REVIEW – Monowear makes great accessories for the Apple watch and I personally reviewed two of their bands not all that long ago and wear them frequently. Today’s review is for their Contemporary Leather Cuff as well as a travel organizer.
What are they?
The Contemporary Leather Cuff is a clean take on a watch band that minimizes the hardware to focus on the leather. The Travel Fold Up is an organizer that keeps up to four bands and your charging cables protected and at the ready when you travel.
Hardware specs
Contemporary Leather Cuff
Watch sizes: 42/44 or 38/40 to fit the two Apple Watch sizes
Wrist sizes: SM or ML
Watch color: Space Grey Aluminum, Silver Aluminum, Gold Aluminum, or Silver Stainless Steel
Colors: Saddle or Taupe
Travel Fold Up
Dimensions: Pocket Area = 12 x 8″, Folded = 4 x 8 x 1″ (depending on what’s inside)
Material: Soft Polyurethane
Colors: Black w/ grey interior and a choice of Grey, Red or Black nylon ties
What’s in each box?
- One contemporary leather cuff
- One travel fold up organizer
(note: these are sold separately)
Design and features
Let’s look at the watch band first.
I selected the Taupe color with silver aluminum for my daughter to try out on her hand-me-down generation 1 Apple Watch as I personally like darker watch bands. It’s cool that Monowear gives you the option of choosing the watch connector colors in addition to band colors and sizes.
Right out of the package, the leather is nice and soft with a natural looking grain. The sides are edge painted in a perfectly matched color and the back of the band is a smooth, light natural leather color that’s very comfortable against the skin.
The top and bottom layers finished with a through stitch that matches the respective color of each size.
The band is wider overall but tapers towards the middle where the overlap employs the same pin and tuck process as the stock silicone bands that come with Apple Watch. The pin here is a polished silver and sits just below their debossed logo which is not visible when the band is fastened.
The watch connectors match the silver aluminum of the Apple Watch a lot better than this photo shows but it is definitely not a direct match.
As for the Travel Fold Up; it’s pretty self explanatory. There’s a simple nylon tie that when released lets you unfold and discover four watchband pockets along with a wider pocket that’s perfect for the charging cable.
The whole pouch is smooth and well constructed.
Setup
Contemporary Leather Cuff: Press the watch band removal buttons on the back of your watch to slide your current band out and then slide your new Monowear band into place.
Travel Fold Up: Untie, unfold and load in the watchbands and charging cable you want to travel with.
Performance
As mentioned, the cuff is nice and soft. It’s easy to put on and stays put due to the tucked end. Because of the freedom of rotation from the watch connectors and the fact there’s no buckle and tang, the band has a nice round curve as it sits on the wrist making it very comfortable.
During the review period it never caused irritation or accidentally came undone which is what one would hope.
The color is very friendly and a good mix between a pale tan and a pink that looked really good on the wrist.
The travel organizer works as one would expect. I tend to keep both sides of a band attached to each other when not on a watch to make them easier to sort through. They slid right into each pocket easily like that. The larger pocket accepts even the long charge cable with a gentle wrap instead of having to kink it into a narrow pouch. Nice touch.
The double stitch lines between the big and first band pocket, and band pockets 2 and 3 help the pouch fold easily where it should, while that top flap folds down and protects the bands from hitting each other.
The only issue I experienced was that the nylon tie would easily fall out of the grommet when untying. Easily solved with a quick knot.
What I like
- Contemporary Leather Cuff
- Soft supple leather band
- Gentle, comfortable curve on the wrist
- No bulky hardware
- Travel Fold Up
- Soft and flexible
- Pretty compact overall
What needs to be improved
- Contemporary Leather Cuff
- No dark colors
- Travel Fold Up
- Nylon tie kept falling out
Final thoughts
Leather watchbands feel great and look distinguished, maybe even more so after time. It’s great to see additional style options besides what Apple makes available and Monowear does a great job of providing new ones to choose from at good prices. The Contemporary Leather Cuff is a great example across the board there. If you need a travel organizer for your watch bands, this is a great option. Personally, my extra band or two is usually in my kitbag, but the Travel Fold up could easily double as a tool, pen or cable organizer as well depending on what you need to carry.
Price: $52 (Contemporary Leather Cuff), $35 (Travel Fold Up)
Where to buy: Monowear
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Monowear.
