# Speidel Twist-O-Flex **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 26, 2011, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406 "2011-12-26T07:47:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 7:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/1 "2011-12-26T07:47:02Z")
My sweetie gave me a new wrist watch for Christmas. After thanking her and kissing her, I promptly discarded the crappy band it came with, and mounted it on my venerable old Speidel Twist-O-Flex watch band. She looked on in horror! I realized that I have owned dozens of cheap wrist watches since coming of age in the seventies, but ALL of them have been attached to my wrist with the exact same Speidel Twist-O-Flex band. The damn thing just won’t wear out! Not to mention being the most comfortable watch band I have ever had the pleasure to experience. But… am I a dinosaur? Am I the only person left on the planet who uses this engineering marvel? Do they even still make/sell/admit to ever making them? Certainly, they are hopelessly out of style, but man oh man, are they comfortable! Anyone? Beuller? Anyone else out there still own/wear/love this fabulous watch band? ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/2 "2011-12-26T08:01:02Z")
I had to Google to make sure we were thinking of the same thing, but Twist-o-Flex is the only watchband I will ever wear. You can adjust it to the exact right size and you can whip it on and off quickly. (This is important to me because I’m a pharmacy technician and you’re not supposed to wear watches in the IV hood [sweat, germs, whatnot] - I don’t need to be fumbling around with a buckle when someone needs a STAT amiodarone drip while having a heart attack.) Also, regular leather/plastic wristbands get all sweaty and gross - ew! ---
**Author:** ![ZenBeam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/3ab097/32.png) [@ZenBeam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZenBeam)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/3 "2011-12-26T14:17:22Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > Do they even still make/sell/admit to ever making them? [Apparently](http://www.amazon.com/SPEIDEL-TWIST-Expansion-Strech-Stainless/dp/B0029SWFVI). Is this the band that removes your wrist hair where the band is, using the same basic principle as waxing (i.e., ripping the hair out)? If so, I had one about 30 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/4 "2011-12-26T16:33:45Z")
I have a couple watches I haven’t worn in decades which still have that type of band. I always liked the way they worked. (And **ZenBeam** , I’d wager I’ve got more arm hair than you & I’ve never had a problem with those bands tearing out hair. I agree that the watchband area just always seemed clean-shaven somehow; not that I did anything to make that happen.) My watch of choice these days is a black plastic Casio. Which would look terminally dorky with a Twist-O-Flex. ---
**Author:** ![TheChileanBlob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thechileanblob/32/435_2.png) [@TheChileanBlob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheChileanBlob)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/5 "2011-12-26T16:48:12Z")
We used to call those “Twist-O-Flesh.” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/6 "2011-12-26T21:44:39Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > My watch of choice these days is a black plastic Casio. Which would look terminally dorky with a Twist-O-Flex. That’s exactly what my new watch is, a black world-time Casio. And it DOES look terminally dorky on this band! But, terminal dork is my personal style, and I embrace it. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/7 "2011-12-26T22:29:33Z")
I inherited my grandfather’s 1920s wristwatch (a Paul Ditishein), which he had put onto a 1960s Speidel Twist-o-Flex band–I \*adore \*it. It’s very art deco (the watch, I mean, not the band) with diamond numbers on a platinum face, and this \*ghastly \*but very comfortable watchband. If Grandfather knew I was wearing it, he would reach up from hell and \*snatch \*it off my wrist. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/8 "2011-12-26T22:32:47Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > That’s exactly what my new watch is, a black world-time Casio. And it DOES look terminally dorky on this band! But, terminal dork is my personal style, and I embrace it. [Dirty Harry]A man has \*got \*to know his limitations.[/dh] ---
**Author:** ![TheBori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee7513/32.png) [@TheBori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBori)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/9 "2011-12-26T22:39:26Z")
“Give your watch a new twist…Twist-o-Flex! Give yourself a new feeling…Twist-o-flex” ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/10 "2011-12-27T04:57:28Z")
My dad’s always worn those types of watch bands. I remember when we were kids going to the flea market and helping him find a back-up (or new) Twist-o-Flex watch with a Ford logo on it (He worked at Ford). I know he still wears that style band but I wonder what the watch face is these days? Hmm…perhaps he figured out how to change a watch battery. Anyway, I inherited his habit of wearing a watch on the right hand even though we’re right handed, but I never could hang with that type of band. No sir. My dad is a dork though. He wears Velcro shoes too. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/11 "2011-12-28T05:49:37Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > …My dad is a dork though. He wears Velcro shoes too. 🙂 Cool! Can he walk on walls? ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/12 "2011-12-28T11:52:19Z")
I’ve got one! My watch itself is a lovely Citizen EcoDrive, very simple … just a horizontal oval pearl dial with a roman numeral XII at the top, and gold dots at the 3, 6, and 9 positions. No second hand, no day/date window. The watch is surrounded by a clover-leaf-like design of chrome, overlaid with another clover-leaf-like band of Swarovski clear crystals. Very elegant. It came with a black silk strap band that wore out after a year. I could not find a replacement (from Citizen or elsewhere), so the spouse found “shoulders” (for want of the correct term) made of Japanese sterling that are a Black Hills gold knockoff design with red coral and turquoise accents. These are held together by … my silvertone Speidel Twist-O-Flex band 😃 It would have been easier to shoot & upload, a photo, I suppose :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/13 "2011-12-28T12:04:50Z")
RE: the above post. I should mention that he got the watch itself from Sportsman’s Warehouse at a very deep discount. The Japanese parts and the Twist-O-Flex (and about a dozen leather bands in different colors) were gotten on eBay. He’s Scots-Irish, which explains it all. And he got all these wonderful bits together for me, because I had been whining that the battery in my el-cheapo Timex had gone bad … true love! ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/14 "2011-12-28T13:22:17Z")
Is there an actual term besides “shoulders,” does anybody know? I have a watch I haven’t worn in 20 years because the clasp is broken and no replacement band will fit it. I took it to probably 10 different jewelry stores over the years. I love that watch too! I got it for my 16th birthday. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/15 "2011-12-28T18:05:52Z")
Watch band of the gods. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/16 "2011-12-29T00:13:58Z")
I have a very large watch (to go with my very large wrist, duh) which for some odd reason has normal-sized pins. After replacing more than a dozen pins over five years or so (having the watch fall off whenever the pins failed), my jeweler suggested we go with an expandable band. Five years later, I have yet to have a pin die. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/17 "2011-12-29T15:22:59Z")
Hate, hate, _hate_ expanding watchbands, Twist-O-Flex included. I have, in the past, used leather bands (not bad) and infinitely adjustable velcro bands from REI (also not bad, but oh-so-dorky), but my current favorite is the double-sided folding clasp on my Seiko. I can’t find a picture, but the double-sided clasp fits better on my skinny wrists than the usual Z-clasp found on most bands of the type. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/18 "2011-12-29T15:58:33Z")
My dad liked Twist-O-Flex watch bands. Maybe it was a '50s/'60s thing. When he got his Seiko Bell-Matic in '74, he kept the stock bracelet. But he wore a gold-tone Twist-O-Flex band on his Zodiac (before my time) and a silver-tone Twist-O-Flex band on his Vulcain Cricket. I don’t know what happened to the bracelets, but when I had those watches overhauled after he died I put Twist-O-Flex bands on them. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speidel-twist-o-flex/607406/19 "2011-12-29T16:35:06Z")
Last year when my grandfather died, I got one of his watches. It is on a Twist-O-Flex band and was for as long as I can remember.