blog 59

Sorry if you’ve been following my blogs and your getting tired of all of this watch talk but for the moment it’s all I can come up with to write about. The past two blog posts have been about different types of materials used in watch bands and a little bit of terminology relevant to the topic. This blog post will be about types of watch clasps on bands. For watch straps (non-metal bands) the most common type of clasp is a buckle clasp. Buckle clasps are simple clasps extremely similar to, if not identical to, the clasps used on most men’s belts. These buckles are simple and secure but because you have to bend the watch band and stretch it to use buckle clasps they shorten the lifespan of a strap, especially leather straps. The other main type of clasp is a folding clasp which is found on the majority of metal bracelets. Folding clasps are, as you may have guessed from the name, clasps that fold onto themselves and snap into place. Folding clasps are more complicated than buckles so they are typically more expensive and there are many different forms of folding clasps. On men’s watches the most common clasp is a deployment clasp which is made of three pieces that fold onto each other and lock into place using a small latch or hook. On women’s watches with metal bracelets you will typically find pushbutton deployment clasps which, like standard deployment clasps, folds into thirds but instead of simply pulling up on the clasp to open it, push button clasps open by, you guessed it, pushing a button, or more typically, two buttons on opposite sides of the clasp.