Featured
Best Fitness Trackers – June 2022
If you are trying to improve your fitness, one of the most powerful tools is using a fitness tracker. Fitness trackers are watches, rings, and straps (wearables) that are intended to be stylish and help you track your fitness progress. These trackers provide you with detailed insights and data about your body like resting heart rate, HRV, sleep length and quality tracking, workout, and step tracking, and so much more. The staff at Basic Bands has been employing fitness trackers for several years now and highly recommends them! There are many options to choose from, so we have made it easy for you by narrowing it down to the three best wrist trackers on the market. Best for Style: Apple Watch Series 7 Apple made fitness trackers cool and brought them into the mainstream. As with all Apple products, design comes first, and the Series 7 looks great on any…
Happy National Watch Day!
June 19 is one of our favorite days of the year. National Watch Day recognizes the timepiece industry which has been around for centuries. This year’s National Watch Day is extra special because it lines up with Father’s Day. So if you’re looking for a last-minute Father’s Day gift, a watch is definitely the way to go! To honor this important day, we’re showcasing some of our favorite timepieces. There’s no better way to celebrate National Watch Day than to explore the wide world of watches and bands. Outdoorsy Watches One of our favorite parts about watches and other wearables is that there’s a watch for every occasion. As summer officially begins this week, we thought we’d showcase a few of our favorite pieces that are both stylish and perfectly suited for your summer hikes, beach trips, and backyard barbeques. Timex Ironman Series Timex has done an incredible job building…
Watch of the Week – 6/17
Tissot Men’s Everytime Desire Tissot is the perfect brand to start your Swiss watch journey. You can’t go wrong with the Everytime, a classic look with a dressy band. This watch is easily swappable with other sportier bands. Shop the Everytime here! Shop more of our favorite Tissot watches below:
Jomashop Father’s Day Deals – 50%+ OFF
Our favorite watch shopping destination is offering exclusive deals for Basic Bands users. Across their portfolio of 650+ brands and 75,000 unique products there are discounts ranging from 20% to 60% site-wide. Our partnership provides you access to significant savings on top watch models. Shop now to get access to the Jomashop Father’s Day sale!
Shop our favorite watches below:
Spotlight
BRAND SHOWCASE – B&R BANDS
The first post in a new series, a brand showcase highlights a particular watch strap company, in this case, B&R Bands. See the gallery below for examples of their work. If you see something you like, check them out!
SMALL BRAND SPOTLIGHT – CHOICE CUTS INDUSTRIES
Watch strap making isn’t just limited to major brands and big shops; across the world there are small strapmakers making a living designing unique and custom straps. Our small brand spotlight series interviews these strapmakers to see what makes them tick. Today the spotlight is on Joel and Kerri Mills and their small strap making shop: Choice Cuts Industries
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BRAND SHOWCASE – TWO STITCH STRAPS
The second post in a new series, a brand showcase highlights a particular watch strap company, in this case, Two Stitch Straps. You can find their website at https://www.twostitchstraps.com. They make a variety of both regular and customized watch straps. Check out their work below and contact Ivan (founder) for more info or to order a strap.
SMALL BRAND SPOTLIGHT – TWO ONE FOUR STRAPS
Watch strap making isn’t just limited to major brands and big shops; across the world there are small strapmakers making a living designing unique and custom straps. Our small brand spotlight series interviews these strapmakers to see what makes them tick. Today the spotlight is on Jun Talusan and his Philippines-based shop, Two One Four Straps.
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SMALL BRAND SPOTLIGHT – DANGEROUS9 STRAPS
Watch strap making isn’t just limited to major brands and big shops; across the world there are small strapmakers making a living designing unique and custom straps. Our small brand spotlight series interviews these strapmakers to see what makes them tick. Today the spotlight is on John Glance and his shop, Dangerous9straps
SMALL BRAND SPOTLIGHT – NEPTUNE STRAPS
Watch strap making isn’t just limited to major brands and big shops; across the world there are small strapmakers making a living designing unique and custom straps. Our small brand spotlight series interviews these strapmakers to see what makes them tick. Today the spotlight is on Pavel Slow and his shop, Neptune Straps.
Find watch strap inspiration
Gallery of Popular Timex Watch Models
Timex is a popular value brand of watches. They are often recommended on watch forums and review sites as options for people looking for a quality watch under $100. They make a wide variety of watches and are perfect starter watches for kids and teenagers and casual watches for adults. They make excellent office watches and they have some good outdoor/sport watches and a runner/triathlon line. Recently, they have released a number of models featuring nicer builds and finishes that are often priced in the $200 range. They also have a made in America line. Most versions have excellent lume to read the dial at night. Overall, they appeal to people wanting a fantastic value watch without spending much money.
BRAND SPOTLIGHT – BLUSHARK STRAPS
We interview Joe Scarpati from Blueshark Straps about his origins, the best selling straps and more. Read on to see more of their straps.
5 FUN CUSTOM APPLE WATCH BANDS ON ETSY
If you’re looking to replace your Apple Watch band but don’t like the looks of those prices in the Apple store, check out Etsy. Its a great place to source some fantastic styles that aren’t going to necessarily break the bank. We’ve found five fun bands for you to check out, links are in the captions of each picture.
BRAND SPOTLIGHT- DALUCA STRAPS
Name: DaLuca StrapsWebsite: Amazon StorefrontLocation: San Diego,CA What: We handcraft watch straps for just about every brand out there and have a line of leather goods as well that we design and manufacture in house. These items include wallets, belts, handbags, keychains, dog leashes and collars as well as some custom one off items. What materials do you use in your bands? We mainly use various leathers that range from most of the Horween line of leathers such as Shell Cordovan, Chromexcel, Dublin, Essex, latigo, etc all the way to reclaiming vintage ammunition pouches from the Swiss and French armies. Sometimes we incorporate various new and vintage canvas materials into the straps as well as offering rubber, nylon and Perlon straps too. What are some of your best selling straps? Our leather military straps are definitely one of the crowd favorites as well as our one of a kind handmade leather watch straps that we…
SMALL BRAND SPOTLIGHT – FREDDIE MATARA
Watch strap making isn’t just limited to major brands and big shops; across the world there are small strapmakers making a living designing unique and custom straps. Our small brand spotlight series interviews these strapmakers to see what makes them tick. Today the spotlight is on Freddie Matara and his incredible cuff-style leather watch straps custom made to fit a watch face. Name: Freddie MataraWebsite: freddiematara.com (Etsy Shop) Location: New York City MetroWhat: I specialize in wrist wear. Specifically, custom sizing and design of wrist cuffs, cuff watches and watch straps. I also make belts, Guitar straps and other small accessories. How did you get into watch strap making? As a kid, I always enjoyed covering my wrists as I have very slight wrists. It made me feel powerful and less self conscious. It started with terry cloth wristbands and evolved into leather. I got tired of buying girl’s cuffs…
WATCH STRAP OF THE DAY – WOMEN’S APPLE WATCH STRAP BY OLEKSYNPRANNYK
Today’s strap is from a small custom strapmaker in North Carolina, OleksynPrannyk. It is a custom Apple watch strap with a double band. Like most 3rd-party watch straps, it comes with the hardware to easily put it on your Apple watch. Check out their Etsy shop or their website for more great custom work including other leather goods like dopp kits, groomsmen bags and of course, watch rolls and watch straps in a variety of leathers for most watches. You can also find more strapmakers on our Custom Strap Maker page. Also check out our other guides: Tools for Replacing A Watch Strap Or BandHow to Pick Out The Right Watch Band For Your Watch5 Tips For Picking Out A New Watch Band Or StrapThe Complete Guide to the Orient Bambino Dress WatchSeiko SNK Watch GuideHow to Fix A Broken Loop On Your Watch StrapBasic Bands 2018 Watch Strap And…
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Watch Strap Color Guide & Inspiration
We get a lot of questions here at the Basic Bands watch strap blog, and often that question is about which watch strap color goes with which color watch dial or type of watch. If you’re wondering about that too, we’re here to help. It’s not possible to list every watch type and style and the colors and types of straps that go well with them, so we’ve started Pinterest boards to give you more inspiration. Other sources of watch strap ideas include Reddit’s r/Watchbands and Instagram.If you don’t use Pinterest, you can find images by clicking on tags in the sidebar or using the Inspiration category at the top of the page.
Black Friday and Holiday Sales 2021
Here is a running list of holiday sales for 2021. Keep in mind some sales will end before the end of the year. We are an affiliate for some but not all of the merchants below. Watch Strap Websites This holiday season, consider purchasing a custom watch strap on Etsy, or check out our page of custom strap makers here. Barton Bands 25% off code BFCM. (Also on Amazon if you want Prime Shipping)Crown & Buckle Black Friday saleCheapest NATO StrapsB&R Bands Black Friday Sale coupon code bf2021 StrapsCo’s Black Friday Sale.DaLuca Straps. Thanksgiving week sale. Watch Gecko Black Friday Sale. Watches: Amazon Amazon Black Friday dealsTimexCitizen or Citizen WebsiteCasio Seiko or Seiko WebsiteFossil or Fossil WebsiteInvictaMichael KorsMontblanc or websiteNixon or website Jomashop DealsWatchStationWatch Hut (UK)Watchshop (UK)Macy’sKohlsCrown and Caliber (pre-owned watches) Check out our article on safe places to buy watches here. Watch Accessories: WOLF Amazon store. Also, check out…
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We are an Amazon, Jomashop & Etsy affiliate. We are not paid to promote watch or watch strap companies.
