What watch straps are ok to use in water?

[The Game 161]

Is it just the sport bands or has anybody used any of the bands?

 

[BarracksSi]

Anything rubber or metal is fine. Leather, well, it depends -- some leather is advertised as "water resistant", and you can treat leather to resist moisture stains, too.

Given a choice, I would use the Sport band first, because it's very easy to dry off. The bracelets, both the mesh and link styles, would be next in line (most of my other watches are on bracelets, too, and they have no problems getting wet). The nylon band takes water fine, too, although it takes a few more minutes to dry out, and should be washed with soap once in a while to get rid of sweat and other buildup.

I don't take leather watch straps into water. It's doable, like I said, but why bother when better options are so easily available?

 

[The Game 161]

Anything rubber or metal is fine. Leather, well, it depends -- some leather is advertised as "water resistant", and you can treat leather to resist moisture stains, too.

Given a choice, I would use the Sport band first, because it's very easy to dry off. The bracelets, both the mesh and link styles, would be next in line (most of my other watches are on bracelets, too, and they have no problems getting wet). The nylon band takes water fine, too, although it takes a few more minutes to dry out, and should be washed with soap once in a while to get rid of sweat and other buildup.

I don't take leather watch straps into water. It's doable, like I said, but why bother when better options are so easily available?

Thanks for that

Bought the space grey with nylon so wanted to know if it was ok. Got a sport grand to use so may just use that for pool

 

[The Economist]

Thanks for that

Bought the space grey with nylon so wanted to know if it was ok. Got a sport grand to use so may just use that for pool

I recommend you always switch to the sport band when water or sweat is involved, as I think the nylon band is likely to get stained and pick up odors after a while.

 

[dyn]

Watch out with metal, there are many different alloys used. The cheaper metal bands use the cheaper metal alloys and those usually do not go well with water. The same can be said about the nylon bands (mostly it is going to be the additional hardware such as the buckle that will be the biggest issue).

According to Apple only their rubber and nylon straps can be used in water.

@The Economist: you can do what they do with the NATO straps: just wash them as any garment (but only by hand!).

In general, just use the same advise watch people have been given for years. Quite a few dedicated watch forums will have FAQs or pinned topics about what can be used in water and also how to maintain your watch and bands.