About a year ago I got an Apple Watch. It’s been great and I’ve liked it a lot. The key to a life of happiness with the Apple Watch is not to expect it to be more than it is. It is a watch – not a computer or a phone. If you treat it as a watch that will also give you notifications, track fitness, give you customizable information at a glance, act as an alarm clock, and allow you to use Apple Pay, then it is great. If you are expecting to be able to use apps and search for information then it will be disappointing. It’s just too slow and clumsy for those things, but that’s why you have an iPhone in your pocket, right?
One of the coolest aspects of the watch, though, is the ability to quickly and easily change the band, allowing you to change the watch’s look at a whim. You don’t have to be stuck with a boring black rubber band all the time. As often as you like, you can add color and different styles – matching your outfit or mood and basically getting a new watch with every change. It can be a problem, though, because it can be addicting. And expensive. I now have six bands, so yeah, I have a problem. But it’s fun and really does give you a lot of options to change things up on a regular basis.
I started out with the band that came with the watch. The black sports band – made from something called fluoroelastomer. It’s soft and lightweight, but has this weird way to clasp it – which you get used to pretty quickly. It’s a perfectly acceptable band that comes in a bunch of colors, and is one of the less expensive bands Apple sells – coming in at $49. After a while I was yearning for something more, though – something in leather and something more substantial…
The second band I decided to try out was The Strap from Nomad. I really liked the look and thickness of it and was able to order it during a pre-sale, which enabled me to get it at the discounted price of $119, down from $15o. Apple’s leather bands are $150, but this one seemed thicker, heavier and more rugged. It comes unfinished and gets darker and oilier the more you wear it. It’s been great – except for the little problem of it falling apart a few times. After a while the metal pieces that slide into the watch came undone when the screws that hold it all together came loose. I put it all back together after the first time it happened and tried to tighten the screws as hard as I could, but a month later it came apart again. I got lucky and was able to catch the watch before it hit the ground both times, but now I was spooked. I contacted the company and they sent me some new parts and a little screwdriver and told me to squirt a dab of super glue into the holes where the screws go – which I did. So far it’s been holding, but I haven’t worn it as much since. I got thinking that maybe there is something to Apple quality and that I should stick with the Apple bands going forward.
So my next band was an Apple band, and I decided on expensive and high quality. I went for the leather loop in black. I really like the leather and the magnetic closure, where I can adjust it to any tightness I want. Now I want one in blue, but at $150 I’ve been putting it off…
Then a few months ago Apple released a bunch of new woven nylon bands in seven colors. These are lightweight and at the lower cost of $49, so I got a few. I started out with the black one, but then added two more. The colors are hard to explain. One of them is white, but it’s not really white – it’s more of a grayish silver with white trim. The other one is a greenish blue color with orange trim. They are inexpensive like the sports band, but have the traditional buckle clasp like the more expensive bands. I also like how the base of the band that slides into the watch is the color of the band’s trim which brings some color to watch itself – which is cool.
Well, that’s my collection for now. I’ve been switching them up about once a week, except for the sports band which I haven’t worn in a long time. I keep going back and forth on getting the blue leather loop next…
Yeah, I have a problem.
