Recently I had the pleasure of reviewing Buckle & Bands ‘Lond Luxury Apple Watch Strap - Khaki Leather’ on which is indeed a beautiful and well made strap. Following on from this I did express an interest in one of their other straps which is intended to cater for those looking to use a classy strap in sporting or gym environments. This was the '
Hybri Sport/Leather Apple Watch Strap - Black, 44mm With Black Fitments'. This was chosen as it is made from black leather with matching black fitments again to with my Series 6 watch in Graphite Stainless Steel.
Buckle & Band kindly offered to send out out to me and the watch arrived within 2 days of the order being placed (shipped via Hermes) and was again posted in a good quality shipping box.
The classy looking watch strap box, once opened reveals the strap itself, nestled nicely in the anticipated soft insert whilst the upraised lid contains instructions as to how to fit the strap. There are finger slipways in the insert to allow you to pick up the strap without having to be so crass as to tip the box upside down.
The strap itself is made of silicon rubber which is inlaid with quality leather. The inlaying process is carried out so well that at first glance it all looks to be leather. This is of course where the 'Hybri' name comes from.
The stitching, which matches the colour of the leather, is nice and tight without any loose ‘stitch ends’ anywhere. This 'sport' design differs from the Lond strap in that there is no buckle to fasten the strap on your wrist instead you have a pin and hole system similar to that used or original Apple straps. This gives you flexibility in sizing and also achieves a less bulky closure. The rubber is also sweat resistant which gives the strap its 'Sport' nature.
The fitments are of a good quality with the black plating being thick enough that none of the underlying metal colour shows through, the the back face of the tang itself is branded with the Buckle & Band logo.
So that takes me to actually fitting it and using it on the watch. I’m a person of ink meaning I’ve got a tattoo right under where my watch needs to sit on my wrist. Part of that tattoo is black & red which Apple Watch sensors do not like working through. This means I have to wear the watch towards the top of my wrist, near the wrist bone, and have the strap fitting tightly on to my skin.
The Hybri strap contains 10 sizing holes to allow it to accommodate various sizes of wrist. The question was would it allow positioning of the watch to avoid the tattoo problems. I’m very happy to say using the fourth hole on the strap both held it tight enough against my wrist and also in the ‘sweet spot’ to avoid any issues with the tattoo!
To conclude the Buckle & Band Hybri strap is one of the highest quality 'sport' straps I’ve come across and the hybrid nature allows the leather to keep the Apple Watch looking top notch!
