49mm Navy Ocean Band - Natural Titanium Finish

Anyone else have their 49mm Navy Ocean Band - Natural Titanium Finish tear after less than eight months? It tore where the metal ring that has goes through the rubber. Apple wouldn't replace it, even with apple care. I wouldn't waste $100 on the band. Poor design. Did not expect such a pour design from Apple.

Apple Watch Ultra 2, watchOS 10

Posted on Oct 5, 2024 4:51 PM

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Apple Watch Hermes Series 11 configured with $$ Grand H bracelet- bad production batch?? I have owned Apple Watch Hermes editions in the distant past and jumped back on board with the current offerings. I started off with an Hermes Ultra 3 with the Scuba strap, which is "one size fits most" specified for wrist size (circumference) down to 155mm. I'm right @ 159-160mm and thought I would be OK, but disappointingly found the last punched hole still too big and so had to return it. I was also disappointed that the Hermes Ultra 3 did not include the (really cool) Orange Hermes Sport loop band or even all the Hermes AW faces- esp no Faubourg!) There were no AW Hermes edition variants to try at my nearest Apple store (45" drive), so I then ordered a Hermes AW Series 11 46mm case size with the beautiful (and $$ !) Grand H bracelet; similar problem with the MEDIUM size (specified for 160-175mm)- with both removable links removed, it was still too large(!). I also saw that the nice Hermes Orange Sport band included with the 46mm case is M/L (no S/M included like I have seen with Sport loops purchased in the past), which is much too long for anyone with a slender wrist that wants the larger case size, so would be a wasted extra premium band (and risk messing up if willing to try and cut shorter) I returned that and reordered the same Hermes AW Series 11 46mm but with the SMALL size Grand H bracelet (specified for 145-160mm); after removing 1 (of the 2) removable links, I was finally! able to achieve a good fit. As an aside comment, I noticed the Grand H bracelet is hallmarked (reassuringly) "Made in Switzerland" but only "Stainless Steel" (instead of 316L Stainless Steel) that I have seen with a AW SS Link bracelet I previously owned and could not find that specification marked on the bracelet or mentioned on apple.com anywhere, but on the "Need help choosing a band" link when configuring, at the very end of specifications for all of the bands available, there is a comment "Stainless Steel bands are not water resistant", which makes me wonder if though being a premium Hermes series (with premium price!), if the Grand H is a lower tier SS (not 316L) and therefore not as corrosion resistant ? So now on to the main reason for this post- I happily (and gently) wore the Hermes AW 46mm with Grand H bracelet (size S) for less than 2 days (mostly around the house) when while in the kitchen, I head something drop to the floor- the watch felt loose on my wrist and that is when I saw (with dismay!) that the R lower lug had fallen off(!!) causing the watch to almost fall off my wrist (and potentially damaged) ! I came to see that the attachment lug is 2 pieces that connect in the middle through the end link of the bracelet and are attached to the case connecting lug by the tiniest screw ever (with a proprietary head), which was fortunately still seated in place- it was coated with blu loc-tite which obviously did not do the job holding things together. I therefore had to return this watch as well, quite disappointed with a design with such a precarious point of potential failure. I still really wanted this watch but the Apple Store expectedly did not have one in stock for exchange, so with a bit of trepidation, I ordered another one from apple.com Same story!!- wore it (extra gently) for about 2 days, heard (fortunately) something drop to the floor (while in the kitchen again) and had the same problem !! So now I have been through two (2) of this ($2000) configuration (46mm Hermes AW Series 11 Grand H bracelet-S) which failed within days of gentle use- hardly a premium product experience ! I earlier today posted this purchase experience on macrumors.com and literally within 1 minute, another user posted about the same post-purchase experience with 3 (!!) of these expensive Grand H bracelets (at least for the 46mm case) Has anybody else had this issue ? (or be warned if you are interested in purchasing this configuration!) [Edited by Moderator]
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49mm Navy Ocean Band - Natural Titanium Finish

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