I have more Apple Watch bands than I ever thought I’d buy. Over time, I’ve appreciated that bit of whimsy that can be added to the watch with a different band. From the staid Milanese Loop to the flashy Product RED sport band, I’ve got a half dozen different bands to change as I want.
I think it’s a bit ridiculous to review a watch band, but this new Meyer Lemon leather loop has attracted attention, so here’s my thoughts. Note that this band is only available for the 42mm and 44mm models of the Apple Watch; there is no leather loop for the 38mm and 40mm models.
On the Apple website, the combination of this yellow band and the white ceramic Apple Watch Edition model is quite striking. Alas, given that I upgrade my Apple Watch every year, there’s no way I’d spend the extra money for anything other than aluminum. Over the years, I’ve had the space gray model all but once; I didn’t really like the look of the silver aluminum model. I find that different color bands work better with space gray, even the silver stainless steel Milanese Loop, at least to my taste.
Apple’s images of the band on its website make the Meyer Lemon band look a lot brighter than it is. It’s yellow, but with more hints of mustard unless you’re in bright sunlight. Given the shadows of the humps in the band (which contain magnets), the overall impression is a lot less flashy than what the website images suggest.
Having had the Milanese Loop for many years, I expected this band to work the same way, being a one-piece band with two lugs. But it’s not; like the sport band, it’s in two parts, and it isn’t simple to get the end of the longer part into the loop. I’m sure I’ll get the knack, but for now it’s taken me about 20 seconds each time to put it on.
And if you’re disappointed by the way the Milanese loop slips and loosens oven time, that doesn’t happen as easily with the leather loop. The Milanese has a single magnet at the end of the band, and the leather loop has lots of little magnets in the humps along the band, so it is held in position by multiple magnets, depending on the size of your wrist.
This band gives a nice contrast to the watch, and I find it comfortable and easy to adjust. I’ll see over time how well it ages, but I like the look. It’s worth noting that Apple lowered the price for the leather bands and Milanese loop this year, from $150 to $100, so your dose of whimsy can be a bit less expensive. In addition, you can now pair any watch case with any band, so if you want to make a pairing like this, you can do so without having to also buy a sport band. Though if you only buy this band, I’d recommend also getting a sport band for working out, being outdoors in inclement weather, etc.; you don’t want to get the leather band too wet.
Update: June, 2020:
I’ve had this band now for about nine months, and I don’t wear it all the time. It’s a bit problematic when you’re doing activities around water, such as cooking, where I wash my hands a lot, or even any form of exercise where you sweat. I’d say that I’ve worn it about 25% of the time in this period, because I have other bands and I like to switch, so the current condition is the equivalent of wearing it for a few months full time.
For $100 / £100, the wear this band shows after this amount of time is quite unacceptable. They way the yellow has worn off on the edges especially around the fold is disturbing, and, while other colors might not show the wear in the same way, on this band it looks unsightly. To be fair, the worn parts are on the underside of my wrist, but every time I put it on, I’m disappointed by the quality. I’ll contact Apple and see what they say.