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Basic Bands Watch Strap Fashion

5 TIPS FOR PICKING A NEW WATCH BAND OR STRAP

April 10, 2017 by Basic Bands

Tag Heuer Carrera Watch on Brown Hirsch Speed Alligator Strap
Tag Heuer Carrera Watch on a Brown Hirsch Speed Alligator Strap. Photo courtesy of Watch Obsession.

This is one of our guides on watch straps and watches. For more guides, including guides on watch band style and safe places to buy a watch online, check out our guides page.

1. Get the right size

Measure the width between your watch lugs (where the strap attaches to the watch) to make sure you’re buying the right size strap. A strap too big will bunch up and pop off or won’t fit on. A strap too small will have an unsightly gap or an annoying shifting motion as your watch moves separately from your strap.

Lug width is measured in millimeters, which is why you’ll see sizes like 22mm and 24mm on websites. Get out a ruler and measure the distance between your lugs before you buy. You can also look up your lug widths on the manufacturer’s website or Google. Even numbers are popular, odd numbers are harder to find.

2. Get the right length

Most watch straps come in a standard length that will fit most wrists. If your wrists are very big or very small, you might want to consider getting or shorter or longer strap. Measure the size of your wrist with a soft tape measure or wrap a piece of paper around your wrist and then lay it flat and measure it.

Watch straps lengths are commonly measured in millimeters, just like the width. Websites that cater to Americans will sometimes show sizes in inches instead. You’ll also commonly see two sizes mentioned right next to each other, for example, 120/75mm. These measurements are for each half of the watch strap that you’re buying. The smaller size is usually the buckle end, while the longer size is the is the end with the holes punched along it.

3. Get the right tools

Watch straps are removed with a spring bar tool. Cheap ones cost around $10 on Amazon and make it a lot easier to get your old strap off and your new strap on. In a pinch, you can use a small screwdriver or a knife. You’ll also need a soft cloth for your watch to rest on so it doesn’t get scratched. If your watch has no strap on at all, it might be missing the spring bars. You can buy new ones for a few dollars, although a few strap companies include spring bars for free. The bars are also measured in millimeters and will need to be bought to size.

Some watch strap companies sell quick-release straps, which don’t use a spring bar tool. Instead, there is a little knob on the underside of the strap that you use to compress the spring bar. Examples include Barton Bands and Carty.

4. Check the hardware

Rarely, some watch straps are sold without buckles, so check the listing before you buy. You don’t want to end up buying a nice strap only to find out you must also buy a buckle to go along with it. On the other hand, you might want to replace the standard buckle with a new one that matches your case. Most replacement watch strap hardware is brushed or stainless steel, so if you have a watch case that is neither of those two colors, you might want to look into getting matching hardware somewhere else. Common other colors include gold, rose gold and black.

5. Get the right material

Check the listing for clues as to what material the watch strap is made from or email the strap company and ask. That crocodile strap you just thought you bought could actually be calf leather stamped or embossed to match common crocodile patterns. If the exact material matters to you, check on forums and watch websites for trusted strap suppliers who are known to use specific types of materials. If you’re in the market for a top-notch leather or exotic strap like crocodile, lizard, stingray & alligator, we have a list of custom strap makers with good reputations on our list of custom watch strap makers page.

Lastly, we have collected popular strap options on our Amazon Store page. Basically, if it has a ton of 5 star reviews and a good price, you’ll find it on there. We’ve got lists for NATO straps, leather, silicone, canvas, & Apple Watch straps.

The watch in the image is a Tag Heuer Carrera Watch on Brown Hirsch Speed Alligator Strap.

If you’re interested in more watch strap fashion, check out our other guides:

  • How to Safely Purchase a Watch Online
  • List of reputable watch strap companies & brands
  • Tools for Replacing A Watch Strap Or Band
  • How to Pick Out The Right Watch Band For Your Watch
  • 5 Tips For Picking Out A New Watch Band Or Strap
  • The Complete Guide to the Orient Bambino Dress Watch
  • Seiko SNK Watch Guide
  • Seiko Presage Cocktail Time Guide
  • How to Fix A Broken Loop On Your Watch Strap

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Filed Under: Guides Tagged With: blue dial, dress watch, guides, lug width, strap hardware

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Welcome to Basic Bands!

  • We hope you enjoy our blog on watch strap fashion. Here are some places to start:
  • List of Watch Strap Companies
    List of Custom Watch Strap Makers
  • Interviews with Watch Strap Makers & Brands
  • Primer on Watch Strap Style | Style Inspiration | Watch strap examples by color & type
  • Tools for changing a strap | Fixing a broken strap loop
  • Guide to safely purchasing a watch online.
  • Watch Guides: Orient Bambino | Seiko SNK | Seiko Presage.
  • Shop our Amazon recommendations | Inexpensive NATO straps on Amazon

 

See our watch guides

Brown suede rally tropic watch strap by Maverick Custom Handmade

HOW TO FIX A BROKEN LOOP ON YOUR WATCH STRAP

Most watch bands have one or two loops on the strap to keep the bracelet or band from flopping around on your wrist. Known by different names like hoop, retainer, loop, these loops are officially called “keepers,” and they can sometimes fall off and break. Leather or cloth keepers will disintegrate through wear and tear from moisture or sweat, while rubber ones can become brittle and snap.
The good news is that you can fix a broken watch hoop in several ways. The easiest way is to buy a replacement loop on Amazon and put it on the strap. Rubber loops can sometimes be stretched over the buckle, but for most replacement loops you must disconnect the strap or buckle to get the new loop on. Important: make sure you buy the correct width loop, measured in millimeters.

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THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE ORIENT BAMBINO DRESS WATCH

Simply put, the Orient Bambino is probably the best affordable dress watch out there. A fantastic option for your first watch, it takes a movement from a reliable watch company and puts it in an incredible looking package. Earlier generations can be bought for just over $100, while the most popular style from the new generation will be closer to $300 (although it frequently goes on sale).

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Watches make good gifts for birthdays, weddings and special occasions like graduations. But if you don’t purchase a watch often, it’s hard to know where to look first for the best deal, the best warranty & a guarantee of authenticity. Most people find that the online watch purchasing experience is fragmented and fraught with fakes and high prices. This article explains how to pick an online watch store.

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A common question we get is where to buy watch straps, who is reputable, and how to choose among the different options. On this page, we have listed the major strap companies and brands, divided by category. Most places ship internationally, but we have listed out companies that are outside the U.S. if you’re looking […]

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THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE SEIKO SNK WATCH LINE

The Seiko 5 line of SNK watches are highly recommended as an inexpensive way to get into automatics. The watches are great for kids as a first watch and an excellent casual watch for adults. It meets all the check boxes for a good looking watch from a great brand at a great price.

Kids (and parents) will love the sub-$100 price, the good design and the ability to mix and match watch straps. It can be a first watch for a kid or a nice watch for a teenager that can go with a lot of outfits.

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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.

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THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO THE SEIKO PRESAGE “COCKTAIL TIME” LINE OF WATCHES

Welcome to the Basic Bands guide to the Seiko Presage “Cocktail Time” line of watches. These watches, nicknamed after the elaborate cocktails fashioned by Shinobu Ishigaki, are an incredibly popular line of dress watches from Seiko. Combining the reliability and affordability of a Seiko with some amazingly gorgeous dials, these watches have become one of the most popular affordable dress watches in the market.

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BASIC BANDS 2018 WATCH STRAP & ACCESSORIES GIFT GUIDE

Hello everyone, and welcome to the 2018 edition of the Basic Bands Watch Strap & Accessories Gift Guide! We’re here to help you find that perfect someone (or yourself) the perfect gift this holiday season. We’ve divided the guide up into sections, so skip ahead to the one that interests you most. First we have […]

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So you’re looking for a strap? Maybe the person you’re shopping for already has a nice watch and you’d love to match it with a nice strap. Or maybe you’re buying a watch and you’re looking for strap ideas to complement the stock band. Or maybe you just got a new watch and you’d like to spice it up with a new leather or NATO strap. Well, you’ve come to the right place. We’re Basic Bands, and we loooove watch straps.

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alligator apple watch bauhaus bespoke black black dial blue blue dial breitling brown brown leather canvas chronograph custom watch strap companies diver dress watch exotic Geckota green green dial grey guides hamilton horween IWC leather leather band nato omega Omega Speedmaster Panerai perlon rally strap rolex rubber seiko Seiko diver Seiko SNK shop skx speedmaster thick timex tudor white dial
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alligator apple watch bauhaus bespoke black black dial blue blue dial breitling brown brown leather canvas chronograph custom watch strap companies diver dress watch exotic Geckota green green dial grey guides hamilton horween IWC leather leather band nato omega Omega Speedmaster Panerai perlon rally strap rolex rubber seiko Seiko diver Seiko SNK shop skx speedmaster thick timex tudor white dial

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