Parts of a Watch Band – Strap, Buckle, Links and Clasp

All 11 parts on the diagram

Show the list

Leather strap 6

Strap A watch strap, band or bracelet straps a wristwatch onto the wrist. Straps are made of leather, plastic, rubber, cloth or metal.
Buckle A watch strap closes with a buckle or a folding clasp. The traditional kind, with a pin, is called a tang buckle.
Tang The pin of a tang buckle is called the tang. A parts catalog sells the same pin as a tongue.
Keeper (loop) With the watch buckled, it holds the loose strap end in place. A lost or broken keeper can be replaced.
Lug The lugs are the projections on the watch case. They hold the spring bars, and so the strap or bracelet.
Spring bar A thin metal bar with spring-loaded ends, mounted between the lugs. It anchors the strap to the case, so a worn strap can be taken off and replaced.

Metal bracelet 5

Bracelet A bracelet is a metal watchband, usually stainless steel.
Link The links are joined by pins. Adding links lengthens a bracelet; taking them out shortens it.
Pin A pin through each joint holds the links together. A tool pushes the pin out so a link can be taken off.
End piece It holds the metal band to the case. It hides the pin between the lugs and gives the join a finished look.
Folding clasp Also called a deployant clasp or deployant buckle. It opens and closes on hinged extenders. On a butterfly clasp the two ends fold over into the center.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it: Wikipedia, Watch strap, text only (watch strap, watch band, watch bracelet; buckle or folding clasp; the spring bar as a spring-loaded double-ended pin that anchors the strap to the watch case; metal straps of stainless steel; folded link, pushpin and screw-in styles; folding clasp, deployant clasp, deployant buckle, butterfly clasp); the glossary of Gene Stone, The Watch (2006), https://archive.org/details/watch0000ston (lugs, spring bar, tang buckle and its tang, deployant or folding clasp, strap or bracelet); Donald S. McNeil, Jewelers' Dictionary (Jewelers' Circular-Keystone), https://archive.org/details/jewelersdictiona0000dona (keeper, spring bar, lug); the watch band parts pages of a watchmakers' supply house, https://www.esslinger.com/watch-band-parts/ (end pieces, strap keepers and loops, buckles, spring bars, band pins, links, fold-over and deployant clasps); two watch tool and parts catalogs, https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5796479 and https://archive.org/details/manualzilla-id-5725154 (friction pins and bracelet pins pushed out of watch bracelet links, end pieces, keeper and loop packs, buckle with spring bar and tongue, folding clasp); and Bragonier and Fisher, What's What: A Visual Glossary of the Physical World (1981), https://archive.org/details/whatswhatvisualg00brag (watchband or bracelet, link, spring-bars). The books and catalogs were read through archive.org's full-text search. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's design, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

Watch band parts come in two sets. A leather strap has a buckle, a tang and keepers; a metal bracelet has links, pins, end pieces and a folding clasp. Both hang on spring bars between the lugs.

Read the full guide

The strap first, then the bracelet

Numbers 1 to 6 are on the leather strap. The short piece carries the buckle, its tang and two keepers. The long piece, with the holes, is pulled away from the watch, so the spring bar shows between two lugs. Open the second drawing for 7 to 11: the end piece against the case, the row of links that makes the bracelet, one link lifted out beside its pin, and the folding clasp, drawn closed in the row and open above it.

A keeper is also called a loop; suppliers sell replacements for a lost one.
Deployant clasp and folding clasp are two names for the same fastening.

Questions and answers

What are the parts of a watch band called?

On a leather strap: the strap, the buckle, its tang and the keepers. On a metal bracelet: the links, the pins that join them, the end pieces and the clasp. Either kind is held to the watch by spring bars between the lugs.

What is the pin that holds a watch band on called?

A spring bar: a thin metal bar with spring-loaded ends that sits between two lugs of the watch case. A tool presses one end in to release it, so a worn strap can be replaced.

What is the loop on a watch strap called?

A keeper. It is a band round the strap near the buckle that holds the end of the strap in place. Suppliers sell replacement keepers, also called loops.

What is the difference between a watch strap and a bracelet?

Watch strap, watch band and watch bracelet are all used for the band that holds a watch on the wrist. One watch glossary keeps bracelet for a metal watchband, usually steel or gold.

What is a deployant clasp?

A folding clasp: a buckle that opens and closes on hinged extenders. One watch glossary says it is easier to fasten than an ordinary buckle. On a butterfly clasp the two ends fold over into the center.