[Rowhyd]

Given the choice, do you prefer a strap or a bracelet on your watch? ie. which would you *generally* prefer to wear?

Essentially, are you a strap man or a bracelet man? (Or woman, as the case may be! ):-d And why?

I favour bracelets, personally. Not only do I think they generally look best, I find them easier and more efficient. Especially expandable bracelets, which you can just slip on and off easily. No clasps etc. Those are the types of bracelets I'd almost always go for. ;-)

What are your feelings on this?

 

[Doodler]

I favour bracelets, personally. Not only do I think they generally look best, I find them easier and more efficient. Especially expandable bracelets, which you can just slip on and off easily. No clasps etc. Those are the types of bracelets I'd almost always go for. ;-)

What are your feelings on this?

I'm going to hazard a guess and say you don't have hairy wrists. :think: My feelings are that Speidel owes me a few ounces worth of hair over the years. :-d

Bracelets in general are more comfortable when they have more links so they flex easier.

 

[Rowhyd]

Actually, I DO have pretty hairy wrists! But I find bracelets hardly ever tug at my hairs. And if they ever do, I don't tend to mind.

 

[panamamike]

I like straps with deployant clasp. A nice leather strap is just more comfortable. The bracelets tend to pull my hairs. I actually don't have many, but it's certainly not pleasant.

That being said, I like a bracelet for the right occasions.

Regards,

Mike

 

[ZASKAR36]

I like both. But specifically, it depends on the watch itself. If I feel it looks better on bracelet, I'll go bracelet and vice versa

 

[GlennO]

I wear both. I think I have more fun customising with straps. Got to be decent leather though, not those rubbish nylon ones.

 

[phunky_monkey]

I'm the same, wearing whichever suits the particular watch the most.

I went through a big strap phase, but as it gets quite hot here and my wrist tends to expand a lot I've found I'm gravitating more towards watches that have a bracelet as an option, and also those that have a quick release type strap changing system. I'll keep my Pro Crono on the bracelet as I think this is the best look for it, and the LW's will switch depending on the time of year and occasion.

 

[Rachdanon]

Bracelet for work, rubber strap for weekends and casual occasions. Either case the bracelet or rubber strap has to match the watch. Extreme eg. Rubber with a fine dress watch is a no go.

 

[HPoirot]

Great thread!

I started out as a strap man (sounds kinky), but only with deployant, and i did not like bracelet watches.

But then i travel around often in my job, and i tend to perspire easily and leather straps become too expensive to replace. That's why i switched to bracelets.

Now my collection is mostly bracelets, with more on the way.

 

[AD6MJ]

A stainless steel bracelet is much easier to clean and holds up better than a a strap.

 

[Watchbreath]

Expansion bands.

 

[Roller.959]

Love both.
Alligator / leather for dress.
Bracelet for sport.

Brown leather for barefoot strolls on the beach with my jeans rolled up, my white shirt untucked, my beautiful girl on my right arm, my left hand holding a leather leash attached to my not-too-big-but-still-manly-sized dog, while photographers just happen to document these completely natural middle-high income moments for a watch ad.

 

[tirod]

I've pretty much been a one watch at a time guy until lately. Most were bracelet, and they were durable, kept clean, and were easy to keep that way.

I tried the commando straps w/velcro in the day, by the end of a hot August down south people knew you were inbound before they saw you. Nothing kills the smell. It's still like that, you can get silver in your socks or a biocide, but the strap makers seem clueless. And they aren't always comfortable, plus are awkward to put on.

I've tried factory rubber and a Maratac silicone, which I liked - but they all eventually fail.

An oyster or engineer has pretty much always worked well in some horrible conditions, year round, and keeps doing it for decades. The latest will be a SKX007 with Super Engineer, solid curved ends. It will likely get a worn patina quickly due to my work environment and get "vintage" pretty quickly. Not a problem, just step over to the shelf, grab a 3M brown grit pad and buff it out. Done.

Not even Electric Contact cleaner will kill a smelly Zulu.

 

[WnS]

I prefer bracelets slightly more but after having a collection full of metallic sheen, I decided some straps would be good for variety.

 

[Seele]

A long time ago pretty much all my watches were on bracelets, but they did a pretty good job shredding my shirt cuffs. Nowadays most of them are on straps, especially the thin dress watches. There are a few which look better on bracelets so I put bracelets on them. Say for instance, I have a 1970s Rodania diver style (still looking for its bezel) which is pretty much a dress watch by today's standard, but has 19mm lugs. I wore it for a fair while on a strap which worked out fine, but I chanced upon a 19mm solid link steel bracelet and put it on, and it feels quite good - even though the length of links coming down from below "6" is a bit long so it needs to be tweaked - so I think I am keeping it on, as long as I do not wear long sleeves.

 

[spyderco10]

i like bracelets because they are hygienic and you can clean them. leather gets nasty from body oils and sweat over a short period of time. i've always thought it gross when i see people wearing filthy stained leather bands.

 

[Raza]

I've only started to wear bracelets again recently, but I am a strap guy. A bracelet always looks one way. But you can take a watch from the office to the restaurant and to the bar later by using different straps.

 

[peakay]

Until a few month's ago I would have said bracelets but I now have a couple of my diver style watches on silicon rubber straps with deployment clasps and I am finding these more comfortable; no hard edges, they flex with your wrist and don't snag your wrist hair.

I'm not a fan of traditional buckle straps, too fiddly to put on and you're much more likely to drop your watch whilst trying to do so; much better with a deployment clasp!

 

[JuanAlberto]

Mostly bracelets but I like straps too.

 

[MZhammer]

I generally use straps for my dress pieces and bracelets for my sport pieces.