In this blog, we’re listing the top 10 watch strap materials with advice to help you choose the right watch for the right occasion. From ceramic to stainless steel, to leather, discover them all here in our top 10 watch strap materials guide for beginners.
The first thing to know about watch straps is that they fall into two main categories – the 'bracelet' and the 'strap'. The bracelet usually refers to a watch with metal links, whereas a strap usually refers to a continuous band.
1. Stainless Steel
Favoured for being hardwearing and strong, stainless steel offers an attractive silvery colour that doesn’t tarnish over time. Perfect for everyday wear.
2. Titanium
Titanium offers a similar grey colour and hardwearing qualities to stainless steel. This metal is lightweight, making it favourable for a men’s sports watch.
3. Gold Plating
Gold plating offers a fashionable, affordable and elegant finish to your watch.
4. PVD – Physical Vapour Deposition
PVD is a luxurious plating which coats a watch strap in a scratch-resistant vapour material. It's also sometimes favoured for its black or grey matt colour.
5. Ceramic
According to A Blog to Watch ceramics 'are usually more than three or four times harder than stainless steel.' An impressive statistic, ceramic is also lighter than stainless steel and offers more colour options including black, white and even bright or pastel colours. We love the gorgeous Bering ceramic watch for its modern and crisp white ceramic bracelet.
6. Precious Metals
Precious metals, such as solid gold are often used for luxury dress watches - perfect for special occasion wear and luxury watch collections.
7. Genuine Leather
There are different types of leather as well as a variety of finishes that affect the look and feel of the strap. Leather is often favoured for being comfortable and stylish. This gorgeous Rosefield watch features a velvety pink nubuck leather strap.
8. Rubber
Comfortable and close-fitting, the rubber strap is often used for sports watches. The Tissot Tour de France watch from the 2018 collection features a striking yellow and black strap, designed to resemble the black tyre between the fork of a bicycle.
9. Plastic
Plastic strap watches are affordable, perfect for everyday wear and tend to offer more colourful designs. Casio and Swatch often use plastic in their watch straps.
10. Fabric
We hope our essential guide to the different watch strap materials will help you choose the right watch for the right occasion. Shop watches at T H Baker for hundreds of designs from designer and prestigious Swiss watch brands.
