Premium Beads of Rice Stainless Steel Bracelets

This watch bracelet is very nice. I was hesitant thinking it might be cheap feeling, but I was totally wrong. I love the all-brushed look and the heft is amazing. Nice addition to my favorite watch.

I wanted a Beads of Rice bracelet to go with my recently acquired Sheffield diver 1A 38mm Black W/Blue Dial which has a vintage skindiver look. I thought the BOR would really go well with the vintage look. I usually get my aftermarket bracelets from Mark over at Island Watch. However he didn't have a BOR styled bracelet available. I have never ordered from StrapHabit before but I know a lot of the watch community does business with them. So I thought I would give it a shot. The order was shipped on time and arrived a day late due to the USPS. Not StrapHabit's fault. I got the strap and it was heat sealed into a plastic sleeve which I had to cut with a pair of scissors. The strap was wrapped in clear plastic. I would have been nice to have some kind of paper tabs to help remove them plastic as I had to use a magnifying glass and a pair of tweezers. It was kind of a pain. I attempted to install with the quick release pins that came with it. It was a bit fiddly and the way the strap is constructed the pins only go in one way. I was able to finaly get the pins in but it took more effort than expected. One of the pins might have been a hair too long so I had to use a diamond file to reduce the outer tube of the quick release pins. After that it popped right in. Sizing went easily as it has screw pins. Overall the links are well machined. However, once I put the bracelet on I noticed that some of the links were sticking in one position. The machiniing was a smidge too tight. and there were some burrs. I have been working the bracelet to work out the burrs. It seems to be working but the last link still sticks. a bit. When watching TV I take the watch off and just work the sticky link back and forth. It's slowly getting better. While not a show stopper, I never had this kind of issue with Long Island Watch's bands. I looked at the "premium" band and the "regular" BOR and I could not figure out what made this one premium over the other one? I wish StrapHabit would put in the description why this one costs more and what more do I get for the pricing. The best I can figure is this one has screw pins and the other one has split pins and the machining is different on the "beads of rice". The regular one is actual beads and this one seems more like a mesh? I don't know. I decided to get this one as I wanted the best one for my new watch and I figured I was getting some kind of premium with this version, just not sure what. Overall, it's a decent band and if you're looking for an aftermarket universal BOR bracelet this isn't an awful choice. I would give it a C+

What a great purchase! The bracelet is heavy and made of quality materials. Highly recommend for any timepiece needing a replacement band.

The Premium Beads of Rice Stainless Steel Bracelet by StrapHabit is an extremely high quality watch band/bracelet at an outstanding price point. I have seen SS bracelets for twice the price which were not even close to this quality. This is a substantial bracelet that provides a high-class look and feel to any watch.