On this page, you'll find guidance on choosing the right watch band. We've put together this band buying guide with information about bands and how to choose one.
Would you like to refresh your watch with a replacement band or give your smartwatch or sports watch a whole new look? HAVU's wooden bands fit most smartwatches and sports watches, including Apple Watch, Garmin, Polar, Huawei, and Samsung. There are many different watches out there, and just as many different watch bands. By changing your band, you instantly refresh the entire look of your watch. Whether you're updating your current watch or buying a new one, ordering a new band from us is quick and easy.
What kind of band suits my watch?
Whether you have a HAVU watch, another watch, or a smartwatch or sports watch, you can choose from a variety of bands to suit your taste. Read on to find out what kind of band works best for your watch, and which bands our customers love most.
Wooden band
A wooden band is today's go-to choice for your watch, smartwatch, or Apple Watch. As a material, wood is a more allergy-friendly option than metal or silicone, and the band is designed to feel comfortable on the wrist regardless of temperature. Bands are available in three beautiful shades: light Finnish birch, dark ebony, and warm brown walnut.
To ensure optimal durability, the parts that face the toughest wear are made of stainless steel, while the wooden parts are made from high-quality, genuine wood. As always, the functionality and durability of our bands have been thoroughly tested to guarantee the best possible result.
In our selection, you'll find wooden bands for watches of many different brands. We offer bands with an Apple Watch adapter, a Garmin QuickFit adapter, and a standard spring bar attachment.
Shortening a wooden band
Thanks to the extra links included with the wooden band and the band shortening tool, adjusting the band to fit you is easy. If needed, you can also ask us for extra links to lengthen the band so it fits a larger wrist. Click here to find a tutorial video showing how to remove and add band links.
Wooden Apple Watch band
A wooden band adds the perfect finishing touch to a modern style and feels comfortable to wear. Our selection includes wooden bands for every Apple Watch model, with a standard attachment typical of Apple Watch. Wooden bands designed for Apple Watch Ultra models are now also available. The bands designed for the Ultra fit the watch beautifully, matching the tone of the metal parts, and are slightly wider than our other bands.
Wooden Garmin band
A wooden band takes your Garmin watch's look to a whole new level! Our selection includes easily interchangeable bands with Garmin QuickFit attachments, available in 20 mm, 22 mm, and 26 mm widths. Please note that the width listed in the product names and pages refers to the width of the QuickFit adapter. The width of the wooden part is always 20 mm, except for the 26 mm QuickFit band, where the wooden part is 22 mm wide. The genuine wood used as material is a more allergy-friendly option and won't irritate the skin. Garmin bands are available in ebony, walnut, and Finnish birch.
Metal watch band
The most typical watch band is the metal bracelet, also known as a link bracelet. It's the most common band type for metal sports and dive watches. A metal bracelet consists of a series of interconnected metal links that flex to follow the shape of the wrist while still providing sturdy support. Among the most famous link bracelets are surely the Oyster bracelets from Rolex's Submariner line, from which the style of metal bracelets originally evolved.
Metal mesh band
A mesh band, or "Milanese" band, is made up of tightly woven metal loops, making it comfortable to wear while offering durable, sturdy support. Mesh bands have become hugely popular in recent years and can be found on all kinds of watches, from dive watches to elegant dress watches. A HAVU wooden watch can also be paired with a metal mesh band, which you'll find in our shop.
You can find instructions on how to adjust the band to fit you perfectly at this link .
Leather band for watches
A leather band is undeniably the classic choice for both men's and women's watches. Whether it's a sporty chronograph or a more classic dress watch, a leather band gives your watch a unique, refined finishing touch. Leather bands come in many varieties too, ranging from raw, untreated rawhide to sophisticated, glossy crocodile leather.
You'll find leather bands at watchmakers' shops made from many different types of leather, as well as in faux leather. There are hundreds of different leather band styles, depending on the stitching and tanning method. However, the most common leather band archetypes are lined leather bands, sporty leather bands – used, for example, in watches designed for racing – and contrast leather bands, which might feature white stitching against dark leather.
You'll also find leather bands in HAVU's selection! Choose the leather band that matches your watch's style – whether you're after the relaxed feel of a brown leather band or the luxury of black leather.
Caring for a leather band
Unlike metal bracelets, leather bands need a bit of care. Usually, a light oiling every couple of months is enough for a leather band, but rarer bands might even need polishing and conditioning agents. Leather bands also develop a beautiful patina over time, so it's worth taking good care of your band.
Which leather band should I choose?
How do you match a band with the right watch? For example, the color tones of a black watch face and a warm brown leather band might clash. When considering your options, pay attention to the watch's material, width, colors, and overall style. Dress watches, pilot watches, and dive watches all favor slightly different bands. And what do you want your watch to say about you – carefree everyday style or classic elegance? What matters most is that the combination pleases your own eye.
Fabric bands and NATO bands
Fabric bands have grown significantly in popularity in recent years, even though this isn't a new phenomenon. Fabric bands were already seen back in the day in the Bond films starring Sean Connery. Fabric bands have also come to be known as "NATO bands," as they're popular in professional use, especially among military personnel.
A fabric band is durable and won't shine in the sun. It also dries faster than a leather band. You'll find fabric bands in our online shop to pair with our wooden watches - fabric and wood together create a truly striking combination!
Choosing a band
Band width for HAVU watches
In our online shop, the band width is listed in each watch's product description, for example like this: "Band size: 20 mm". Remember to check the width of your watch's original band so you don't end up choosing the wrong replacement band.
Once you know what size band fits your watch, you can choose the one you like. Our selection includes metal bracelets, wooden bands, textile bands, and leather bands. The band's title shows which sizes are available in our shop for that particular color and material – for example: Brown leather band (16 mm, 18 mm, 20 mm, 22 mm). On the band's product page, you can select the size you want to order.
The width of Apple Watch bands is listed on the product pages as follows: 38/40/41/(42 mm Series 10) and 42/44/45/46/49 mm, meaning the band fits all watches within that size category. The width of the wooden part is the same for both bands, 20 mm. Wooden bands compatible with Apple Watch Ultra are 22 mm wide at the wooden part.
The width listed in Garmin band product names and pages refers to the width of the QuickFit adapter. The width is available in 20 mm, 22 mm, or 26 mm. The width of the wooden part of Garmin bands is 20 mm. The exception is the Garmin QuickFit band (26 mm), where the wooden part is 22 mm wide.
Our band selection
We offer a wide selection of different bands. Our bands feature a standard attachment, which means they fit not only HAVU watches but also numerous watches from other manufacturers. For example, most Suunto, Garmin, Huawei, and Honor smartwatches and sports watches have a similar attachment to our replacement bands. Thanks to quick-release spring bars, changing your band is also easy and fast.
Changing your band is easy to do yourself at home. In our online shop, you'll find a band-changing tool that lets you refresh and revamp your watch in no time. Changing the band yourself is always the customer's responsibility. If you buy a watch and a band in the same order, we'll gladly swap the new band onto your watch free of charge before shipping, upon request.
Feel free to get in touch
You're always welcome to contact our customer service. We're happy to help you choose a watch or a band to match it. You'll find more about choosing a watch in our watch buying guide.