schyun
1
Happy Sport Oval Stainless Steel strap that broke twice in a year
Hello, I am hoping that people could give me some advice based on their experiences with Chopard and stainless steel bracelets. I got a Happy Sport Oval Face with a stainless steel strap a year ago, and I suspect that the design itself makes the bracelet very fragile and prone to breakage since it two bracelets broke in less than a year. I bought the watch from Cortina Millennia Walk in Singapore and the screws fell off in two places and broke off several links. So it went back to Switzerland (via Cortina, then Chopard) to get an entire new bracelet. This took about three months, and although bracelets are not covered by warranty, Chopard did not charge as they admitted the first batch was due to a manufacturing defect. However, this too breaks in a few days even though it is only worn gently. (no physical activity, sports, housework, children or any other strains on the strap). So in total, the watch is now with it's third strap and has been in repair for more than half the time of my ownership. I am afraid to risk another defective strap since each time there is a chance that I may damage or lose the watch, in which case no number of offers to fix the strap will help me!
The unhelpful watch dealer Cortina has told me to liase with Chopard directly on any further enquiries...but the best both can offer is further repairs should the strap need to be replaced for the third time. I've never had problems like this with steel bracelet for my Rolex, Cartier or Tag...so I suspect it may be just for this Chopard oval model that has unstable links. (see attached pic) I don't want a leather or rubber strap for this model, since I personally like it ONLY with the steel and if I wanted a rubber or leather strapped watch I would have gotten another brand.
I am hoping Chopard will let me exchange it for one of their other models that have sturdier straps...or even a rubber one. The Round or Square face bracelets have tighter links, so it may be more stable. What do you recommend I should do? What can I realistically expect for them to agree to compensate?
Thank you for reading and I look forward to your comments!
