Straps are an important part of your watches look, fit and durability. There are different exciting materials and colours to choose from, different fittings, fasteners and they also have different strengths and uses!

The four most popular types of watch bands are leather, metal, nylon and rubber.

Leather gets the prize for being the most comfortable. It’s soft and flexible and gives your watch a classic, elegant look, that’s perfect for all settings. An enjoyably small detail to choose from on leather watches is also the stitching, for example, sometimes you’ll get a similar stitching colour to the leather, but sometimes you can also get an array of other bright colours. A good generic leather strap brand to note are Hirsch, some of which are actually waterproof.

Next up is the metal bracelet, used for luxury watches with fine, expensive metals and diving watches, which remain comfortable when soaking wet. Though the metal watch bands tend to be heavier and bulkier than other types, they are still extremely comfortable and the links can mould around your wrist like lycra. You can even enjoy the perks of having a two-tone bracelet to shake things up.

Nylon straps are usually used for inexpensive and casual watches, but also for highly durable watches. Nylon could be given a title for being the most durable, not only that but it’s comfortable and breathable. They may not look the best of the bunch, but you can get them wet and they can take a beating.

Lastly, we have rubber/silicone which are most often found in sporty/diving watches because of their flexibility and water/sweat resistance. They’re said to be casual, but I have worn my comfortable, fitness watch out for a few drinks and no one batted an eye… maybe it’s just expected of me? I do however agree that, unless you’re going to break into a flash mob after ripping off your tuxedo, the 2 don’t go hand in hand.

The bottom line is that choosing a watch strap for you, is as important as choosing the watch itself. Each are useful for different things and come in many different styles.

EXPLORE OUR DIFFERENT STRAPS