Audemars Piquet broken bracelet

[Watchprofessor123]

After 1,5 years of discussions and denial from Audemars Piquet's side, they finally had to admit that my Royal Oak bracelet was broken and irreparable. Their excuse: "Worn out after 12 years". Their only solution: A new bracelet. Price tag: 19,806 Euros!
My friend has exactly the same problem with her Royal Oak.

[kdqq]

I dont think this is real. There are tons of vintage royal oaks out there and I have never seen this.

This bracelet looks like its from a knockoff. Please share a full picture of the watch

[Watchprofessor123]

[PJ S]

Forget the Royal wedding, breaking news just in… “Expensive gold luxury parts are costly to replace!”

No doubt you’re fully aware that gold is a soft material, and relatively thin metal rubbing against relatively thin metal is only going to result in one outcome – material loss.
Lack of thorough cleaning will mean debris builds up, further exacerbating the problem due to acting like sandpaper.

[Watchprofessor123]

Fully understand, however, for a watch of this price and a brand of this pretention, I think 12 years is a bit on the short side for it to become unwearable and therefore rather worthless.
One of their own slogans:
"To break the rules, you must first master them". They should have said " To break the bracelet....:
If customers know this problem beforehand, I do not think many people would buy a Royal Oak any longer. By the way, my golden Rolex, which is older and worn more often, does not have any such problem.
In my opinion the Royal Oak is just a piece of inferior quality with a design mistake.

[Abdullasaif]

Its a 12 year old watch, if you look at the pre 15300 and the current ones AP have made changes to their bracelets and clasps

[Rachdanon]

Sorry, I don't own a gold bracelet nor a RO one, only the ROO one, but I fail to see from the pics how wear has resulted in the bracelet being worn to this extent. All I see are bracelet links spaced too far apart, and these cannot be some form of elongation through wear and tear over the years, but rather evidence of a fake bracelet.

What I do see are very rounded ages all round, suggesting the owner used this very expensive elegant watch like a tool watch without any care whatsoever over the years. Does a gold watch even look like that after 12 years of abuse who knows....nothing to compare with as hardly anyone treats a gold watch like that.

[kzm40]

To me, it's like taking a ferrari off road, and then wondering why its wrecked. Most would not abuse a gold watch in that way.

[capote]

Its not the age, its the milage...

[Betta01]

An eye opener thread indeed!
How a bracelet can be worn to this degree of damage is beyond my understanding..

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[AK797]

Reminds me better clean mine more often.

[tyler1980]

you can probably just buy another used one for less or at least fairly close. The entire watch, not just a bracelet.

Your entire case is a mess and over polished and rounded. AP didn't do that. That has independent service written all over it or its a result of taking very poor care of your watch.

[V25V]

Don't even know where to start with this....if this watch is real (not going to get into that), it looks as if it was totally abused and not cared for.


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[Tomas Eriksson]

That is a well loved and used RO you got there. 20 years of life from a gold bracelet is not bad (the serial date tells that it is rather 20 than 12 years).
RO-bracelets do wear out, the plots were there the friction is has a limited amount if material. Even my RO in steel that is only a few years old and have been used in rotation have quite the amount of play in it.

[holdtime]

Service the watch, sell the bracelet by weight buy a new bracelet.
solve.

[Watchprofessor123]

All you guys say is interesting, however, the official dealers and HEAD OFFICE of Audemars Piquet, wherever this watch has been for repairs and observation, have never spoken of any possibility that the watch is fake. So it is not! The official explanation of Audemars Piquet (with a hesitant delay of over 1 year), has been that it is simply possible for a watch like this to be worn out after 12 years. The AP experts at their HEAD OFFICE have not a mentioned a word about fakeness or neglect. So lets follow their own guidelines.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by Watchprofessor123

All you guys say is interesting, however, the official dealers and HEAD OFFICE of Audemars Piquet, wherever this watch has been for repairs and observation, have never spoken of any possibility that the watch is fake. So it is not! The official explanation of Audemars Piquet (with a hesitant delay of over 1 year), has been that it is simply possible for a watch like this to be worn out after 12 years. The AP experts at their HEAD OFFICE have not a mentioned a word about fakeness or neglect. So lets follow their own guidelines.

12 years as stated earlier is most likely not correct. Did you buy it second hand 12 years ago? Its an E serial number watch which ranges from 18 to 24 years old roughly. The rest of the chart on the new serials is not up to date.

A Series - 1972 to 1975
B Series - 1976 to 1979
C Series - 1980 to 1986
D Series - 1987 to 1994
E Series - 1994 to 2000
F Series - 2001 to 2005
G Series - 2006 to 2010
H Series - 2011 To Date

https://www.rolexforums.com/showpost...98&postcount=3

What does your paperwork that came with the watch say?

[holdtime]

Gold is very soft,look at pictures from Rolex day Date. after a few years they show mayor stretch.
Melt the bracelet get new one, and service the watch.that is what i will do in you shoes.
You will have at least 10 years.Make sure the bracelet is size properly

[Watchprofessor123]

Thank you all for the advises. The 12 years estimate came from AP at that time. Actually the serious bracelet problems already started coming to surface in the year 2000, by simply breaking off. And my friend has a similar problem!
My point is only to make it known publicly that Audemars Piquet has done everything she could to avoid confirming to me that he bracelet was simply worn out. So buyers of an Audemars Piquet Royal Oak should simply be prepared to face the problems with the bracelet after a certain period. This aside from the burden of servicing the watch every 3 years at about 1,500 Euro's. Otherwise the time piece will simply stop running.

[Rachdanon]

If its true that the links can stretch to this extent, then the moral of the story for me is don't buy a gold bracelet, unless the plots/rods holding the links use steel or other stronger material.

[Peterandwatches]

Yikes on the price. Maybe just put it on a leather strap and enjoy the piece.

[lapince]

Originally Posted by Watchprofessor123

Actually the serious bracelet problems already started coming to surface in the year 2000,

So the watch is clearly not 12 years old if problems started in 2000, it's at the very least 20 years old, probably more

[singe89]

Originally Posted by Watchprofessor123

So buyers of an Audemars Piquet Royal Oak should simply be prepared to face the problems with the bracelet after a certain period. This aside from the burden of servicing the watch every 3 years at about 1,500 Euro's. Otherwise the time piece will simply stop running.

Bracelets are subject to wear. We dont know the exact age of yours, how it was worn or cared for. I for one dont have a problem buying a new SS bracelet for around $2,200 or 18K for low $20k after 20+ years of daily wear.

And the watches dont "simply stop running" if you dont service them every 3 years. AP recommends every 4-6 years and they could go longer depending on wear/accuracy. Pricing is $930USD for simple 3 hand movement and $1,350 for chronos and usually takes 4-6 weeks.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

What does your paperwork that came with the watch say?

Originally Posted by Watchprofessor123

Thank you all for the advises. The 12 years estimate came from AP at that time.

again what does your paperwork say? This entire situation looks worse than it is because you are, or appear to be ,underestimating the age of the watch by a lot.

[Tomas Eriksson]

Originally Posted by singe89

Bracelets are subject to wear. We dont know the exact age of yours, how it was worn or cared for. I for one dont have a problem buying a new SS bracelet for around $2,200 or 18K for low $20k after 20+ years of daily wear.

And the watches dont "simply stop running" if you dont service them every 3 years. AP recommends every 4-6 years and they could go longer depending on wear/accuracy. Pricing is $930USD for simple 3 hand movement and $1,350 for chronos and usually takes 4-6 weeks.

A side note, a SS bracelet from AP is a lot more than 2200, otherwise agree

[SMD]

Originally Posted by Tomas Eriksson

A side note, a SS bracelet from AP is a lot more than 2200, otherwise agree

Can't speak to RO bracelet, but the ROO bracelet is about 2200. It was 2100 when I purchased it a few years ago.

[singe89]

Originally Posted by Tomas Eriksson

A side note, a SS bracelet from AP is a lot more than 2200, otherwise agree

Its around $2200 from Clearwater. Was just quoted a couple weeks back. Ordering one for my wifes RO.

[tyler1980]

Originally Posted by singe89

Its around $2200 from Clearwater. Was just quoted a couple weeks back. Ordering one for my wifes RO.

yeah... ive always liked to point out the price difference between buying an AP bracelet vs a Rolex bracelet when service cost come up. Its downright reasonable considering the cost of the watch it goes on

[singe89]

Originally Posted by tyler1980

yeah... ive always liked to point out the price difference between buying an AP bracelet vs a Rolex bracelet when service cost come up. Its downright reasonable considering the cost of the watch it goes on

Totally agree. Its actually kind of a bargain considering the hand finishing and the cost of the watch itself. I've always liked how AP is so open to selling straps, plots, buckles, bracelets, etc that didn't originally come on the watch. Just wish they would do it with ceramic bezels and crowns/pushers.

[SearChart]

Just another case of worn too loose and not thoroughly cleaned frequently, very common in gold and two-tone Rolex bracelets as well.

If I were the watchmaker who had this on the bench I'd quote you the exact same thing...