An Apple Watch is a very good piece of technology and a fairly anonymous object. Everybody's looks the same. Changing the strap is the one thing that makes it yours, and wood is about as far from a fluoroelastomer band as you can get.
This is a short guide to the Wood Link strap: which size to order, how to put it on, how to size it to your wrist, and how to look after wood that lives on a wrist all day.
What it is
Solid wood links paired with stainless steel, closed with a hidden butterfly clasp. It wears like a bracelet rather than a strap, and it sits flat instead of curling at the ends the way leather does.
Because it is real wood, the grain changes at every joint, so no two straps come out matching. That is the point of it rather than a tolerance.
It is £79, it arrives in a slim presentation box ready to gift, and it carries the same promises as the watches: two year warranty, ninety day returns, free UK shipping. Ten trees are planted with every one sold, through Tree-Nation.
Which size do I order?
Two sizes, and you pick by the size of your Apple Watch case, not the size of your wrist.
- 38/40mm if your Apple Watch case is 38mm or 40mm.
- 42/44mm if your case is 42mm or 44mm.
How to check which you have. Turn the watch over. The case size is etched on the back of the Apple Watch itself, in small text, and it will read 38MM, 40MM, 42MM or 44MM. The original box has it printed on the side too.
If your Apple Watch is a size that is not one of those four, email us before you order and we will tell you straight whether it fits. It is a two line answer and it saves you a return.
How to put it on
This part takes about ten seconds and needs no tools.
- Turn the watch face down on a soft cloth.
- Find the band release button on the back of the case. There is one for each half of the strap.
- Hold the button in and slide the old band out sideways. It only goes one way.
- Slide the new half in from the same side until it clicks. Do the other half.
- Give both halves a gentle tug. A properly seated band does not move.
The commonest mistake is trying to pull a band straight off the case rather than sliding it across. It slides.
How to size it to your wrist
The strap comes longer than most wrists need, and you shorten it by taking links out.
- Put the watch on and see how much slack there is. Two links is a normal starting point.
- Lay the strap flat on a cloth, because the pins are small and a hard table sends them under the sofa.
- Press the pins out with a link removal tool, working from the underside. Most link straps carry small arrows on the back showing which way each pin travels. Push with the arrow.
- Take links out evenly from both sides of the clasp where you can, so the clasp stays centred underneath your wrist rather than drifting round to the side.
- Push each pin back in until it is flush. A pin left standing slightly proud will catch a sleeve and work loose.
- Check the fit. One finger should slide under the strap. Two means it is still too long.
Keep the spare links. Wrists change with the weather more than people expect, and putting a link back in is the same job in reverse.
If you would rather not, any high street watch shop will do it while you wait for a few pounds.
Looking after wood on a wrist
The Apple Watch itself is water resistant. The wooden strap is not, and that is the one habit worth building.
- Take it off before swimming, showering or washing up. Rain is fine and being caught out is fine.
- If it does get soaked, pat it dry and let it finish drying at room temperature. No hairdryer and no radiator, because forcing water out fast is what splits wood.
- Wipe it with a dry or barely damp cloth. Never a household cleaner, an alcohol wipe or a polish.
- Keep it off for the gym and for anything with repeated knocks.
- Put it on last, after aftershave, sunscreen and hand cream.
That is the whole routine, and it is the same one our wooden watches ask for. There is more detail in our guide to caring for a wooden watch, including what to do about scratches and where to store it.
One practical note. If you swim or train in your Apple Watch, keep the band it came with and swap back for those sessions. Swapping takes ten seconds, and it is a much better answer than being careful.
Will it block the sensors?
No. The strap attaches at the lugs, the same as every Apple band, and leaves the sensor array on the back of the case clear. Nothing sits over it.
Is it a good gift?
Unusually good, for one specific reason: it fits somebody who already has the watch. Most people buying for an Apple Watch owner end up buying an accessory the person did not ask for. A strap is the one thing they will actually put on, and wood is the version nobody else will have given them.
It arrives in a presentation box ready to hand over, and if it is the wrong size you have ninety days to return it with a prepaid label from us.
And if you would rather have the whole watch in wood
The Wood Link wears in the same family as the watches, real wood on a link bracelet, sized the same way. If the strap is a way of testing whether you get on with wood on your wrist, the men's and women's collections are the next step, and every one of those plants ten trees too. There is more on how that works on our sustainability page.
