The JUUK Ligero Is an Amazing Apple Watch Band

The JUUK Ligero is gorgeous, but how well will it fit into your lifestyle? After all, metal watchbands have never been my favorite. Such bands are typically bulky, heavy, and difficult to size for a proper fit. On top of that, metal watchbands have a nasty habit of pulling at the hair on your wrists. The Ligero takes those concerns and aims to dispel them, so let’s see how well the company has engineered the first high-grade aluminum band for Apple Watch, available for both the 38mm and 42mm variants of the wearable device.

The JUUK Ligero’s gorgeous design is matched only by its lightweight feel and durability

About the Name JUUK

You should pronounce JUUK as in “jukebox”. Eugene Ho, JUUK’s Canadian founder, has more than 19 years experience developing products for the watch industry. Ho has developed components and entire watches for labels like Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Timberland, Ecko, and many others. He’s been helping other brands develop and produce their own watch lines for more than nine years. Recently, Mr. Ho turned his attention to accessories for the Apple Watch.

Now, Mr. Ho uses his experience and long-term relationships with reputable factories to create beautifully designed Apple Watch bands. His vision is to create the best possible Apple Watch bands, while still ensuring fair prices for the consumer.

The Materials Behind the JUUK Ligero

The JUUK Ligero is manufactured from hard anodized 6061-series aluminum. The nautical, automotive, and aerospace industries commonly use this highly durable and lightweight form of aluminum. The reason is that those industries typically need a high strength-to-weight ratio in their metals. In layman’s terms, that means 6061-series aluminum is lightweight but tough as nails. It’s also gorgeous when hard-anodized.

This band has an amazing fit and feel, and it’s gorgeous to boot

JUUK manufactures the Ligero’s buckle from 316L stainless steel. It features a double-push-button butterfly deployment design. The buckle is built to last while still maintaining a light weight for the overall design of the band. The band, overall, is so lightweight that it doesn’t feel much different from the silicone sports band that came with my Apple Watch.

A closeup of the 316L stainless steel butterfly deployment buckle shows how easy the band is to fasten

Sizing the JUUK Ligero

JUUK has specially designed the single links for the Ligero with beveled edges on either side to give it character, while maintaining the sleek design. The 10-degree drop of the connector link helps ensure a good fit, and each of the full-sized links are 8mm wide. To help provide an even more custom fit, the JUUK Ligero has two smaller 5mm removable links, vastly increasing the ability to size the band precisely to your wrist. The JUUK Ligero is available for both the 38mm and 42mm Apple Watch, so you can enjoy its beauty no matter which one you have.

The 10-degree beveled edges on the JUUK Ligero’s links give the band a distinctive character

Rather than using cotter pins, JUUK has customized its own concave capsa pins and designed a proprietary adjustment tool that comes with every band. Removing the capsa pins is very easy with this tool, but reinserting them can be a bit of a challenge. Some pins fit tighter than others, so JUUK is currently re-engineering them to make reinsertion easier. To be honest, the JUUK Ligero is already easier to size than most competing watchbands, and the minor difficulty in putting the pins back in was the only drawback I could find in this accessory.

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