I decided I wanted a couple of FKM rubber watch straps for my CW GMT, and looking around they seemed to be around £20 each, and best price I saw was £18 in the Watch Gecko sale.
Now I was poking around the t'intersphere and worked out that all after market rubber straps are made in China, and Juelong is the largest manufacturer in the world with the very good reputation and feedback. In fact if you go to after market websites all the rubber straps look identical to the ones sold on Juelong, except maybe for a personalised stamp on the buckle.
So, I went onto AliExpress website and decided to purchase a couple directly from Jeulong in China. With postage and a coupon automatically offered each was priced at £5.60, around 30% the cost of the cheapest I could find in the UK. For that price it was worth a punt, even if the straps never made it to the UK.
I made the purchase on 3rd Dec. and they have just been delivered today (18th Dec.), so 15 days later. Not bad since they where delivered directly from the Chinese manufacturer.
Quality is fantastic and I wanted quick release springs bars (I can never go back to faffing around with conventional spring bars now). Stainless steel buckle is strong and substantial and the rubber is soft, strong and pliable. I'm on the second to last hole for my teeny 6.5" (16.5 cm) wrist.
I wouldn't hesitate to purchase again, and at that price I can see a few more heading my way. So, if you are in the need for rubber watch straps, I can highly recommend the link below. Some photos added.
https://juelongwatchstrap.aliexpress...ad_9691508.1_1
I recently bought a couple of suede straps from Etsy with qr spring bars fitted at a considerable discount to buying from normal web sites, and I got exactly the colour and sizing and softness I wanted, which I just couldn’t find anywhere else even to the extent of having a strap custom made.
It was a gamble that paid off for me.
I bought this for about £12 fit is almost perfect.
Bought one unbranded for my seamaster too
For the price the fit and quality has been almost ome.
Last edited by golf; 18th December 2021 at 15:03.
With ISOfrane starting at about £140, these make an awful lot of sense
Are these homage straps?:-)
Great option. I'm trying not to buy anything from China at the moment, bloody difficult sometimes.
Is it correct that all are manufactured in China? If so, would that include Rubber B ?Originally Posted by noTAGlove
I decided I wanted a couple of FKM rubber watch straps for my CW GMT, and looking around they seemed to be around £20 each, and best price I saw was £18 in the Watch Gecko sale.
Now I was poking around the t'intersphere and worked out that all after market rubber straps are made in China, and Juelong is the largest manufacturer in the world with the very good reputation and feedback. In fact if you go to after market websites all the rubber straps look identical to the ones sold on Juelong, except maybe for a personalised stamp on the buckle.
So, I went onto AliExpress website and decided to purchase a couple directly from Jeulong in China. With postage and a coupon automatically offered each was priced at £5.60, around 30% the cost of the cheapest I could find in the UK. For that price it was worth a punt, even if the straps never made it to the UK.
I made the purchase on 3rd Dec. and they have just been delivered today (18th Dec.), so 15 days later. Not bad since they where delivered directly from the Chinese manufacturer.
Quality is fantastic and I wanted quick release springs bars (I can never go back to faffing around with conventional spring bars now). Stainless steel buckle is strong and substantial and the rubber is soft, strong and pliable. I'm on the second to last hole for my teeny 6.5" (16.5 cm) wrist.
I wouldn't hesitate to purchase again, and at that price I can see a few more heading my way. So, if you are in the need for rubber watch straps, I can highly recommend the link below. Some photos added.
https://juelongwatchstrap.aliexpress...ad_9691508.1_1
I was being a bit facetious.
But likely, most, if not all of the stuff sold for £20 to £40 on U.K. watch strap sites will originate from China with a basic purchase price of a couple of quid at most, when they are purchased in the 1000s.
I am sure the £200+ rubber straps from Rubber B will be fashioned on the inner thighs of Swiss milk maidens.
Phew, good. Equilibrium of the universe is restored.
Also bought some juelong straps (waffle) a few months ago and really pleased with them. Definitely not the cheap straps that often disappointed me (sticky, attracting lint and so on).
Last edited by Glen Goyne; 19th December 2021 at 09:45.
Looks like a bargain. But i would be afraid of pollutants leak. Having contact to skin makes me worry. I wonder if there is any monitoring of the composition...any ideas?
Just to say that thanks to this thread I bought two FKM tropic straps on 22nd Dec from Juelong, which arrived today. They are excellent quality, as good as if not better than the £38 Watchgecko tropics which I have. They may not have been fashioned on the inner thighs of Swiss milk maidens but they may as well have been!!!
I've just ordered another three.
Similar things are available direct from Chinese vendors via ebay. Lets be frank - all straps like this are made in China and are resold by UK & European sellers often at huge mark-ups, so why not cut out the Middleman? Another advantage is that sometimes other options are available which aren't picked up by resellers - I wanted a brown silicon deployment strap that no European seller seemed to have, but was available from China.
Nice little business Watchgecko has going on, with some significant margins by the look of it which would easily rival Rolex and Apple.
Watchgecko will be buying them in the 1000s for about £3 each.
When you can buy them directly for the cost of a pint of beer, you can never have too many, and they almost become disposable items.
I’ve bought a fair number of NATO straps that exceeded a lot of UK sold “premium” straps in quality. Didn’t pay more than £4 each either.
I think the key difference which influences Gecko’s margin is inventory. As buyers we know we want a 20mm xyz. Ideal for a direct purchase either to Gecko ( next day or 2 day del) or AliEX ( 10 day to 2 weeks) . As a buyer for Gecko you have stock every lug width / colour/ material& length in anticipation of having what Joe Public wants when he peruses the website.
If you contrast the above with say stocking USB to C leads or Iphone chargers. There are probably 3 variations , so if you order 1000 fas sellers and 250 slow sellers you will be able to respond as a UK seller.
Clearly Gecko make money , but the on costs of funding all that inventory will be substantial
I don’t know. Watchgecko range is not that large, and you can get this and more on aliexpress.
The only difference is you wait 2 weeks rather than 2 days. But the price for that, at least on the rubber straps, is a 5x reduction in cost.
I am happy to pay for convenience, but not 5x. And anyway the transaction on aliexpress could not have been easier.
Thanks, very useful, as I might get one for my next CW watch too.
A question for the OP and other who might have bought straps from AliExpress- did you get an order confirmation or shipping updates?
I placed an order which supposedly went through but no confirmation by email.
TIA.
I've made three purchased from Juelong via Ali Express. For each I received a confirmation e-mail and then confirmation of dispatch and a tracking number for when the package arrived in the UK for Royal Mail delivery. On each occasion the straps have arrived after about two weeks and all have been superb quality....
Cant remember to be honest, but Steve has answered above. I seem to remember that you see tracking numbers and tracking location somewhere on your orders page in you AE account.
I watched my order leave China and reach the U.K.
Thanks for the replies
Just realised I had ordered using my Apple ID and not through my account.
God knows where the confirmation and shipping info will go.
Surely it should go to the email associated with your Apple ID?
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
One would think so but nothing so far
I had nothing but bad experiences with AliExpress a few years ago. First time out, no comms whatsoever but money taken, I waited 3 months - nothing ever came, and AliExpress simply ignored attempts to contact them. Since it was a trivial amount I let it go as more hassle than it was worth. Second attempt was an unbranded "Steeldive" - two months later I received a shitty smartphone microphone/earpiece that didn't even work! Despite copious unpacking photos etc. AliExpress called *me* a liar, a scammer and a racist!!! I'm never rude to customer support, no matter where or what, since they are no more than minimum-wagies doing a horrible job, so where 'racist' came from I'll never know... I should have learned my lesson, but the last time I tried using them was another cheap strap from a seller mentioned on here as good - guess what: nothing, and AliExpress closed my account - on the basis I *must* be a scammer...
I'm aware from posts on here and elsewhere that there are lots of positive experiences with AE, but if buying from there it's wise to remember you have exactly zero consumer rights or protections beyond whatever your credit card provides. Better to assume you're throwing money into a black hole, and then be pleasantly surprised if something good ever actually shows-up. For me - never again.
^^^^I would never buy anything for a large amount of money from AE.
But I took a punt on 2 FKM straps for £11 in total, and all went very smoothly.
For £11, as opposed to £40-50 from a U.K. online retailer for the same strap probably supplied by the same Chinese company, I figured it was worth the risk.
And it was. Now I am happy to buy a couple more given I know Juelong on AE are good guys.
I've had mixed experiences. Some transactions with no issues, sometimes things not turning up. But in those cases I was always refunded by AE as part of their policy. Agree that I probably would only buy relatively cheap items from there though. Wouldn't trust it for anything branded for sure
Sent from my SM-G998B using Tapatalk
Thanks again for the helpful replies. It wasn’t a big sum. Just a few straps.
Will keep fingers crossed and see if they show up.
I doubt I will order again from AE though.
When you log in, can you not see your order, under My Orders, in your AE account?
No, because I ordered using my Apple ID.
I bought a rubber oysterflex type strap from AliExpress for about £13. It's very good but I was not impressed when I saw it had "RubberB" markings on the inside of the strap.
I've bought lots of items (all under £20) on AE never had any problems, had a few things that have taken a few months to arrive but generally sellers have been OK. I do tend to stick to bigger or 'official' stores. I've bought a few Synoke digital watches for £3-4 and for a cheap holiday beater they are great. Nato / fabric straps ordered have all been fine, same as you would source over here without the mark up, if you can stand the wait AE is good.
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