Other than the battery, one of the first things that needs repaired on a watch is the watch strap itself. Even though it looks simple, these can be a pain to replace and finding one that fits both your arm and the way you use your watch may be deceptively hard.

When you need to buy a new watch strap, think about how you intend to use the watch. Is it for formal occasions? Casual ones? Or is it for braving the great outdoors? The strap of your watch should always match your personality and style. The band should also be of high enough quality to resist daily wear and tear and yet be lightweight and comfortable to wear.

One of the biggest hangups about replacing a watch strap is finding one that is the right size. To size your watch strap you need to look at both the length and width. To find the width of the strap, measure from pin hole to pin hole on the watch. Don’t measure the strap’s width at its middle point, as this may be slightly wider or narrower than where the strap actually hooks into the watch.

The second aspect of strap size is the length. There are two ways of doing this. The easiest by far is to measure your current strap. However, if your strap is broken, lost, or you’re otherwise unable to measure it you can also measure the circumference of your wrist by wrapping a string around it. Then use a ruler to measure the string. However, don’t forget to subtract how large the face of your watch is for this method!

The next thing you need to figure out is what type of watch band you want. You can get bands may of a variety of different materials and metals, and they come for different uses – formal occasions, casual wear, and athletic pursuits.

Watch Straps for Formal Occasions

If you have a designer watch for formal occasions you have several different options for watch bands. Straps made of gold, gold plating, silver, and titanium are the most popular options for this purpose.

Gold watch bands are usually reserved for luxury or classic watches. This is because in addition to being very expensive, gold is also a soft metal. It will not hold up to daily use and may stress and scratch easily. For this reason, you will not find many people using a gold watch band for everyday use. However, gold also carries value, so even if your watch breaks or can no longer be worn, it will still be worth the value of the gold used to make it. Another popular option is gold plating. Gold plated watches have a cheaper metal under a layer of gold. This gives them the appearance of a gold watch, but they cost a fraction of the price and will not stress as easily as a fully gold watch.

Silver is also a popular option for formal watches. It is not as expensive as gold, but it is also not as soft. This makes it more durable and able to withstand the pressures of daily use better than gold. However, you must be careful to keep good care of your silver watch strap because it may tarnish with repeated use. Silver also retains value as gold does, giving your watch more intrinsic value.

The final material for formal watch bands is titanium. Titanium is light and durable and has a very high strength to weight ratio. This makes it a great metal to create watches out of. However, it is also a very expensive material. Titanium looks good and also holds up to daily use better than silver or gold.

One very popular metal to use for casual watches is stainless steel.  Stainless steel is strong, doesn’t corrode as easily as silver, and doesn’t easily stain.  Along with titanium, it’s one of the ideal materials to use to create a watch.  Because of this, stainless steel is the most common metal used in watches.

Another good option for casual watches is a leather strap.  Leather is cheap, and comes in many different colors to match your different outfits.  Leather is more comfortable to wear than many metals and buckles allow you to easily adjust the size of your straps, but it also has several downsides.  Leather stains easily in water and the rain it stresses easily, making the strap not as long lasting as metal ones.

You have two choices for straps for sports watches, rubber/resin bands, and webbed bands.  Both of these are designed for outdoor use and are tough, durable, and water resistant, making it ideal for whatever adventure life takes you on.