DD's watch has gone through the washing machine - should I replace it?

[Melpomene]

My dd2 is 6 and I gave her a watch for Christmas. She has been proud of it and it's helped her to progress with telling the time which she can do pretty well now.

The watch is 'water resistant' but not fully waterproof so she takes it off at bathtime and often leaves it lying around in odd places.

Today I did some laundry, including the sheets off her bed, and somehow the watch got in there and is now broken. I'm not sure if she left the watch on her bed or possibly if it was on the floor it could have got in there when I was sorting the laundry.

Generally she is pretty careless with possessions and quite often loses things or leaves them behind (she keeps leaving jackets and socks at school, for example). But on the other hand I haven't specifically told her to put the watch in a particular safe place.

I feel I'm partly to blame but she could have been more careful too.

So, what would you do?
Should I replace the watch straight away?
Get her to pay a little towards the replacement (She has some saved up pocket money)?
Make her wait a while before getting a replacement?
Or something else?

Oh dear. Does she know yet? I would probably replace it on the sly and give her a lecture about how it 'almost' went into the wash and that it would have broken.

I think I'd just get her one for her next birthday. A six year old doesn't really need a watch, so it's like a toy that's got lost or broken, which you probably wouldn't replace.

But if she wants one badly enough to put her pocket money towards it then yes, I'd make up the difference.

I'd use it as a way of explaining why things need to be kept safe and like wahwah said just replace it but say she needs to be careful.

My friend's little sister nagged her mum for an ipod for ages and finally got one when she was 13. She lost it and was too scared to tell her mum, so when asked if she was enjoying her ipod would say things like "yes, it's great thanks! use it all the time". Her mum had found it in her jeans pockets and had rescued it before the wash and was waiting for her DD to own up .

Thanks to all who replied.

I decided to go with getting her to pay something towards it from her savings and topping it up myself.

She then went to look for her money, and announced that she has lost all her money. (She says she put it in her jewellery box and now it has gone. I searched her room but couldn't find it.) :(

She loves putting things in little boxes, purses and bags and I've told her before to choose one safe place for her money but she keeps moving it around.

So, no new watch until she finds the money or saves up some pocket money.