I found the Shoe Goo.
Tons of people. The Apple Watch is hugely popular, having more than $30 billion in sales in 2025. And you have plenty of other Smartwatches as well. Probably less people still wear a mechanical watch, but wristwatches as a category are very popular.
Someone is buying and wearing them. Have you looked at a jewelry counter lately?
Also, it’s a fashion accessory not just a timepiece.
Our current poll shows 16% of posters usually wear a dumb watch and 27% usually wear a smart watch. Unless some people wear both at once, that means 43% usually wear a watch, plus another 4-9% sometimes wear one.
Or, if you prefer the age-based poll, 56% of respondents at least sometimes wear a watch.
That should be a good choice.
I got a perfectly good fake fake Rolex (not to be confused with a real fake Rolex), that someone was getting rid of, for free! All I need to do is to replace the metal watch-band pin and it will be as good as new!
Sometimes regular old office staples work well to close a loop or flap on a sturdy material like this.
But it’s time to replace the watchband. You really don’t want a glued/stapled/sutured watch flying off your wrist; even a fairly successful repair probably won’t be good as new.
I think you’ve misunderstood the issue (or possibly I have). The watchband itself is fine. It’s the strap keeper (little loop that holds the loose end of the strap) that’s being glued. There’s no danger of the watch coming off.
There is a part of me that says if that loop is worn, how much of the rest of the strap is worn out. Really to break at a most inconvenient time.
I’d get a new watch band. YMMV
(I just looked. You can buy just the loop thingy. Pretty cheap esslinger.com)
I only ever buy the cheapie watches (you know, the kind that cost $15 and keep time about ten times more accurately than a Rolex), but in every case, the band has failed long before the actual timepiece itself.
How about just leaving the strap keeper off and use a couple of Velcro sticky back dots to hold the loose end of the strap?
Another idea; you can buy the strap keeper (also called a watch band loop) separately. From what I’m seeing in a Google search, these are often silicone but you might find a leather one to match.
Here for instance, is a watchmakers’ supplier listing for a pair of leather loop watch strap keepers for $2.95.
Sigh…
I’m a little confused - that’s not a watch strap that uses glue to secure it (i.e. it is not a strap for a watch with fixed lugs).
Are you talking about the keeper? The little loop of leather that keeps the end of the strap from flapping around when it’s on your wrist?
If so, you can just buy a new keeper for a couple bucks. Search for “watchband leather keeper”. They come in a variety of colors, materials, and sizes.
-On edit I see this has been mentioned (my fault for not reading the whole thread).
I did, thanks.
Since it’s not, er, structural to the watch, it’s really just a question of OP’s tolerance for compromise and appetite for trying stuff. Plenty of people would do nothing and live with the band flapping and plenty more wouldn’t consider anything other than the factory original installed by a jeweler. Some might simply trash the watch. I’m on Team OP: let’s see if we can’t get some more life out of it on a DIY basis.
I’d probably try some loops of shrinktube, maybe even bent aluminum (copper?) wire into some loops,l. Discarded inner tubes have been trending lately, lol.
Yeah a piece of duct tape would hold it nicely. Won’t look so good. But, ya know…needs must.
If it’s just the strap keeper that’s gone kaput, I bought some small O-rings at the local Lowe’s Depot for a couple of bucks. Since they’re rubber, they stretch to fit over the strap buckle easily, and there were 10 in the package. #9 is the size that fit my Casio strap.
These days you can buy some really really nice straps for not much more than the cost of the glue and your time to go get it.
See, the thing is that the watch is a little bit of a collector’s item. Sure I can buy a cheap strap at Fred Meyer, but it’s not the same as having an original one. I’ll try the Shoe Goo this weekend.
Yeah, I take your point, but I stand by the fact that nice leather straps are a commodity item these days. I have no problem wearing my cheap $20 black strap on my Navitimer in rotation with the $500 one from the factory. To my mind, it’s a beret alternative than a home glued repair that could fail and send the watch off to an unfortunate meeting with pavement. Or worse, a trip down the toilet.