The strap of a watch holds it on your wrist and is most typically identified by its material. The primary materials most straps are made from are Metal, Leather, Rubber and Nylon or Plastic. Most watch straps come in either one or two pieces with a clasp or buckle of some kind holding the ends together.
The predominate styles of straps include:
Metal bands
Link or Bracelet Style Bands typically come fitted to the watch case with special end pieces that flow seamlessly into the case design. There are 6 fundamental styles with variations of each.
Oyster – This classic band style is made of three links with the center link being thicker. It is a very sturdy and secure band.
President – Similar to the Oyster but has more links that are thinner. The president style is more formal but less sturdy.
Jubilee – This band is comprised of three thin center links with thicker links on the outside. Often with a different color or metal used on the inside links. Looks best with gold center links with silver outside links.
Engineer – Typically the Engineer band is a thick metal band with 5 equal sized links. Often the links are angled or tapered at the end where they join to give the band some depth. Has a very industrial look to it.
Beads-of-Rice – Is like the Engineer band above but each link is rounded and looks like a large grain of rice. The band is often 8 or more links wide (depending on lug width) and has straight end pieces that fit between the lugs of the watch. Another version of the beads-of-rice bracelet is cap the ends of the beads with a Oyster like link, this looks like a jubilee bracelet put with a wider center section with smaller links in it.
Mesh or Milanese – These metal straps are reminiscent of chain mail with small interlocking metal loops. They can very in fineness with Shark Mesh being the largest and the Milanese style being very fine.
Leather bands
Leather bands are the classic band and probably the oldest style of mens watch straps. As the pocket watch transitioned to the wrist, leather strips where the obvious choice for holding the watch in place. Leather straps come in a variety of styles.
Two Piece – The classic two-piece leather watch strap comes in many sizes, thickness’s, colors and leather types. Typical dress watches are often on alligator or crocodile while more sporty watches being on a thick cow hide. Leathers can be died any number of colors and can come with contrasting and fanciful stitching.
Ridged or Double Ridged – By putting a stuffing or padding in between two pieces of leather you create a mounded or double ridged watch strap. Most often seen on sports and dress watches, these traps create a more substantial and sportier look without using thick leather.
Rally – This strap style is basically perforated leather, often with larger holes in the leather near the case of the watch. Typically seen on racing (chronograph style) watches it is intended to allow for airflow around the strap to avoid sweeting or chaffing.
Aviator/Pilot – Typically made from heavy leather, these straps often have one or two large rivets near the watch lugs. Originating from the pilot watches used during World War 2, these straps tend to be longer so they can be worn over the pilot’s jacket.
Bund or Three Piece – The Bund strap is the same as two-piece watch strap except it includes a piece of leather (the bund) that goes under the watch case. Also developed during World War 2 for pilots the bund strap was intended to protect the wearers wrist from extreme weather conditions as well as protect the watch from the wearers sweat (particularly important considering these early watches were not exactly waterproof).
Rubber bands
Rubber bands or sometimes called Tropic bands after the first company to introduce them to the market. The brand Tropic is still around, check it out here. Today you can get rubber straps in all colors and sizes. Rubber straps are known for being comfortable, water proof and stylish. Some rubber straps even are scented, most commonly with vanilla. Another famous rubber watch strap brand is Isofrane, whose ladder like structure is considered the pinnacle of rubber dive straps. Gear Patrol has a great article on rubber straps that is worth checking out, here.
Plastic/Nylon bands
Plastic watch bands are much like rubber ones except typically much stiffer. One of my favorite plastic watch bands are the ones that come with Casio’s G-Shock line. I find these plastic band extremely comfortable and they work great with the big brash nature of the G-Shocks. Nylon straps on the other hand are a completely different animal.
NATO – The NATO band originally came from the British Ministry of Defense Standard in 1973 and for a soldier to get one he needed to complete a G1098 form. They are still called G10 straps as well as NATO straps due to being issued to NATO troops. The idea of a NATO strap is simply a strip of nylon that passes through the spring bars on the watch case. All NATO bands have an extra strap that goes under the main strap and connects to the main strap with a ring. This protects the watch from falling off if one of the spring bars fails. NATO’s come in 3-ring or 5-ring versions with larger heavy-duty rings or smaller squared style rings. They come in all types of colors and even come in leather.
Zulu – The Zulu strap is exactly like the NATO except it is a single strip of nylon or leather that passes through the lugs. The Zulu is actually a new version of the NATO and has no connection to the military.
Perlon – The Perlon strap is like a Zulu strap but made of braided nylon. The distinguishing feature of a Perlon strap is that the pin of the buckle goes anywhere on the strap so there are no holes and the buckle is comprised of a simple one-piece ladder system.
For more about straps check out these great guides on Primer Magazine and The GentleManual. Also checkout my favorite strap retailers Crown&Buckle and StrapeCode.
Clasps and Buckles
The last piece of the strap puzzle is the closure mechanism. There is basically two types of closures employed in watch straps.
The Deployment Clasp – Is a folding metal buckle that is typically found on metal bracelets and sometimes on leather straps. Considered more secure than a typical buckle clasp the deployment clasp is unfortunately much harder to adjust. Modern diver versions of the deployment clasp often have a sliding mechanism so the length of the band can be easily adjusted.
The Tang Buckle – Also know as the Ardillon buckle, is much like a belt buckle, where one end of the strap is slipped through a buckle and secured with a pin. These classic buckles are comfortable, easy to adjust and put on, but less secure than deployment clasps.