The Differences Between Silicone,Rubber and Fluorine(FKM) watch bands

Many friends are hesitant to choose a silicone rubber strap, not knowing which material is better, and even some wholesalers are not sure what the difference is between these different materials and which one to choose.

CONKLY, as a professional watch strap supplier( Factory), will now answer the questions that we often encounter in this piece!

First of all, let's look at the pictures of the three different materials of watch straps: silicone, rubber and Fluorine.

If you're not a professional, Maybe you won't be able to tell the difference visually in the pictures, maybe there's just a subtle difference, OK, so let's talk about the differences between this three materials from a very intuitive point of view.

In the hand, you can easily feel the difference between silicone and Fluorine.

Firstly, there are three levels of softness: Rilicone > Fluorine > Rubber.

As the density of silicone watch band is much lighter than the other two, the softness is naturally the most comfortable among the three, and is currently the most used by major smartwatches, such as Apple, Huawei, Samsung, etc. Because of the softness of silicone watch straps, they are more suitable for children and women to wear, so they get the biggest share in the market!

Rubber watch straps, on the other hand, are generally made of nitrile rubber, which is the hardest of the three, and since the material is hard, the reason why there is such a watch strap is that some mid-range and high-end watches appear, and when they are worn for outdoor sports or diving, the waterproofness of silicone is obviously not comparable to rubber! Moreover, rubber is much more malleable than silicone in terms of shape!

Finally, let's talk about Fluorine Rubber(FKM) watch straps, a material that has been used on watch straps for a short time, as Fluorine rubber itself is an advanced material used in various aerospace and medical applications. As people's standards of living have risen, the material used for watch straps has also become more high-end! Fluorine rubber not only has the softness of silicone, but it is also more resistant to corrosion and water than rubber, so if you have a FKM watch band on your hand, you can feel it in your hand. You could say that Fluorine is almost a combination of the best of both silicone and rubber.

If you are happy to read our explanation here, then it should be easy to see that in terms of quality, the difference between the three is.

Fluorine> Rubber > Silicone

If you choose to buy or wholesale a different straps, don't be in a hurry, let us talk to you about the exact price first before you make your next move!

Generally speaking, silicone watch straps < rubber watch straps < FKM watch straps

As we are a wholesale company, we are talking about this price from a wholesale perspective.

Silicone watch straps: 1.5-2USD/pcs, correspondingly the minimum order quantity will be more, as a factory, generally 300pcs per colou/size! If you need to develop a new mould, the mould fee is mostly around 2000USD per size!

Rubber watch straps: There is an alternative material, TPSIV, which we usually sell as rubber straps, the price is usually 3.0-3.5USD/pcs, the MOQ is about 500pcs per color/size, the mould cost is usually about 3000USD per size!

FKM watch straps: the unit price is usually between 5.5USD/pcs and 6.5USD/pcs, because of the price, the starting quantity is usually not too high, keep it at 50pcs per colou/size, if you need to do your own design, open the mould, it is another starting quantity: 500pcs per colour, and the mould fee for fluoroelastomer straps is basically between 4000-4500USD per size!

Well, bosses, that's all for today. If you have any questions about other watch straps (e.g. nylon, leather, stainless steel or even gold buckles), please feel free to contact me (Kell Xiao)

My email: kell@conkly.com

WhatsApp: +86-13751060558

Remember our website: CONKLY - a company that specialises in the manufacture and distribution of all kinds of watch straps!