A lot of people do not even think about watches. Let alone watchbands. The advent of the smart phone and cell phones in general have diminished many from having or using a watch. Sort of like public pay telephones.
Some have started using these smart watch devices. Of which I have seen but not touched. However I have not been a jewelry person so much except watches. Having at least twenty more than a person really needs. Just another one of my many idiosyncrasies.
I still have my first watch. A Timex. It is a tiny thing. Kind like a lady's watch. Plain, stainless steel. Wind up, Still works. The hands even still glow in the dark. Got it in about 1965. As time went on got another Timex. A men's this time. I stumbled upon a bunch of old watches when my mother was moving. It even started to run when wound. For a while. My neighbor growing up was a navigator on a B 24 in World War II. He gave me the Army Air Force watch. It would run fine if let sitting. But would stop if you put it on. I messed with it for a long time. It had some funny kind of back on it I could not get off. Tried with a hammer and chisel. I kept the strap and threw it away. It was some brand I never heard of anyway. A Rolex. In the late sixties my uncle gave me a watch as well. This one seemed big and heavy. A black ring around the dial that moved. Had a problem with this one too. If you picked it up and shook it, it would start running then stop soon. Couldn't even wind it as the stem wouldn't move (screw down stem). And the back on this one would not even come off with a chisel, hammer and vice. Frustrated I smashed it with a hammer and threw it away. Another one of those dag gone Rolex things. Not even made in America. I will stick with a brand name like Timex.
So through the seventies and early eighties it was a Timex. I did however buy a digital watch at Radio Shack. Being a nerd and geek I used to like to go to Radio Shack as they had all the cool stuff that other places did not have. It was a Micronta. I guess it was a Casio or Seiko. That one let my trusty Timex Dynabeat electric rest. I got the Micronta when I took the Timex in for a battery. At where else, Radio Shack. Where all the cool stuff is.
In the early eighties my dad gave me an old Bulova he got for high school graduation. Self winding, shock resistant, anti magnetic and water tite. It is gold with a gold stretch band. Dad said I could have it. Took it to Deters Jewelry in Evansville, Indiana to get it serviced. That was in 1982. It is still running, keeping excellent time and on my wrist as I am writing it, 64 years young. Although I do not give it a chance to prove that it is still "water tite". An American watch with a Swiss movement. It has had several leather bands since and has a nice brown Hadley-Roma leather band on the way. This old Bulova is probably the coolest watch I have. Being a small 32mm size it fits my nerd, geek wrist nicely. Bulova still makes nice watches and is now owned by the Citizen watch group. I just picked up a nice Bulova dress watch. As I have been on a watch kick of late.
In the mid 1980's I started getting into Seiko after I bought one for my father for Christmas in 1985. Seiko is a great watch producer. And have rivaled Swiss manufacturers in accuracy. Even won a few contests which have they have been banned from. I have a Seiko tank style quartz, a round dress, a Seiko 5 automatic with a stainless steel braclet and a Seiko 5 automatic field watch. All running strong.
I also like Casio. The $10 Casio F-91W will do anything 99% of the population needs. The only thing with this model is that the factory band has a plastic buckle that breaks easily. The battery lasts about ten years. If you buy one today the battery may not last that long as it may have been on a shelf for years as it was introduced in 1991. I still have two of these and the silver steel version the A156W. I also have a W35 which looks like the old Radio Shack Micronta from the eighties. I have a Casio analogue field watch and a dress watch. I also have the classic G shock watch. The DW 5600E. Of which I recently put the first battery in after ten years. I have replaced the band twice and bezel cover once. Of which exceeded the cost of a new one but it is nice to say, I can do that. I also have the MDV-106 dive watch, which actually is a dive watch. It came with a rubber band and I have purchased three NATO bands of different colors. It was a stupid purchase as nerd geeks do not scuba dive and its 45mm size looks huge on my skinny wrists.
I cannot name all the watches I have had over the years. I have two Timex Indoglo watches from the nineties. These being on NATO bands. I have had two Rolex Air King watches and one stainless date just. Of which I paid nothing near what these watches are fetching now. I never did loose any money on a Rolex yet. I also had a Tudor. Which is a Rolex. Nice watch. And Tudor prices have went sky high as well. I have also had an older Omega Seamaster.
In regards to whether a NATO strap or a leather band is up to you. I think a NATO strap can breath new life into an old watch. They are easily switched to match your outfit. As far as using a NATO band they are very easy. First remove the pins from the existing band. Inspect the pins. If they are bent, rusted or worn out replace them. Measure the width between the lugs. Let's say it is 18mm as millimeters is the value used for that. Reinsert or put new pins on the watch case. NATO bands have three metal loops and a buckle. Pull the band out of the loop furthest from the buckle with the buckle being on top. Slide the band through the pin at the top of your watch and underneath the watch case and through the bottom pin. Slide the watch to the bottom or middle of band loop you have just created. Then put the strap through the bottom loop and you are done. Sounds more complicated then it is and will come quickly to you. The beautiful thing is that a great deal of colors are available to match your watch and clothing. Personalizing your watch is quick and easy with a NATO band. With a NATO band if one of the watch pins break the other will hold the watch so you do not immediately loose it. They are also very durable and can be found on ebay and all over the Internet. I have used the canvas strap watches for a long time since I got the Army Air Force navigator watch in the late 60's. I have several of of of these and even a couple for the old Bulova and Seiko dress watches to give them a sporty look every once in a while.
A leather strap has it's place and can be mixed and matched on dress, sport, field and dive type watches. They can also be used on field, sporty and dive type watches. A leather strap is most commonly associated with a dress watch. Black is mostly used with silver cases and brown with gold. Although that isn't set in stone. You can get silver and gold buckles on either black or brown bands. The buckle is a tiny detail that most people will not notice. As we are never content some switch bands. There is a great variety of leather bands as well. Thin or padded. The thin ones are the dressier ones in my option. They come plain, alligator type pattern and lizard to name a few. I like the lizard pattern. The patterned ones are thicker and more often than not have a stitching in the sides. Sometimes the stitching is a contrasting color. I think that certain color stitching can be a bit trendy.
In conclusion the only watch I need is the $10 Casio F-91W that you can get on Amazon. Also the 64 year old Bulova in case I would ever need something dressy.
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