Apple Watch Bands

Every band here uses the Apple slide-in connector, so it fits any Apple Watch of the matching case size regardless of generation. A 38, 40 or 41mm band covers the smaller watches. A 42, 44, 45 or 49mm band covers the larger ones, including the Ultra.

The size is printed on the back of the watch, or in the Watch app under General and About.

• 38mm, 40mm and 41mm watches take the smaller band
• 42mm, 44mm, 45mm, 46mm and the 49mm Ultra take the larger one

Generation does not matter. Apple has kept the same connector since the first Watch, so a band bought for a Series 4 fits a Series 10 of the same case size.

Slim bands suit smaller wrists and the 40 or 41mm watch. The standard width reads as a normal watch strap and works on anything. Cuff and double wrap bands are for people who want the watch to look like jewellery rather than a fitness tracker.

Leather is not the band for swimming or a hard workout. Keep a silicone band for those and use leather for the rest of the week, which is what most people with both end up doing.

Hold the release button on the back of the watch and slide the old band out sideways. The new one goes in the same way until it clicks. No tools, and about ten seconds per side.

If it does not slide, you are pressing the button for the other half of the band. There is one for each side.

A band worn daily darkens faster than any other leather product, because it is in contact with skin for hours at a time. Expect the colour to deepen noticeably within a couple of months and the strap to soften around the buckle hole you use most.

Take it off before a shower. Leather survives getting wet, but repeated soaking stiffens it.

Leather on a wrist gets more contact than leather anywhere else, and it behaves accordingly.

• Take it off before a shower or a swim. Leather shrugs off a splash and does not tolerate soaking.
• Expect the strap to mould to your wrist over the first two weeks and then hold that shape.
• The colour will deepen. Tan and cognac move the most, black the least.

The connectors are machined for each Apple Watch case size and click in the same way the original bands do. Coming from a sport band, leather feels stiffer for the first few days. That passes, and it is the reason a leather band still looks good after a year while a rubber one looks tired.