing is spot-on for me.
 
Like to wear classic buckle style leather bands? Apple certainly doesn’t give us many choices - unless we want to pay the Hermès cost of admission and even then most options have only silver hardware.

I do have the Hermès Noir and a Nomad Modern strap and added this Amazon cheapie in a dark olive colour this morning.

Obviously not Hermès quality, but for the $19 or so price point not too bad. I wonder how long it will last?

Will my wrist have a nasty rash in a few hours?

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Not sure if this is the right place, but I just wanted to say that I recently used AliExpress to purchase a few bands. These are two that were sent to a mailbox in Norfolk, Virginia today. I live in South Carolina. Now I got to find out who to talk with. Sorry for the poor quality.
 

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I saw that a lot sellers on AliExpress sell fake braided nylon bands as silicone..

I’m looking for a good seller who sells braided nylon bands. Anyone got good recommendations? A picture to show off the band you got from AliExpress would be nice. Thanks!
 
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nycgeo said:
Picked up the VeryBet (Chinese factories PLEASE hire me to come up with names for you) Leather Link strap and its immediately rocketed to my favorite of strap for the AW Series 6 in blue. I cant compare it to the apple leather loop, because they are more rare than a white rhino, but I can say the band looks amazing, is a great color, works well, feels like it is on sturdily, and at 1/3 the cost of the Apple band, is a great deal. My one critique is that the loop feels stiff and papery. But I have worked in the leather goods industry for a long time, and I have low expectations in general. My guess is that the Apple Watch band feels nice, and likely wears better with age, but again I dont know because its only theoretical at this point.

Pros:

- Great color match to the watch in blue
- Sturdy magnets
- Compass still works fine
- Locks in place well, if a little snugly
- Feels great on the wrist
- Feels like a quality product (How will it age? Don't know)
- Sized well for the (S/M wrist)

Cons:

- Feels little papery (does the apple band also? We may never know.)
- Creaky when wearing/moving wrist (I dont mind this at all)

In short, I will be waiting to see how it wears before ordering more, but I definitely intend to get this in other colors. I can get 3 for the price of one apple band, and until I have felt it and seen that it is demonstrably better, I will be doing just that.

Here are some pics, including with my much loved Spigen easy on/off bumper:

{PS NOTE: The lower part of the band was not perfectly centered in the photo. This was user error and I have included the last pic showing it properly centered}
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This is an odd question, but if you have a sport band, would you mind posting a pic of this strap overtop/next to the sportband, unattached to the watch? I've ordered one of these but am making a watch strap holder now, and I'm curious if the curved edge at the connection is the same as the sport band one.
 
Yeah just received my "braided" loop band from AliExpress... when I ordered it said it was nylon... recieved it and both were just stamped with the braid and silicone... very disappointed.
 
Seriously? Thats crazy. Any pic's? I have not received mine yet. (ordered two different braided loops)
edit: Found some more info: The braided loops on Ali for a few dollars seem to be silicone. The more expensive do seem to be nylon. I ordered two of those, but I will see in a few days.
 
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T4rb0ch4rg3d said:
Seriously? Thats crazy. Any pic's? I have not received mine yet. (ordered two different braided loops)
edit: Found some more info: The braided loops on Ali for a few dollars seem to be silicone. The more expensive do seem to be nylon. I ordered two of those, but I will see in a few days.
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Yeah I’m going to order one of those next. Here is a photo of the silicone ones.
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Dguitarnut said:
Sorry but they are terrible looking IMHO. I’m sure or hope they were cheap.
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They are terrible and quite disappointed. They were less than $10 but still over $5 so I expected a little better quality than this. It was a shop I’ve ordered from before (Crested) and never had issues.
 
harrywatson said:
This is an odd question, but if you have a sport band, would you mind posting a pic of this strap overtop/next to the sportband, unattached to the watch? I've ordered one of these but am making a watch strap holder now, and I'm curious if the curved edge at the connection is the same as the sport band one.
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here you go!
 

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T4rb0ch4rg3d said:
Seriously? Thats crazy. Any pic's? I have not received mine yet. (ordered two different braided loops)
edit: Found some more info: The braided loops on Ali for a few dollars seem to be silicone. The more expensive do seem to be nylon. I ordered two of those, but I will see in a few days.
Click to expand...
Please report which brand the new one is your ordered that are Nylon?
 
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