The ultimate calf-cow leather strap for Apple Watch thread

[Thai]

IMO, there is no way in hell Hermes would break tradition...they are deeply seeded in tradition. Hermes simply do NOT sell their bands to consumers directly (even thru Apple Store). I will be surprise if Hermes continues with Apple Watch 2. They didn't do that with Rolex nor with Leica. I hope that i am wrong.

Nothing Apple (or anyone really) does is a free bonus. Just look at Classic Buckle. If you bought Version 1 (before Sept 2015), you got a nice hard box that the band came in. When Apple upgraded (seemingly) Classic Buckle to Version 2, you now get a cheap paper folded to hold your leather band.

The extra year of warranty/support is a feature of Hermes Apple Watch and should be included in the cost of it.

 

[bmac4]

On the flip side, nothing comes for free and the warranty cost is built in somewhere.

They won't sell you a SS watch and Hermès band separately for the same price as the hermès watch including extra year warranty. For that reason, I have doubts they'll even sell them separately. Apple would have no reason to - they don't sell any other third party bands in store.

Oh I don't think they are ever selling the Hermès band by its self. That is simply not happening. My thoughts are the band is $600, and that one year warranty more is not in that pricing. What is it costing Apple to add another years warranty to the watch?

 

[Thai]

Oh I don't think they are ever selling the Hermès band by its self. That is simply not happening. My thoughts are the band is $600, and that one year warranty more is not in that pricing. What is it costing Apple to add another years warranty to the watch?

Actual cost probably small. AppleCare+ is $79 i think for SS to customers. But still from consumer side, $79 is the cost.

 

[nicho]

Oh I don't think they are ever selling the Hermès band by its self. That is simply not happening. My thoughts are the band is $600, and that one year warranty more is not in that pricing. What is it costing Apple to add another years warranty to the watch?

We won't know until May next year when Apple watches generally start to reach the second year!

It definitely adds to the AppleCare + cost in the third year, I can see a lot of battery replacements being called for then!

 

[bmac4]

Actual cost probably small. AppleCare+ is $79 i think for SS to customers. But still from consumer side, $79 is the cost.

Yeah I can't remember what AC was. I got it on mine, but I thought I paid $69. I am really not sure.

We won't know until May next year when Apple watches generally start to reach the second year!

It definitely adds to the AppleCare + cost in the third year, I can see a lot of battery replacements being called for then!

Yeah guess we will for sure. When the batteries start dying. I just think when Apple came to Hermès, hermes said this is what I band cost. I don't care what your watch cost, but this is how much we charge. Their watches are much more expensive then the AW, so the band would be a much smaller % of the watch. I don't believe they changed the cost of their bands for Apple.

 

[Thai]

Yeah I can't remember what AC was. I got it on mine, but I thought I paid $69. I am really not sure.

Here is a good page comparing the two: http://www.apple.com/support/products/watch.html

Every Apple Watch Edition and Apple Watch Hermès model comes with two years of hardware repair coverage through its limited warranty and up to two years of complimentary support.

 

[bmac4]

Here is a good page comparing the two: http://www.apple.com/support/products/watch.html

Every Apple Watch Edition and Apple Watch Hermès model comes with two years of hardware repair coverage through its limited warranty and up to two years of complimentary support.

Oh ok. So I am really surprised they offered a warranty that long. I sure hope that means they plan on keeping the watch going for s long time, and not pull an upgrade every single year.

 

[Thai]

Oh ok. So I am really surprised they offered a warranty that long. I sure hope that means they plan on keeping the watch going for s long time, and not pull an upgrade every single year.

I think that AW will get upgraded ever 1.5 years or so. But that does not mean that the old AW will be just a glorified paperweight. I know that we talked about this a while ago, but IMO, there is no way Apple will abandon Gold edition and Hermes after 3-5 years. That would be a huge hit on its reputation. For phones, the innovation is constant/evolving (slowing down now though)...i think smartwatches will be much slower.

 

[bmac4]

I think that AW will get upgraded ever 1.5 years or so. But that does not mean that the old AW will be just a glorified paperweight. I know that we talked about this a while ago, but IMO, there is no way Apple will abandon Gold edition and Hermes after 3-5 years. That would be a huge hit on its reputation. For phones, the innovation is constant/evolving (slowing down now though)...i think smartwatches will be much slower.

I think they should at least give 2 years before they add another watch. To me that seems logical. I doubt they wait that long, but yeah I wish they would just update the sport only with like GPS or something and let us that paid $700 plus enjoy our watches for a long time

 

[Thai]

I think they should at least give 2 years before they add another watch. To me that seems logical. I doubt they wait that long, but yeah I wish they would just update the sport only with like GPS or something and let us that paid $700 plus enjoy our watches for a long time

Agreed. However, i will not upgrade unless future version has something worthwhile, such as (reliable) blood sugar monitoring via sweat analysis or something along that line of breakthru.

With saddle brown issue, i may wait and get that AliveCor band that can give you ECG of your heart! That should come out soon for $199 (rumored price). That would be insanely useful.

But sorry to OP, we've gotten way off topic!

 

[Night Spring]

I think they should at least give 2 years before they add another watch. To me that seems logical. I doubt they wait that long, but yeah I wish they would just update the sport only with like GPS or something and let us that paid $700 plus enjoy our watches for a long time

It's not like the older watches stop working when newer models are released. When Apple releases new models of the watch, hopefully sometime this year, you can keep enjoying your $700+ watch, while I update my Sport to the new model.

 

[bmac4]

Agreed. However, i will not upgrade unless future version has something worthwhile, such as (reliable) blood sugar monitoring via sweat analysis or something along that line of breakthru.

With saddle brown issue, i may wait and get that AliveCor band that can give you ECG of your heart! That should come out soon for $199 (rumored price). That would be insanely useful.

But sorry to OP, we've gotten way off topic!

Yeah I agree with you. Hopefully you can figure out the saddle brown band issue, but if not there are plenty of calf leather bands that will look great with the AW.

 

[bmac4]

It's not like the older watches stop working when newer models are released. When Apple releases new models of the watch, hopefully sometime this year, you can keep enjoying your $700+ watch, while I update my Sport to the new model.

Not to get too far beyond the OP's OP, but I see a new watch as the ending of the 1 gen. A new watch will not come without a new processor in it. At some point Apple will want to make software that will be used by that new processor. At that point, we start losing support on the 1st gen. I don't see the watches going like iPhone and iPads. These devices once there is something new, won't last much longer then a year after the new one comes out. Sure you could keep it on the old software, but at some point it won't work with the iPhone anymore.

I really do wish the sport looked better and went with more band because I would have bought it being that it's a first gen product and Apple is notorious for making huge changes in version two. The SS just looks so good and it has many band options. I just wish this would work more like the Pebble or a traditional watch. You get a new one every 5 or so years. There is not need for another one for that long. Don't think that will happen.

 

[mhoutman]

As I was going through my mechanical watch band bookmarks I found some interesting companies which make band of extraordinary quality:

Atelier du Bracelet Parisien: http://www.abp-paris.com./abpw/watch_straps_index.php
Camille fourrent: http://www.camillefournet.com/
Créations Perrin: http://www.perrin.fr/
Hirsch: http://www.hirschag.com/
Kaufmann:http://www.kaufmann.de/en/
Roemer Oswald: http://www.rios1931.de/

Enjoy

 

[nicho]

As I was going through my mechanical watch band bookmarks I found some interesting companies which make band of extraordinary quality:

Hirsch: http://www.hirschag.com/

Funny you should say that, this arrived today:



hirsch mariner; waterproof to 100m and fitted with a deployant clasp.

i've been waiting weeks for the various pieces to arrive (i needed to get the adapters first as if the springbar ones were rubbish and i went for the classic buckle style, it would mean 22mm band instead of this 20mm) and the band came today. added a deployant clasp, although i'm not 100% sure about it - the 1st keeper is stitched quite close to the buckle which makes it a little awkward to get through, i'm hoping it'll loosen up over time or i'll get a little more pro at it.

won't be using it outside just yet as the adapters came with one springbar that was just too big; while i'm waiting for it to arrive, i've got a spare 18mm one from the clasp in there.

 

[mhoutman]

Funny you should say that, this arrived today:

View attachment 617721 View attachment 617722 View attachment 617723

hirsch mariner; waterproof to 100m and fitted with a deployant clasp.

i've been waiting weeks for the various pieces to arrive (i needed to get the adapters first as if the springbar ones were rubbish and i went for the classic buckle style, it would mean 22mm band instead of this 20mm) and the band came today. added a deployant clasp, although i'm not 100% sure about it - the 1st keeper is stitched quite close to the buckle which makes it a little awkward to get through, i'm hoping it'll loosen up over time or i'll get a little more pro at it.

won't be using it outside just yet as the adapters came with one springbar that was just too big; while i'm waiting for it to arrive, i've got a spare 18mm one from the clasp in there.

Very nice indeed this "Golden Brown" or tan and in time it will get a very nice patina. Also nice these springbar adapters

I am not sure about the color of the buckle. IMHO it doesn't match the rest of the watch. Why not fitting the standard buckle or did you get it without ?
[doublepost=1456136996][/doublepost]OT but interesting Leica and Hermès continue to team up with new products: https://us.web.leica-camera.com/Wor...s/Global/2016/Ultravid-HD-Plus-Hermes-Edition

 

[nicho]

Very nice indeed this "Golden Brown" or tan and in time it will get a very nice patina. Also nice these springbar adapters

I am not sure about the color of the buckle. IMHO it doesn't match the rest of the watch. Why not fitting the standard buckle or did you get it without ?

it's exactly the same SS as the watch, the picture just looks a bit darker than the others because the lack of watch screen light changed the exposure on the phone (see the sheet behind, it's darker and bluer than the other two photos)

i removed the standard buckle for a few reasons (although i may go back; it depends how easily i get used to this clasp) - i like the bulk it adds below the wrist as a counterpoint to the watch itself (i'd probably spring for the modern buckle if it wasn't so specifically sized so as to prevent sharing it with my wife, and wasn't prohibitively expensive); if i mess up putting it on i won't drop the watch and it's very easy to remove when i want to; and i was told it extends the life of the band through reducing wear and tear? it's contoured perfectly to my wrist so it's not uncomfortable in any way.

on the flip side, it wasn't expensive so i could easily abandon it (the clasp, that is) and there's the difficulty i'm having with the keeper being too close to the clasp... i also probably don't need to worry about wear and tear too much when the price of the band wasn't huge and i have lots so it'll be in rotation with a lot of others... decisions decisions.

when the springbar gets fixed, i'll give it a few days of trying out and if not, i'll remove the buckle and put the standard one back.

 

[mhoutman]

the last few days I applied some layers of Collonil Premium Leather Polish on my British Tan Pad & Quill classic band and at once it became much more vivid. A bit more shiny, darker and richer.....

 

[Mac2me]

Don't think I've seen any photos of your Pad and Quill bands.

 

[mhoutman]

Don't think I've seen any photos of your Pad and Quill bands.

You got mail

 

[GeekyGrannie]

You got mail

Any chance you would share those with the rest of us?

 

[IphoneIssues]

Well, don't really know anything about leather. Says these two bands I got a grain, tanned, vegetable leather. I presume that means they're cow leather.

Ordered a special conditioner for them. Been holding off really wearing them. It will get here today

 

[xDKP]

Well, don't really know anything about leather. Says these two bands I got a grain, tanned, vegetable leather. I presume that means they're cow leather.

Ordered a special conditioner for them. Been holding off really wearing them. It will get here today

Wow they look pretty great - odd the brown one almost looks orange in one of your pictures...

Do you have a link?

 

[IphoneIssues]

Wow they look pretty great - odd the brown one almost looks orange in one of your pictures...

Do you have a link?

It is kind of like a lighter, creamier looking brown.

http://arrowandboard.com/collections/watch-straps/products/applewatchstrap-deserttan

 

[mhoutman]

Any chance you would share those with the rest of us?

Ok guys (and girls), never a dull moment so see below my straps. From left to right:

Apple Sport band black
Apple Classic Buckle black
Apple Classic Buckle saddle brown
Pad & Quill Classic band galloper black
Pad & Quill Classic band whiskey
Pad & Quill Classic band British tan
Nomad: brown band
Hermès: single tour fauve barenia

Let me know if you need any detail photo