APPLE EVENTS ARE always preceded by rumors. In the weeks leading up to today’s event in Cupertino, one heavily circulated rumor had to do with new interchangeable bands for the Apple Watch. Specifically, NATO-style nylon bands.
The rumors were true—sort of. Apple showed off a line of bands that it’s calling Woven Nylon. The new straps ($49 each) come in two sizes and seven colorways: gold/red, gold/royal blue, royal blue, pink, pearl, scuba blue, and black. Apple’s product page says the bands are “made from over 500 threads woven together,” and that “monofilaments”—single strands of fabric— “connect four layers of the weave.” At a glance, these bands look dense.
They’re also, technically, not NATO straps. Woven nylon straps date to the early 1970’s, when the British Ministry of Defense began making them for soldiers. (The term “NATO strap” is a misnomer: the bands are more accurately called G10 straps, nicknamed for the G1098 form soldiers had to fill out to get one.) The straps needed to be as utilitarian as possible, so the design featured one looped, adjustable piece of nylon that snaked underneath the watch. If one of the spring bars on the watch broke, the NATO band wouldn’t fall off. They work like this:
