Like most of their products, the TYLT watch band is made of silicone with a stainless steel buckle and clasp, and a ripple effect on the actual band. For me the ripple is a bit unattractive, but so much so that I wouldn’t wear it on a date. I definitely wouldn’t wear it with a nice suit, though.

Installation is fairly simple, it took me about 5 minutes and they provide you with all of the tools you need including replacement pins in case you spring one (or two) across the room when you take them out.

In terms of comfortability, I would say that it is pretty much the same as the stock band. If you wear it too tightly, it’s going to be uncomfortable so giving yourself an extra adjustment hole of breathing room is probably the way to go.

Obviously, the main appeal for something like this is that it repels water, like the watch itself, so you can wear it when you exercise. When I wore the stock leather band at the gym it would inevitably get stuck to my arm and then when I took it off when I got home it would be all wet and even when I got back out of the shower and put it back on it would still feel eerily cold and gross.

Because of all that I was really looking forward to trying out the TYLT watch band and for the most part, it didn’t disappoint. It still seemed to stick to my arm, but when I got home and took a shower, I didn’t feel like I was donning a sad piece of lunchmeat, it felt like the same, clean, stiff watch band. It’s also much, much easier to take off wet than the leather because there aren’t any free or fixed loops to contend with.

You might be thinking without any loops, how does the strap stay tight with your wrist? Luckily, TYLT thought of this by allowing the end of the band to tightly snap into the nearest adjustment hole and make for a very clean look.

My only real complaint is that the silicone has a very high tendency to retain its shape. That means that it “wants” to be spread out flat, which can make things difficult when you only have one hand to make one end thread through the other.