Leather Watch bands, as the most widely used material in replacement watch straps, its natured pattern, comfortable and skin-friendly character make them stay in the top place in watch band over centuries, up to 80% watch use leather as their first straps option.
How Long Do Leather Watch Bands Last?
Well, like everything else, it depends. The material it made of and the conditions you put the strap through will determine the longevity. Even an inexpensive leather strap could last for years when it was taken good care of, like cool, dry and low humidity climates. Conversely, the best leather will also succumb to sweat and humidity quickly. On the other hand, the way how you wear it? If you wear it when do hard work or sport occasion, and if you wear it every day it will go more quickly. People who personally like a distressed leather look, must keep it clean and dry, put some oil will be also helpful. After that, I make sure that I only wear leather straps when conditions aren't extreme. If you are going to sweat up a storm, you’d better get a metal stainless steel straps, a nylon NATO straps or a rubber strap.
Besides the factor of the material it uses and the way you wear, the buckle also affects its lifetime. On average, a strap with a butterfly push buckle should last longer than a strap with pin buckle.
The quality of construction and the backing materials, as well as the thickness of the strap material will all have a bearing on the wear. From a skill craftsman standpoint, softer leathers, like ostrich, will wear quicker than harder or more durable leathers.
Natural | Thin Horween Leather Watch Band | Hemsut
$25.99
So, what kind of watch band is more durable? 1 is the best, 4 is the last.
1, Metal watch bands
2, Woven nylon or canvas watch bands
Very funny, right? Leather watch bands is the last position in durable list, but it doesn’t change its situation that people keep take watch band as their first option. It’s color and pattern make them never stay out of fashion and never stay away from classic. I personally like to keep leather watch band and silicone watch band and exchange them by different occasion, because I think leather watch band are the most awesome business style option and silicone straps are the most comfortable option I ever had. Do silicone watch band last longer? yes, it’s acceptable for me. In the list we notice that metal watch bands are the most durable straps. Are metal watch bands better than leather? It depends, in Winter, I don’t think you want to wear a metal band.
What leather straps if the most durable? 1 is the best, 4 is the last.
1, Alligator grain watch bands
2, Calfskin leather watch bands
3, Sheep, pig, ostrich leather watch bands
4, Artificial leather watch bands
Without any doubt, Alligator grain watch bands are the most durable watch material in various leather options. it does have other leather better than alligators, but we are talking about the widely-used material. Coming to the question how long does leather watch bands last, a good alligator watchband can last 2-3 years, maybe more if it’s taken good care of. Other leather watch bands should be around 6 months to 1 year if you always wear the same straps in daily time. An artificial leather watch band would break down in 1-3 months.
Going for comfortable of the leather straps, a thinner and soft leather can bring you good feeling when wear it, but it doesn’t make the straps last longer. For example, sheep and pig leather is softer than alligator and calfskin, but most of them, alligator and calfskin is more durable than them, especially in sweat or strong activities condition. When you find a replaced watch bands for a luxury watch, you’d better choose alligator gain or calfskin material. I always take croc leather watch band as my first option for my Vacheron Constantin 47192/000G-9504, the perfect 22mm watch band can last 3 years under taken good care of condition.
Can you swim with a leather watch strap?
Nowadays, the tech of watch waterproof improves a lot, lots of people have at least one dive watch in their collection. But the question is, can we swim or shower with leather watch straps? The answer is you’d better don’t. No matter what kind of water, swim, rain, or shower, it will shorter the lifetime of leather watch band. Water will break inside of strap glue slowly, and even the strap still keep it in shape by the stitches, the head of the strap could detach after the glue breakdown and ruin the whole strap. Moreover, Leather will mildew if it doesn’t dry up.
How do I stop my watch strap from smelling?
After you start to wear a leather watch band, you will notice that your pretty leather straps smell really bad, especially after it get wet. And it will get worse after you wear it to the gym and then stay in the high temperatures area. How do we stop it?
1, Avoid wearing your leather watch bands from strenuous activity;
2, Avoid your leather watch bands get wet and try to keep it dry up;
3, Find a replaced watch band like metal or rubber bands when you need to work out
4, Take it off when doing housework. Chemicals from cleaning products will faster its breakdown time.
5. Prevent it from cologne, perfume or creams directly.
How to maintain your leather watch bands?
Well, what should we do when our leather straps get wet? And how to care the leather straps in daily life?
- Clean it only with cold water and use a soft cloth to dry it completely. Remember not to use any strong sources of heat or put it under the sun.
- Use the same cream or oil that you polish your shoes and SOFA on the watch strap, make sure you are using a neutral cream (no color).
- Add some exchange watch band. Find some quick-release watch band which lets you easily replace the straps according to different outfit, and extend the strap’s service time.
- Add one more hole with a hole puncher if your strap is too tight. A suitable size is not just making you comfortable but also release stress on the straps and extend its lifespan.
- Choose a suitable material watch band according to your lifestyle. If your life or work condition is hot and always do strenuous activity, choose a stronger strap,like alligator grain watch bands, canvas watch bands or calfskin watch bands, you’d better not choose sheep or ostrich leather.
