Which Strap Material is Best for Your Watch?

We all have an individual style - those little considered touches we add to our outfits whether it’s a favourite piece of jewellery or a particular colour we gravitate towards. Choosing what watch strap is best for your look can add a great finishing touch to the external representation of your personality - after all, that’s what good style is all about; it's an extension of yourself for all the world to see and enjoy.

Maybe your style is practical and suited to an outdoor lifestyle. Or maybe you’re incredibly fashion forward, where no two outfits remain the same as you go about your month. Whatever category you fall into, this short article should help you make the right choice when choosing the best watch strap.

In This Guide

What Watch Strap is Best for You?

Before you choose the best watch strap for you, you need to ask yourself what you’ll be doing when wearing the watch. Is your watch mostly for decoration? Then maybe something classic and fashionable is ideal. Will you be wearing the watch while enjoying an active and exciting lifestyle - hitting the gym, surfing the waves or exploring the depths in your scuba gear? Then a strap that’s durable, easy to clean and comfortable is a must-have. Maybe your personal style is laid-back? Well, we have lots of casual styles to suit you too. Let’s take a look at the quintessential watch strap materials we have to offer.

Leather: Classic and fashionable

Leather is naturally comfortable and durable so leather watch straps are an instant classic. We have timeless designs to suit many watch types, from dress to sport and luxury to fashion.

You’ll be hard pressed to find an outfit that couldn’t benefit from being paired with a leather watch strap. Leather is a versatile material, available in a selection of finishes including embossed prints, smooth and patent. And our silicone lined and waterproof leather watch straps mean you can enjoy them whether you’re at the office or hitting the gym!

Leather is an organic material which wears well over time but some extra TLC might be required to keep your strap in tip-top condition especially if you’re wearing it day in and day out. Our leather watch strap guide has the dos and don'ts on maintaining leather watch straps.

Metal: Durable and easy to care for

Ranging from the sleek to the sturdy, the durability of our metal watch straps is one of this material’s greatest strengths. We use stainless steel to create all of our metal straps, which makes them water resistant and non-absorbent, unlike their nylon and leather counterparts.

They’re practical, comfortable in hot weather and remarkably easy to keep clean: all you’ll need is a microfibre cloth and some elbow grease. As long as you avoid using anything abrasive and make sure you get right in between the metal links, then keeping everything from Milanese mesh to a chunky dive watch strap in tip-top condition is a doddle.

Although they’re made from stainless steel, it doesn’t mean you have to resign yourself to cold metal grey. PVD plating allows us to provide gold metal watch straps as well as rose gold and black.

Nylon: Sporty and comfortable

If you live an active lifestyle, you want a watch strap that can keep up. You probably want your strap to be as distraction free as possible - so comfort is of the utmost importance. NATO watch straps are a great solution, as they’re light, dependable and even stop your watch case from making contact with your skin.

Designed with sports and the military in mind, hook and loop straps are designed to stay put even in the most challenging conditions. Much like an ankle strap on a surfboard, it takes a lot of work before one of these straps comes loose.

If you’re putting your body through its paces, then it’s to be expected that you’ll be subjecting your watch strap to the same extremes. Cordura is a treated nylon with water and tear resistant properties and we think it's one of the best watch band materials for working out. We've lined Cordura with water resistant leather to create a performance strap that's robust and looks great too.

Silicone: Robust and casual

There's not much you can throw at our silicone straps - the material is up for just about anything! The flexibility and softness make these water resistant watch straps comfortable as well as durable. Not only that, but cleaning is as easy as a quick wipe with a damp cloth after a tough day and they’re dust resistant as well.

We have lightweight styles with contrast stitching to rival our leather watch straps as well as bright and bold colours available to suit sports watches and casualwear.

Vegan leather: Animal-friendly and innovative

Our watch straps are now available in materials that are animal-friendly! We have taken faux leather to the next level with our vegan watch straps, utilising unusual materials such as apple skin/PU, Pi ñatex and Portuguese cork leather. For the full rundown on our vegan collection, including which materials are vegan and their benefits read our vegan watch strap guide.

Find the Best Watch Straps with Condor Straps

We began our love affair with watch straps way back in 1939, so have lots of experience in making sure the best watch straps make their way to the right people and help them curate the perfect look. If there’s a new watch strap material on the market, we make it our business to be one of the first to offer it to our customers.

Check out our guides page for further info on the array of different materials and styles we have available, to help you choose your next watch strap - whatever your style.

Which Watch Strap Material is Best for Your Watch?