Every Apple Watch band Apple released. Ever.

[rosegoldoli]

I've never seen a 3rd party band with markings including the fake leather loop that came in an Apple box as used from Amazon.

you know whats interesting about the leather bands...is that there are actually really good fakes out there.

check this article out about 1:1 replicas of the modern buckles. i caught a certain ebay lister people here buy from sell me one of these

https://superphen.co/2015/08/15/here-are-the-half-priced-replica-modern-buckle-bands-from-china/

 

[athousandbands]

The bad guys are theoretically capable of doing anything, but they often can't be bothered.

(One also has to distinguish between knockoffs, where someone "merely" copies the design - hoping to get the customer to prefer their's because of a lower price - and counterfeits, where they add all the labeling and such in an attempt to pass it off as the real thing.)

But, yeah, every time I read someone declaring that, "oh this has x or y marking, therefore it's guaranteed to be genuine", I roll my eyes a little, because that's not proof, it's merely a potential indicator (if, say, the Watch/band/whatever says "Abble" on it, that's a pretty clear sign it isn't a genuine article from Apple, but you can't trust labels/markings to prove that something is legit). If you want guaranteed genuine, buy it direct from Apple - beyond that, there's always some measure of taking your chances.

All very good points. Knock-off vs counterfeit is such an interesting nuance. I do wanna say no non-Apple mfg seems to have gone to the lengths of printing every single letter Apple does on every part of the band. Like you say about them not bothering...I feel like there are two audiences:

1) The dolts on Reddit who take pleasure in getting ten bands for ten dollars on Ali as a thumb at Apple’s accessory pricing and probably wouldn’t even want official markings.

2) Us, um, dupes, on here who itch at the word silicone or the ‘good enough’ reproductions of Apple’s various sport loop weave patterns for the above market.

I just can’t see there being an intermediate market like you see with $30-40 counterfeit soccer jerseys from Thailand or whatever analogues exist for purses on Fulton Street type places. I mean maybe I would pay $25 or $30 msrp for someone approximating the feel and proprietary herbs and spices of the Apple bands but I think I’d rather just pay the  mark-up and let those not obsessed with official bands or any bands at all enjoy the lower price it allows for the watch hardware.

That said I have a Nike from eBay where the perforation has color bleed and it seems to pick up black specks and it has all the proper printing in full sharpness. I think it was listed as “seller refurbished” from a pawn shop so hopefully its just the result of overzealous cleaning.

edited to add: seeing this leather blog post link...I think leather is a different ballgame, especially if it’s not the leather loop, and Apple doesn’t quite deserve our fealty for “the real thing” on the modern buckle. Thank god they don‘t retail for $250 anymore jesus!

 

[ivantheipodder]

Did you get one with black lugs? That happened to me as well recently.

Yes, black lugs amongst a whole bunch of other things.
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Interesting! I am in NZ and purchased Dragon Fruit and Canary Yellow from Amazon UK and used a forwarding service to get them to NZ as well. I hadn't opened them yet, so just checked, fortunately both are new and genuine in my boxes. The Canary Yellow was actually still sealed.

What bits of the band made you feel it was fake?

I have another Canary Yellow (that I sourced off a Reddit seller) and it's identical to the one I got from Amazon UK: lugs correct colour, Apple printing on the band, finish and feel are excellent.

My Canary Yellow was still sealed as well. It’s not when I opened it up I knew it was fake.
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I have another Canary Yellow (that I sourced off a Reddit seller) and it's identical to the one I got from Amazon UK: lugs correct colour, Apple printing on the band, finish and feel are excellent.

Are you selling that one? I’m after a Canary Yellow 40mm sport band.
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Please do not get Apple Watch Sport bands from Amazon UK. At least not the Canary Yellow. I got it (and it's sold by Amazon UK, not some third party seller) and it turns out it's a fake item. I am now in the process of returning it. I also got a spearmint sport band there, that is a genuine item. So it's really the luck of the draw which shouldn't be the case if you are buying from Amazon UK (and sold by them).

The fake item has a really promising box and the packaging material looks really good. But the band itself screams fake.

So I took some photos. The Spearmint I also got from Amazon UK and as far as I can tell it’s genuine.

 

[JonoNZ]

Yep, that Canary is definitely fake and looks nothing like mine.

Mine are 42/44mm.

 

[Bernardinho]

Yep, that Canary is definitely fake and looks nothing like mine.

Mine are 42/44mm.

The sealed box suggests a clever switcher ( probably when returning original to vendor for a refund) kept the original band and managed to keep the box appearing sealed with the fake inside. The tabs are designed to make this awkward but with skill and effort (like opening the reverse end and reglueing) the item ends up as a fake. This switcheroo is rife with mail orders apparently. I’ve only been caught out with an officially resealed warehouse item, where amazon should have noticed.

 

[ivantheipodder]

The sealed box suggests a clever switcher ( probably when returning original to vendor for a refund) kept the original band and managed to keep the box appearing sealed with the fake inside. The tabs are designed to make this awkward but with skill and effort (like opening the reverse end and reglueing) the item ends up as a fake. This switcheroo is rife with mail orders apparently. I’ve only been caught out with an officially resealed warehouse item, where amazon should have noticed.

Oh my god now that you have mentioned it I looked at the box again and that's exactly what happened. The seal end was fine but the reverse end was opened and reglued. That explains why the box (and the packaging material) appears to be genuine but only the band itself is fake. Probably someone did what you said and returned it with a fake inside. Well then I don't know how Amazon is gonna handle this. They could be like how do we know you didn't do it. But to be fair when they received it from the scammer they should have inspected it and noticed the box had been tampered with. Clearly they didn't (or just saw that it was sealed, without checking the reverse end) and just resold it.

 

[Bernardinho]

Oh my god now that you have mentioned it I looked at the box again and that's exactly what happened. The seal end was fine but the reverse end was opened and reglued. That explains why the box (and the packaging material) appears to be genuine but only the band itself is fake. Probably someone did what you said and returned it with a fake inside. Well then I don't know how Amazon is gonna handle this. They could be like how do we know you didn't do it. But to be fair when they received it from the scammer they should have inspected it and noticed the box had been tampered with. Clearly they didn't (or just saw that it was sealed, without checking the reverse end) and just resold it.

I think they will refund you without fuss. This thing happens a lot to such a massive company and it’s good if you tell them the reason so they don’t send it back out again!

 

[CarlJ]

The sealed box suggests a clever switcher

"clever switcher" is far too nice-sounding of a term for someone who is a thief (who probably doesn't think of themselves as a thief).

 

[athousandbands]

Oh my god now that you have mentioned it I looked at the box again and that's exactly what happened. The seal end was fine but the reverse end was opened and reglued. That explains why the box (and the packaging material) appears to be genuine but only the band itself is fake. Probably someone did what you said and returned it with a fake inside. Well then I don't know how Amazon is gonna handle this. They could be like how do we know you didn't do it. But to be fair when they received it from the scammer they should have inspected it and noticed the box had been tampered with. Clearly they didn't (or just saw that it was sealed, without checking the reverse end) and just resold it.

Amazon doesn’t care on the front end, literally the sloppiest storefront ever to exist (once got a warehouse deal smart light bulb that had the non-HomeKit version in there) but they’ve always been no hassle on righting wrongs. Customer obsession that bald psychopath calls it I think.

 

[ivantheipodder]

I got another band (stone) from Amazon UK. This band was sold by a third party seller in "As New" condition through Amazon UK warehouse deals. The same thing happened. It's fake. This is so frustrating. The cornflower band sold officially by them is genuine (and sealed) though.

 

[iChernov]

Guys, I need your help with searches

I need Hermes Black sport band and Dark Grey sport band (from titanium watch bundle), unused and in untouched paper cards. I am ready to pay good money. Can anybody help me to find them?

 

[techno-Zen]

Pic request: A Dark casing (Black, space gray) with GOLD Milanese loop.

Anyone have real world pics?

 

[AndreaV91]

Pic request: A Dark casing (Black, space gray) with GOLD Milanese loop.

Anyone have real world pics?

Found these on the web:

 

[FenC]

I'm about to order an LTE Watch since they start shipping in NZ this week. I don't care for the sport loop in general (I sold the only one I ever had when I sold my S4). I have a stainless link bracelet, saddle brown classic buckle and original black and brown leather loops, which is enough 'formal' bands for me, so I'm ordering with a sport band.

I already have 1st gen black, white and Product red, and I have Pine Green, Khaki and Alaskan Blue from the currently available selection. I'm therefore thinking Beryl, Stone or possibly Lemon Cream.

I already have Fog - is Stone much different? I don't really think I need subtly different light greys.

I also already have Spearmint, and while it's way more intense than Beryl (which my wife has, so I've seen it) I'm not sure I have anything that I'd wear Beryl with that doesn't work with Spearmint. They seem to be different saturations of the same green tone to my eye.

I have original yellow, which I like a lot and wear whenever I have the opportunity to match it to a shirt. How does Lemon Cream compare? I don't want a second yellow that I can only wear when the original one would also work.

My wife has Pomegranate and I'd never wear that. An outside possibly is Pink Sand, but really I'd tend to wear Fog or one of the leather / stainless bands with a shirt that has pink in it and I don't know that it's really for me.

I want to order sooner than later as I see delivery dates getting less specific already, but if you have time for advice I'd appreciate it.

 

[techno-Zen]

Found these on the web:

Hmmm. not sure if I want this.. I'm intrigued. It would pair with a SB Titanium

 

[rosegoldoli]

managed to snag a Pink Blast Nike Sport Band for $25 on eBay ?

 

[jaytee86]

I'm about to order an LTE Watch since they start shipping in NZ this week. I don't care for the sport loop in general (I sold the only one I ever had when I sold my S4). I have a stainless link bracelet, saddle brown classic buckle and original black and brown leather loops, which is enough 'formal' bands for me, so I'm ordering with a sport band.

I already have 1st gen black, white and Product red, and I have Pine Green, Khaki and Alaskan Blue from the currently available selection. I'm therefore thinking Beryl, Stone or possibly Lemon Cream.

I already have Fog - is Stone much different? I don't really think I need subtly different light greys.

I also already have Spearmint, and while it's way more intense than Beryl (which my wife has, so I've seen it) I'm not sure I have anything that I'd wear Beryl with that doesn't work with Spearmint. They seem to be different saturations of the same green tone to my eye.

I have original yellow, which I like a lot and wear whenever I have the opportunity to match it to a shirt. How does Lemon Cream compare? I don't want a second yellow that I can only wear when the original one would also work.

My wife has Pomegranate and I'd never wear that. An outside possibly is Pink Sand, but really I'd tend to wear Fog or one of the leather / stainless bands with a shirt that has pink in it and I don't know that it's really for me.

I want to order sooner than later as I see delivery dates getting less specific already, but if you have time for advice I'd appreciate it.

I would recommend you to get the colour u don't have rather than the shades. As it seems u have green and yellow covered. Lemon cream to yellow is sorta analagous to beryl and pine green, it's like a way lighter version... I much prefer original yellow than lemon cream.

I don't have stone as i have everything else (fog, concrete, pebble..) but it seems stone will be the most neutral for you, as it seems you do wear colour but not super into it.

Perhaps see the casing you're getting for a better match?

Otherwise u can possibly consider a sport loop? It's quite comfortable to wear, though I don't like sweating into it.

 

[FenC]

I would recommend you to get the colour u don't have rather than the shades. As it seems u have green and yellow covered. Lemon cream to yellow is sorta analagous to beryl and pine green, it's like a way lighter version... I much prefer original yellow than lemon cream.

I don't have stone as i have everything else (fog, concrete, pebble..) but it seems stone will be the most neutral for you, as it seems you do wear colour but not super into it.

Perhaps see the casing you're getting for a better match?

Otherwise u can possibly consider a sport loop? It's quite comfortable to wear, though I don't like sweating into it.

Thanks for that - that's the line of thinking I'm mostly going with.

I've settled on a stainless steel case. I use a wheelchair and the Ion-X Glass of the aluminium watches can get marked by the beating it sometimes gets as I go through doors etc., so I want the tougher sapphire glass more than anything else. I'll activate the LTE as I like that I won't be screwed if I forget my phone as I've done a couple of times recently, and I can leave the phone at home when I go out (hand) cycling, but that's a secondary benefit after the glass.

I was toying with SBSS as I've only had an S0 in SS and silver aluminium S3, S4 and S5 since (as that's all we've had available in NZ since the S3, when all the higher end watches went LTE only), but I think I'll stick with the more classic look of shiny SS.

I also didn't say above that we have no Apple stores in NZ, so I can't go see the bands IRL Or the SBSS for that matter...

I do like colour and was wearing the OG blue yesterday evening and I wear the OG orange fairly often, but for work I like to wear something that picks up a colour from whatever shirt I am wearing. Sometimes I find I can't do that and then revert to saddle brown or black leather, or the SS link bracelet, or perhaps Fog.

My S4 came with a Seashell sport loop, but I really didn't like it much - it always felt like it was either too loose or too tight - and I don't really care for the way the current ones all have different colours on each side. I looks like wearing the parts of mismatched sport bands to me.

Trouble is Apple's expected delivery time is slipping to 17th-23rd December, whereas I can get one on Friday 13th from an authorised reseller so long as I go SS with White sport band. Is the new White much different to my original white from 2015?


[Edited to add]
I've ordered the SS 44mm with Stone band from Apple. Worst case it'll be here on 23rd, but I have an S5 Nike already so it isn't like I can't wait, and I'd rather get a Stone band out of it that will be a new colour for me than a second white one just to have the watch a few days sooner. The Nike is still in perfect condition so hopefully I can keep it that way until the new one arrives to maximise the resale value.

 

[athousandbands]

Thanks for that - that's the line of thinking I'm mostly going with.

I've settled on a stainless steel case. I use a wheelchair and the Ion-X Glass of the aluminium watches can get marked by the beating it sometimes gets as I go through doors etc., so I want the tougher sapphire glass more than anything else. I'll activate the LTE as I like that I won't be screwed if I forget my phone as I've done a couple of times recently, and I can leave the phone at home when I go out (hand) cycling, but that's a secondary benefit after the glass.

I was toying with SBSS as I've only had an S0 in SS and silver aluminium S3, S4 and S5 since (as that's all we've had available in NZ since the S3, when all the higher end watches went LTE only), but I think I'll stick with the more classing look of shiny SS.

I also didn't say above that we have no Apple stores in NZ, so I can't go see the bands IRL Or the SBSS for that matter...

I do like colour and was wearing the OG blue yesterday evening and I wear the OG orange fairly often, but for work I like to wear something that picks up a colour from whatever shirt I am wearing. Sometimes I find I can't do that and then revert to saddle brown or black leather, or the SS link bracelet, or perhaps Fog.

My S4 came with a Seashell sport loop, but I really didn't like it much - it always felt like it was either too loose or too tight - and I don't really care for the way the current ones all have different colours on each side. I looks like wearing the parts of mismatched sport bands to me.

Trouble is Apple's expected delivery time is slipping to 17th-23rd December, whereas I can get on on Friday 13th from an authorised reseller so long as I go SS with White sport band. Is the new White much different to my original white from 2015?

I say get the Beryl or Lemon Cream and keep it in the tin to sell later. Or if you’re all in on my cold, heartless scheme, I feel the khaki sport band is going to be coveted greatly. The short-lived winter bands especially seem to go for big money later. I’d say you will at least be able to sell at face value given how much the various yellows and mints go for now.

 

[nattK]

Does anyone know whether the Pride sport loop released in June is the same one sold right now? As in without magnets that could affect the Series 5 compass. If they're different do you know how we can differentiate between the two?

 

[cambookpro]

Does anyone know whether the Pride sport loop released in June is the same one sold right now? As in without magnets that could affect the Series 5 compass. If they're different do you know how we can differentiate between the two?

There have never been magnets in it - it's velcro, hasn't changed since release.

 

[nattK]

There have never been magnets in it - it's velcro, hasn't changed since release.

The earlier Sport Loops had magnetic materials in it.

"Apple's Leather Loop, Milanese Loop, and earlier Sport Loop watch bands use magnets or magnetic material that might interfere with the Apple Watch compass."
Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210324

The Pride Sport Loop is the only sport loop that didn't appear to have changed when Apple introduced new ones in September, so I wasn't sure how to differentiate between the ones released back in June and ones released in September (if they were different).

 

[Telesmurfen]

Khaki sport band (with saddle brown iPhone 11 pro Max case in the background)

 

[techno-Zen]

The earlier Sport Loops had magnetic materials in it.

"Apple's Leather Loop, Milanese Loop, and earlier Sport Loop watch bands use magnets or magnetic material that might interfere with the Apple Watch compass."
Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210324

The Pride Sport Loop is the only sport loop that didn't appear to have changed when Apple introduced new ones in September, so I wasn't sure how to differentiate between the ones released back in June and ones released in September (if they were different).

This is news to mew

 

[cambookpro]

The earlier Sport Loops had magnetic materials in it.

"Apple's Leather Loop, Milanese Loop, and earlier Sport Loop watch bands use magnets or magnetic material that might interfere with the Apple Watch compass."
Source: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210324

The Pride Sport Loop is the only sport loop that didn't appear to have changed when Apple introduced new ones in September, so I wasn't sure how to differentiate between the ones released back in June and ones released in September (if they were different).

My apologies, I did not know that! I wonder where they are using magnetic materials?