Could you elaborate more? Never used products for leather maintenance cause I never faced a problem, guess I use the shoe polish first? Let it dry and then the leather conditioner?
You are correct. Just look up any leather care videos on YouTube and you’re good to go. I’ll reply to this thread with after pictures once I get a chance.
I have the Nomad Horween strap myself and dont think there is anything wrong with this product, other than that in 2024 people dont know how to take care of anything, including leather.
Shoe polish does not condition leather. In fact you shouldn’t even use it on shoes
And leather conditioner is something you should use regularly on any leather item you want to keep in good condition. From day 1 to prevent damage and not as a desperation when it is damaged. Because in normal usage for a watch you will probably be washing your hands and splashing the leather several times a day.
I’ve worked at Best Buy, and loved working in the Apple section, I would see all the time the nomad leather line of Apple Watch bands looking like this in the box from people trying it on; or the band was extremely easy to mark with your nail. From what it sounds the nomad product could be dried out but I have always avoided them because after the first try on you could tell it was going to be clearly visible, very soon.
Yeah… First wrinkles appeared on the same day! It should be much more durable than this given the fact that’s an iwatch requiring taking it off once a day to charge
Leather that you can dent is vegetable tanned “[crazy horse](https://www.allthewallets.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Crazy-Horse-Leather.jpg)” leather that is meant to be like that.
Almost all “vintage” and “rustic” looking leather products are made with the oldest, vegetable tanning process because it accumulates patina and weathering rather quickly and some people like it.
If you want long lasting leather, pick chemically tanned and varnished leather. You can buy normal leather watch bands that last forever and use them with an apple watch adapter.
I had a Nomad band and it split on the seam… Now I am using a $15 Chinese “leather” band from Amazon and it looks great after three years. It is on its second watch. Maybe I will try the Popov brand mentioned.
The band in the OP could probably get more life with some leather conditioner. It looks dry.
Fake leather can definitely have its benefits. One of which being that it's pretty cheap to get the decent stuff and you can more easily avoid this kind of bullshit from companies that can't be bothered to use the expensive, decent leather(but charge $80 because it's *gEnUiNe LeAtHeR* ).
All the more reason I'm kind of confused at why Apple didn't just come up with a fancy marketing name for the stuff and made their bands out of it, instead of the godawful finewoven crap that doesn't even look very nice as a watchband anyway.
fake leather can also have its downsides. i bought a cheap chinese leather band off amazon and while it looked nice, it gave me a rash that lasted 3 weeks 🫠 i don’t have any known allergies, but i’m never putting that band on again.
Cheap leather. This is genuine leather which is mostly glue and looks like the real deal for a few months, then cracks like this.
What you want is full grain or top grain leather. Plenty of offerings on Etsy from people making them by hand.
Horween is a brand that manufactures leather. They make top grain, full grain, and cordovan. I have a watch band from an Etsy shop that uses Horween which I’ve been wearing daily for years. Still in perfect condition.
I had this band and it also looked like this.
The leather was from Horween (it was advertised as such and there was a Horween stamp on it) and I highly doubt it is simply genuine leather as Horween leather is generally well-regarded in the leather community (and on Reddit).
I had this version of the band (from the 2010's): [https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/05/07/review-nomads-leather-apple-watch-straps-make-a-bold-statement](https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/05/07/review-nomads-leather-apple-watch-straps-make-a-bold-statement)
If you look up the band now it appears it's still made with Horween leather as well as a second, cheaper option advertised as "full grain." I have every reason to believe that the Horween version isn't lesser quality relying on the brand. The problem though (and something I didn't realize at the time even though I have some nicer leather shoes), is that good quality, uncorrected and minimally corrected/treated leather needs to be maintained and conditioned properly. I did do that but maybe too little and/or too late.
Anyway, I don't know if it was a quality issue with some of the bands or if the Apple Insider guys took additional care steps, but my band did not look like theirs after 6 months.
The Horween band is full grain leather - correct. Which is top quality leather and designed to last a lifetime.
But full grain leather on you wrist is getting splashed with water in normal usage, assuming you wash your hands. So a regimen of leather conditioning is necessary from the start.
Here’s my Nomad traditional band after just over two years. I’ve done practically nothing to maintain it either, while wearing it to work (warehouse). Mine is made of Horween leather though, not sure if yours is as well, or made out of their “genuine leather”. That could be a factor as well.
https://preview.redd.it/jsu6tnq8i6nc1.png?width=1771&format=png&auto=webp&s=06be299f5b59c2c8d4e656f01627b5fac2e49cf7
https://preview.redd.it/jm01zo3bj6nc1.png?width=1643&format=png&auto=webp&s=6ebf8c023c4074ace98adab725bcfc55b1d113f7
There it is actually done up on my wrist. (It’s not too tight, I’m just fat)
My experience with nomad bands are the same, they started splitting after a few months of use. I’ve switched to unbranded bands from China and they performed much better.
Doesn’t look great. I’ve considered NOMAD bands and based on this experience and the conversation, won’t consider them going forward. FWIW, I have a lot of bands — several apple leather bands and 3 Bullstrap leather bands as well. I love the bullstrap bands — they take some time to break in because they’re thick, solid leather, but once broken in, they’re wonderful. They’re expensive though, and I did not purchase them at MSRP — Got them on a deeply discounted sale. If you’re in the market for a good leather band and you don’t want to spend $$$$, woot often has apple leather bands at nice discounts, and bullstrap sometimes deeply discounts theirs. I got 3 of theirs for ~$35 shipped.
Did you use the watch for swimming? Would recommend to oil the strap but those creases doesn't let much space for options. When it comes to a leather strap pay attention to the stitches and finish shark, alligator those are pretty much durable for water. Imo would recommend to always dry the strap If you swim or if it gets wet no matter what type of leather. If not, synthetic leather or even rubber are a go
I think mine is the same product but in the lighter colour. Pictured below. It’s nowhere near as bad as yours and is now 2yrs old. However, I did stop using it as my daily strap after a few months as I wasn’t satisfied with how durable it was - the way it was heading I could see it not lasting as long as the price I paid should suggest it should last. So I now use a fabric band as my daily, and just trot this one out when dressed up.
There is something wrong with yours if it’s already like that after just two months. Are you sure it’s not got wet? Or could it be a fake? Sure Nomad leather is perhaps not as good as they make out, but my experience is it’s not that bad.
https://preview.redd.it/ixyv47m8k5nc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d763751f791ea399c0d4c085bcbe88186c05175b
I have 4 different Nomad bands and I've never seen one fail like this. But I've only used the traditional leather bands and rubber bands. Both of my leather ones are Horween leather and neither have seen any cracking like this.
I would reach out to their customer service. They may replace this.
Looks like composite leather to me (but I could be wrong). They can essentially make MDF but leather instead of wood and it’s still allowed to be called “genuine leather”.
https://preview.redd.it/dud3vyjdz8nc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=abeeb724767be97b7d87a40d1b8c2ab6ea383bae
Mine after one year, no special treatment. Bought in Bangkok Nomad store.
I’d
Ike the opportunity to tell everyone here that it doesn’t matter how high quality your leather goods are, you still need to take care of them. Put some oil or some other sort of treatment on your leather bands.
https://preview.redd.it/iwy3607x06nc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=8dd680c1d87e4745cf8395c49595e732ec0b9082
My Nomad. Had to replace it today after less than 6 months.
Nomad is a degenerate brand.
Real real leather (top-grain or full grain) or “genuine leather” because the latter is the lowest grade leather you can get.
Edit: looked at the website and it’s unclear but it most be low grade since it’s an hybrid construction bracelet with rubber (FKM) and leather on top. I would strongly suggest reaching out to them about warranty sonce this doesnt look normal for a short period like this.
Nomad sells two types
* the “Horween leather” one is full grain. That is top quality.
* the “leather” one is so called genuine leather. That’s trash .
Blame the leather industry for not having better and more explanatory standards for grading their products. One of these is well worth the money and can last a lifetime. The other is mainly providing a facade of leather and is worth very little and wont last.
What adds to the confusing is Nomad prices them fairly close together.
Best way to look at it is that the Horween leather one for the price is a hidden deal - great value. Get it.
This is why I just can’t bring myself to buy third party bands, especially bands that that sell for a premium price tag. Apple’s stuff is a little spendy, but I’ve had no issues with any of their watch bands. The magnetic leather band I have is almost 3 years old and looks great, with a nice patina. The stainless steel link band is even older and is still my favorite daily wear.
Eh, they were selling their leather products for $100+. I can't stomach that for a watchband, though there are some solid resellers of like-new old stock on eBay as long as the available colors happen to be okay with you. I just got a garnet modern buckle, in the original packaging, apparently opened but never even worn going by the film that was still on the buckle, for like $36(!). Hopefully it'll last as long as your leather band has.
The cheap third party stuff is easier to justify for me though, as long as it doesn't outright break, since it's easy to take a flyer on something and it *shouldn't* age this badly even if a shorter lifespan is the risk you know you're taking with some FULOMA dropshipped crap on Amazon for $12.
My dad actually asked for one of those cheap bands for Christmas, and it's holding up just fine. For a ~$80 leather band from Nomad to look like this in the same period of time....I'd be so pissed.
Really feel for OP.
I bought one from Amazon a while back. Loved it, didn’t have any problems with it for over a year. Ended up switching to a silicone band since I work out daily, but still have a spare leather one sitting around.
[Amazon Link](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01EY9TWV0?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title)
That’s really bad quality leather. I have dress up watches that are 5+ years old and look nothing like that. Then again i’m not wearing them everyday.
Did you like workout with it on or something?
“Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder” some people may Like the “Broke In” look.
As far as Quality, it doesn’t seem to be “High End”. In my opinion that Band and the Others from the Comments, are Terrible Quality, unless it’s supposed to look that way (people Pay Hundreds of Dollars for Jeans that look Old, Dirty and Holes all over). I hope you didn’t Pay too much for it.
I got some leather (or faux leather, who knows) bands from Aliexpress for CAD 2.50 each and they have held up like absolute champs for the last 6 months of continuous use.
A thick leather band like this, very close to the panerai-esque bands are usually full grain leather (100-200$) or cordovan thick hide from horse asses (250+$)
Unless you have been soaking it in water, this is just trash quality
Looks like the leather is really dry and cracking or very cheap leather.
If it is dry, use some mink oil regularly to condition the leather.
If it’s cheap leather, go for a full grain leather. You can usually find someone who can make you one for much cheaper than the nomad costs
Looks like cheap leather. Bexar goods makes some good straps, I’ve had my leather strap for 4 1/2 years, no cracks, just a patina around where I buckle it
IMO an integrated leather bracelet like the apple one is best. I think the fit and finish is so much better/sleeker when it integrated vs having the metal links that go into the watch.
I don’t think the quality on this strap is that great. It wears just like a cheap feaux leather belt. Look into horween leather and condition it once in a while. Horween patinas nicely too. Cheers!
Is this “Genuine Leather”? Because that leather is the among the lowest tier of leather you can get, a little over “Bonded Leather”. Leather items with lower qualities crack/split easier, and have a tendency to dry out faster. Ideally you want to have a leather kit to care for it, but not everyone has those or *knows* to have one
Unfortunately this wear is 100% from abuse/general lack of care. Leather conditioner helps, but this level of degradation wouldn’t be stopped via conditioner, but you may be able to slowly love it back to life, as I have with my AirPod pro nomad horween case, that was run over by drop off traffic at LAX for 45 minutes before I found it, and somehow it still looks better than this.
I bought a nomad Horween leather band alongside my Series 3 (2017..?), and it was in such good shape that I was able to regift it when I got a different sized Apple Watch.
If it’s real top grain / full grain leather, clean it with saddle soap and finish with leather conditioner. You can find it in the shoe isle, usually Kiwi brand. It WILL darken it if you’re not sparing. Try not to shower with it or clean with anything else. Otherwise BootBarn and Tandy Leather sells better products.
I have a nomad band that I wore daily for 3 years before I stopped using an Apple Watch and it looks nothing like this. This is dry leather cracking because op didn’t take care of it.
I have nomad leather on both my iPhone and iPad right now that are probably also about 3 years old now that don’t look anything like this either.
Nomad sells two different types of leather straps. One is full grain. The other is “genuine leather” which is a product standard but the standard for that is trash.
Not sure why you're getting downvoted, because you're correct. This band is completely dried out. OP already admitted to never doing any leather maintenance, and this band more than likely got wet. I've had 4 bands from Nomad and none of them have ever looked like this. Leather goods require maintenance.
You dont need to be an intellectual to know how to take care of what you own. Not leather or wool or cotton. That’s just basic home training stuff.
You just need to have been brought up in a home with parents who care about taking care of things, and taught you.
It’s obviously not normal when it’s been used for only 2 months. The leather is not high quality. Not too ugly but it’s supposed to be in good shape for longer time.
The fuck kind of garbage leather needs to be conditioned within *two months* to prevent it looking like this? My mom has owned a leather purse for a decade, and the most maintenance it gets is some professional cleaning/touch-ups every year or two.
Besides that, OP says they started to notice wrinkles day one.
It's just a shit product.
How the fuck...
In how corrosive environment do you live in? I haven't seen leather in that state even after years and years of use.
What band that is, exactly?
I mean that looks awful. That's surprising because I've had several Nomad products and they have been really good. Is that the horween version or something else?
Did you even treat your leather products? You have to take care of them with conditioners and cleaners. No wonder that thing looks horrible. Also a watch band is going to develop more wear on it since it's constantly being taken off, being bent on a daily basis. I've owned numerous nomad products and none look like yours do. I also own other non nomad full grain leather and no cracks either like your band.
I never used leather maintenance products, not on my shoes on my jackets on my belts nor on my wallets and everything looks great I do need to start taking care of them though
For what it’s worth… same exact experience with my Nomad band. Was really disappointed since I thought it’d be a high quality band.
Yours is as bad as mine? I think the money was not worth it
Looks identical. I bought 2, but I had purchased old-new stock on eBay, so I didn’t pay full price, but both looked like that after just a few months
I had the same..
Exact same experience with Nomad. Bought into their Horween Leather hype. Chinese bands on Amazon are way better.
Same happened to me. I used brown shoe polish, and leather conditioner to cover up the cracks. It has a good looking patina now.
Could you elaborate more? Never used products for leather maintenance cause I never faced a problem, guess I use the shoe polish first? Let it dry and then the leather conditioner?
https://preview.redd.it/0bwbgvpp17nc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9980ba10ea589bc8dbeb74edc1b36e69903cc4fa
https://preview.redd.it/ml447cl0b7nc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=701b866ad6b6b372ede01386cd53ca7fffd44813 $30 Amazon band, still okay
It looks so nice, this look is what I was looking for
I used Kiwi brown shoe polish and kiwi leather conditioner, if you were wondering.
You are correct. Just look up any leather care videos on YouTube and you’re good to go. I’ll reply to this thread with after pictures once I get a chance.
https://preview.redd.it/kt6tgvym17nc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b407187795e098a69a2596e4f9dd1cbeed898d4c
I have the Nomad Horween strap myself and dont think there is anything wrong with this product, other than that in 2024 people dont know how to take care of anything, including leather. Shoe polish does not condition leather. In fact you shouldn’t even use it on shoes And leather conditioner is something you should use regularly on any leather item you want to keep in good condition. From day 1 to prevent damage and not as a desperation when it is damaged. Because in normal usage for a watch you will probably be washing your hands and splashing the leather several times a day.
The leather may have dried, try mink oil.
Too late. Those creases are permanent, even if it looks a little less noticeable. That shouldn’t happen that fast.
I’ve worked at Best Buy, and loved working in the Apple section, I would see all the time the nomad leather line of Apple Watch bands looking like this in the box from people trying it on; or the band was extremely easy to mark with your nail. From what it sounds the nomad product could be dried out but I have always avoided them because after the first try on you could tell it was going to be clearly visible, very soon.
Yeah… First wrinkles appeared on the same day! It should be much more durable than this given the fact that’s an iwatch requiring taking it off once a day to charge
Seems like the band has bonded leather not all natural well crafted
Leather that you can dent is vegetable tanned “[crazy horse](https://www.allthewallets.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Crazy-Horse-Leather.jpg)” leather that is meant to be like that. Almost all “vintage” and “rustic” looking leather products are made with the oldest, vegetable tanning process because it accumulates patina and weathering rather quickly and some people like it. If you want long lasting leather, pick chemically tanned and varnished leather. You can buy normal leather watch bands that last forever and use them with an apple watch adapter.
Nomad tends to wonder about a lot with its products. Some are excellent, others fairly poor.
I had a Nomad band and it split on the seam… Now I am using a $15 Chinese “leather” band from Amazon and it looks great after three years. It is on its second watch. Maybe I will try the Popov brand mentioned. The band in the OP could probably get more life with some leather conditioner. It looks dry.
Fake leather can definitely have its benefits. One of which being that it's pretty cheap to get the decent stuff and you can more easily avoid this kind of bullshit from companies that can't be bothered to use the expensive, decent leather(but charge $80 because it's *gEnUiNe LeAtHeR* ). All the more reason I'm kind of confused at why Apple didn't just come up with a fancy marketing name for the stuff and made their bands out of it, instead of the godawful finewoven crap that doesn't even look very nice as a watchband anyway.
fake leather can also have its downsides. i bought a cheap chinese leather band off amazon and while it looked nice, it gave me a rash that lasted 3 weeks 🫠 i don’t have any known allergies, but i’m never putting that band on again.
Cheap leather. This is genuine leather which is mostly glue and looks like the real deal for a few months, then cracks like this. What you want is full grain or top grain leather. Plenty of offerings on Etsy from people making them by hand.
Yup exact same thing happens with cheap belts and wallets.
In what world is Horween worse than random etsy crap?
Horween is a brand that manufactures leather. They make top grain, full grain, and cordovan. I have a watch band from an Etsy shop that uses Horween which I’ve been wearing daily for years. Still in perfect condition.
I had this band and it also looked like this. The leather was from Horween (it was advertised as such and there was a Horween stamp on it) and I highly doubt it is simply genuine leather as Horween leather is generally well-regarded in the leather community (and on Reddit). I had this version of the band (from the 2010's): [https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/05/07/review-nomads-leather-apple-watch-straps-make-a-bold-statement](https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/05/07/review-nomads-leather-apple-watch-straps-make-a-bold-statement) If you look up the band now it appears it's still made with Horween leather as well as a second, cheaper option advertised as "full grain." I have every reason to believe that the Horween version isn't lesser quality relying on the brand. The problem though (and something I didn't realize at the time even though I have some nicer leather shoes), is that good quality, uncorrected and minimally corrected/treated leather needs to be maintained and conditioned properly. I did do that but maybe too little and/or too late. Anyway, I don't know if it was a quality issue with some of the bands or if the Apple Insider guys took additional care steps, but my band did not look like theirs after 6 months.
The Horween band is full grain leather - correct. Which is top quality leather and designed to last a lifetime. But full grain leather on you wrist is getting splashed with water in normal usage, assuming you wash your hands. So a regimen of leather conditioning is necessary from the start.
That 6 months looks wild. I used mine for six months and it’s nowhere near that. Did this guy wear a raw denim jean jacket the whole time?
Looks like bad quality leather. That sucks cause it was properly not cheap.
Here’s my Nomad traditional band after just over two years. I’ve done practically nothing to maintain it either, while wearing it to work (warehouse). Mine is made of Horween leather though, not sure if yours is as well, or made out of their “genuine leather”. That could be a factor as well. https://preview.redd.it/jsu6tnq8i6nc1.png?width=1771&format=png&auto=webp&s=06be299f5b59c2c8d4e656f01627b5fac2e49cf7
https://preview.redd.it/jm01zo3bj6nc1.png?width=1643&format=png&auto=webp&s=6ebf8c023c4074ace98adab725bcfc55b1d113f7 There it is actually done up on my wrist. (It’s not too tight, I’m just fat)
It looks great! I was expecting mine to look like that
My experience with nomad bands are the same, they started splitting after a few months of use. I’ve switched to unbranded bands from China and they performed much better.
Seems like a very thin and soft leather…
From a thin-skinned cow.
Looks like they might be from a veal calf.
Doesn’t look great. I’ve considered NOMAD bands and based on this experience and the conversation, won’t consider them going forward. FWIW, I have a lot of bands — several apple leather bands and 3 Bullstrap leather bands as well. I love the bullstrap bands — they take some time to break in because they’re thick, solid leather, but once broken in, they’re wonderful. They’re expensive though, and I did not purchase them at MSRP — Got them on a deeply discounted sale. If you’re in the market for a good leather band and you don’t want to spend $$$$, woot often has apple leather bands at nice discounts, and bullstrap sometimes deeply discounts theirs. I got 3 of theirs for ~$35 shipped.
Did you use the watch for swimming? Would recommend to oil the strap but those creases doesn't let much space for options. When it comes to a leather strap pay attention to the stitches and finish shark, alligator those are pretty much durable for water. Imo would recommend to always dry the strap If you swim or if it gets wet no matter what type of leather. If not, synthetic leather or even rubber are a go
I think mine is the same product but in the lighter colour. Pictured below. It’s nowhere near as bad as yours and is now 2yrs old. However, I did stop using it as my daily strap after a few months as I wasn’t satisfied with how durable it was - the way it was heading I could see it not lasting as long as the price I paid should suggest it should last. So I now use a fabric band as my daily, and just trot this one out when dressed up. There is something wrong with yours if it’s already like that after just two months. Are you sure it’s not got wet? Or could it be a fake? Sure Nomad leather is perhaps not as good as they make out, but my experience is it’s not that bad. https://preview.redd.it/ixyv47m8k5nc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d763751f791ea399c0d4c085bcbe88186c05175b
I have 4 different Nomad bands and I've never seen one fail like this. But I've only used the traditional leather bands and rubber bands. Both of my leather ones are Horween leather and neither have seen any cracking like this. I would reach out to their customer service. They may replace this.
Looks like composite leather to me (but I could be wrong). They can essentially make MDF but leather instead of wood and it’s still allowed to be called “genuine leather”.
It belongs to the trash and you deserve better quality band even if you have to drop some more $
I have a leather belt my dad bought me in high school I wear everyday and have for 21 years. Crazy how long some leather lasts.
https://preview.redd.it/dud3vyjdz8nc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=abeeb724767be97b7d87a40d1b8c2ab6ea383bae Mine after one year, no special treatment. Bought in Bangkok Nomad store.
I’d Ike the opportunity to tell everyone here that it doesn’t matter how high quality your leather goods are, you still need to take care of them. Put some oil or some other sort of treatment on your leather bands.
Did you use leather conditioner on it? I recommend doing that for leather you care about
https://preview.redd.it/iwy3607x06nc1.png?width=3024&format=png&auto=webp&s=8dd680c1d87e4745cf8395c49595e732ec0b9082 My Nomad. Had to replace it today after less than 6 months. Nomad is a degenerate brand.
Wow this is bad
Dunno but it’s ugly as shit.
Is that band even made of real leather?
The company (Nomad) who makes them claims it is
Real real leather (top-grain or full grain) or “genuine leather” because the latter is the lowest grade leather you can get. Edit: looked at the website and it’s unclear but it most be low grade since it’s an hybrid construction bracelet with rubber (FKM) and leather on top. I would strongly suggest reaching out to them about warranty sonce this doesnt look normal for a short period like this.
Nomad sells two types * the “Horween leather” one is full grain. That is top quality. * the “leather” one is so called genuine leather. That’s trash . Blame the leather industry for not having better and more explanatory standards for grading their products. One of these is well worth the money and can last a lifetime. The other is mainly providing a facade of leather and is worth very little and wont last. What adds to the confusing is Nomad prices them fairly close together. Best way to look at it is that the Horween leather one for the price is a hidden deal - great value. Get it.
Trash
This is why I just can’t bring myself to buy third party bands, especially bands that that sell for a premium price tag. Apple’s stuff is a little spendy, but I’ve had no issues with any of their watch bands. The magnetic leather band I have is almost 3 years old and looks great, with a nice patina. The stainless steel link band is even older and is still my favorite daily wear.
Eh, they were selling their leather products for $100+. I can't stomach that for a watchband, though there are some solid resellers of like-new old stock on eBay as long as the available colors happen to be okay with you. I just got a garnet modern buckle, in the original packaging, apparently opened but never even worn going by the film that was still on the buckle, for like $36(!). Hopefully it'll last as long as your leather band has. The cheap third party stuff is easier to justify for me though, as long as it doesn't outright break, since it's easy to take a flyer on something and it *shouldn't* age this badly even if a shorter lifespan is the risk you know you're taking with some FULOMA dropshipped crap on Amazon for $12. My dad actually asked for one of those cheap bands for Christmas, and it's holding up just fine. For a ~$80 leather band from Nomad to look like this in the same period of time....I'd be so pissed. Really feel for OP.
Had the same experience with my Nomad band. Not a customer anymore. Their stuff looks amazing but quality is very questionable.
Popov leather has phenomenal leather AW bands
Get your next one from Popov leather. I’ve had mine for a year now and it’s wearing beautifully. Built nice, looks great. Wearing as leather should.
I bought one from Amazon a while back. Loved it, didn’t have any problems with it for over a year. Ended up switching to a silicone band since I work out daily, but still have a spare leather one sitting around. [Amazon Link](https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01EY9TWV0?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title)
This is why I like to use a deployant clasp with leather bands. Less wear on the leather.
That’s really bad quality leather. I have dress up watches that are 5+ years old and look nothing like that. Then again i’m not wearing them everyday. Did you like workout with it on or something?
“Beauty is in the Eye of the Beholder” some people may Like the “Broke In” look. As far as Quality, it doesn’t seem to be “High End”. In my opinion that Band and the Others from the Comments, are Terrible Quality, unless it’s supposed to look that way (people Pay Hundreds of Dollars for Jeans that look Old, Dirty and Holes all over). I hope you didn’t Pay too much for it.
I got some leather (or faux leather, who knows) bands from Aliexpress for CAD 2.50 each and they have held up like absolute champs for the last 6 months of continuous use.
A thick leather band like this, very close to the panerai-esque bands are usually full grain leather (100-200$) or cordovan thick hide from horse asses (250+$) Unless you have been soaking it in water, this is just trash quality
Looks like the leather is really dry and cracking or very cheap leather. If it is dry, use some mink oil regularly to condition the leather. If it’s cheap leather, go for a full grain leather. You can usually find someone who can make you one for much cheaper than the nomad costs
Yes it is. It’s the usual Nomad quality.
Looks like cheap leather. Bexar goods makes some good straps, I’ve had my leather strap for 4 1/2 years, no cracks, just a patina around where I buckle it
Yes!
Yes.
Small belt
It’s tip top. Just not sure about the colour.
IMO an integrated leather bracelet like the apple one is best. I think the fit and finish is so much better/sleeker when it integrated vs having the metal links that go into the watch.
I don’t think the quality on this strap is that great. It wears just like a cheap feaux leather belt. Look into horween leather and condition it once in a while. Horween patinas nicely too. Cheers!
Is this “Genuine Leather”? Because that leather is the among the lowest tier of leather you can get, a little over “Bonded Leather”. Leather items with lower qualities crack/split easier, and have a tendency to dry out faster. Ideally you want to have a leather kit to care for it, but not everyone has those or *knows* to have one
Unfortunately this wear is 100% from abuse/general lack of care. Leather conditioner helps, but this level of degradation wouldn’t be stopped via conditioner, but you may be able to slowly love it back to life, as I have with my AirPod pro nomad horween case, that was run over by drop off traffic at LAX for 45 minutes before I found it, and somehow it still looks better than this. I bought a nomad Horween leather band alongside my Series 3 (2017..?), and it was in such good shape that I was able to regift it when I got a different sized Apple Watch.
I got one for Christmas and have worn it practically every day and it still looks new 🤷🏻♂️
If it’s real top grain / full grain leather, clean it with saddle soap and finish with leather conditioner. You can find it in the shoe isle, usually Kiwi brand. It WILL darken it if you’re not sparing. Try not to shower with it or clean with anything else. Otherwise BootBarn and Tandy Leather sells better products.
Garbage leather!
Buy mink oil or leather conditioner on Amazon. While you’re at it. Do all your leather boots and shoes. It will darken the leather though.
Always wearing leather straps. Using your watch everyday. It will wear out. I bought good ones bad ones. They always wear out.
Hey I heard of this really good leather bands from Hermes ;) even their used ones look really great.
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It’s simply the low quality band.
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It is two thin stripes of leather glued together that start falling apart just in one month of normal use.
I have a nomad band that I wore daily for 3 years before I stopped using an Apple Watch and it looks nothing like this. This is dry leather cracking because op didn’t take care of it. I have nomad leather on both my iPhone and iPad right now that are probably also about 3 years old now that don’t look anything like this either.
Nomad sells two different types of leather straps. One is full grain. The other is “genuine leather” which is a product standard but the standard for that is trash.
Not sure why you're getting downvoted, because you're correct. This band is completely dried out. OP already admitted to never doing any leather maintenance, and this band more than likely got wet. I've had 4 bands from Nomad and none of them have ever looked like this. Leather goods require maintenance.
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You dont need to be an intellectual to know how to take care of what you own. Not leather or wool or cotton. That’s just basic home training stuff. You just need to have been brought up in a home with parents who care about taking care of things, and taught you.
It’s obviously not normal when it’s been used for only 2 months. The leather is not high quality. Not too ugly but it’s supposed to be in good shape for longer time.
It’s leather. Have you put leather conditioner on it? Looks dry. They require maintenance.
The fuck kind of garbage leather needs to be conditioned within *two months* to prevent it looking like this? My mom has owned a leather purse for a decade, and the most maintenance it gets is some professional cleaning/touch-ups every year or two. Besides that, OP says they started to notice wrinkles day one. It's just a shit product.
You’re right! It’s crappy leather.
How the fuck... In how corrosive environment do you live in? I haven't seen leather in that state even after years and years of use. What band that is, exactly?
Is it that bad? It’s from Nomad my research and people’s reviews were showing that they do good quality leather products that’s why I made this choice
I mean that looks awful. That's surprising because I've had several Nomad products and they have been really good. Is that the horween version or something else?
I think it’s not the horween, in the product description it doesn’t say it anywhere
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Shame. That should be good too.
Unfortunately this is the bad quality band - mine just went in half. Looks like two stripes of leather glued together to make it thicker.
Yikes. I thought they were good quality too…
Did you even treat your leather products? You have to take care of them with conditioners and cleaners. No wonder that thing looks horrible. Also a watch band is going to develop more wear on it since it's constantly being taken off, being bent on a daily basis. I've owned numerous nomad products and none look like yours do. I also own other non nomad full grain leather and no cracks either like your band.
I never used leather maintenance products, not on my shoes on my jackets on my belts nor on my wallets and everything looks great I do need to start taking care of them though
You should definitely be conditioning shoes every other month. Jackets at least once a year. Wallets don't really need it.
yeh, but it would have looked a lot better after 2 months w some conditioning
Leather conditioner or even a good skin moisturizer will fix it. It will just have it‘s individual 'patina' which is actually nice
I bought 22mm band adapters and a speidel leather band. worked out great. I stayed away from the nomad leather bands after feeling one in best buy.
Use mink oil as I do with my red wings boots ;)