AIBU in expecting a £600 watch to NOT be a throw away item?

[NannyRed]

My DH bought me a beautiful rose gold watch shortly before we married (4 months)

It’s a ‘quality’ brand ( Emporio Armani) he spent £600 on I, so it wasn’t cheap. I took it for repairs just before Christmas (so 5 years old) and it was sent away to EA for a new bracelet and glass. It’s just been returned with neither the glass or the bracelet replaced as “it’s too old”

Am I bu for expecting an Emporio Armani to be repaired?

The company dealing with this is Fossil and tbh I’m disgusted with the “here, take 30% off” sorry Fossil, I have a Fossil purse but I will never use you again

I don’t want money off of another watch, I expect Fossil to repair my current watch ( I had already paid £150) for the imaginary care.

I’ve found a replacement bracelet (EA) for £76 and will be taking my watch for independent repair, why do companies think we want to ‘throw away’ £600 watches as if they are a Timex? (The original ‘throw away’ watches)

I have a - less expensive - Tissot watch. I can't remember the retail price of it, probably about £300 but I didn't pay that much as at that time Beaverbrooks were doing tesco clubcard trade up at 3 times value. So my watch cost me £100 tesco vouchers.

Anyway. That was at least 7 years ago. The bracelet clasp broke just after Christmas. I took it to a local, independent jeweller. They charged me £95 for a new battery, replacement clasp and service.

There will be options out there for getting it fixed.

Your husband bought a fashion watch, £600 was the cost not the value.

THis !

Fossil make a lot of fashion brand watches. an Armani watch isn't a 'proper' watch so no, I wouldn't expect to wear it long term. Expect to pay thousands if you want a decent watch (and I'm not a watch snob, I have a few cheaper watches as well as more expensive ones).

600 quid is definitely expensive for a fashion brand. I would expect a 600 quid watch to last longer than 5 years.

I've worn a Tag watch almost daily for 12 years and it's needed nothing more than the odd battery and a clean. The glass is still pristine.

You don't have to pay thousands for a decent watch - you have do your research and buy one that is made by watchmakers and can be serviced every 2-3 yrs.

£600 for an EA watch?!!!!!???!!!!??? I’m jot surprised they won’t fit it - it’s more a high street sort of brand I think - like a MK or Coach brand? I don’t know. It’s a lot of money - what about an independent watch company? They might be able to fix it?

People seem to think that “designer” brand watches like Armani, Hugo Boss and Gucci are good quality, but unfortunately they’re not, despite the high price.

MK watches are well known for being shite too.

I wouldn't pay £20 for one.

A rule of thumb is buy a watch from companies that specialise in watches, not clothing but make watches as a side line.

This is very interesting.I have just been dealing with the same problem with an Armani watch here in Germany. My son (18 yrs) bought the watch the in April of last year .He had saved up the money himself from his job and spent Euro 280 .The winder broke off 9 months after purchase.I brought the watch back to the shop it was bought in with guarantee (of one year ) receipt etc .They looked at the watch and announced that ONLY the watch itself was under guarantee and not the winder , strap etc.I nearly lost it with them saying it was not good enough to sell something at that price and for it to break after such a short time and that we just have to accept it.I did also say to them that it used to be that a watch lasted a lifetime not just nine months.
They agreed to send the watch back to the manufacturers to have it looked at .We then received a letter stating that the repairs would cost Euro 150 because the winder wasn't under guarantee !Went back to the Emporio Armani counter at Kaufhof and there was no way that there would be a refund or any acceptance from Emporio Armani of liability oh and by the way we would also have to pay Euro 15 to get a broken watch back! they seemed quite surprised when I said I wasn't paying Euro 15 for a broken watch that could now only be thrown in the bin. Another comment was that they were only ' fashion watches' and that we shouldn't be surprised when they break!
It makes me just mad that they sell such junk to people who have worked hard for their money .Euro 280 is a large sum of money for my son and he was so proud of buying the watch with his own money. He basically bought complete and utter junk .Never again Emporio Armani .

Winder should come under guarantee, it is part of the workings - just shows you never buy a fashion watch. Waste of money.

Well I think it's dreadful

should a £600 watch be a throw away piece of jewellery?

if you paid £600 for a quality watch no it shouldn't

if you paid £600 for a designer name on a cheaply made fashion watch, yes I would expect it

@poster Walkingdeadfangirl no, it’s not too common. But, I was actually hoping to have my Emporio Armani watch bracelet replaced with an Emporio Armani bracelet, which I have sourced online. Sorry did my original question of “should a £600 watch not be a throw away item” confuse you?

Also agree with Seiko being indestructible - DH has a Seiko watch which I bought him for his 21st, over 25 years ago. It definitely wasn't more than £50 when I bought it as I was a poor student at the time. It's had new batteries, but that's it. Really dependable watch, but not "fashionable" I suppose.

Sorry OP, your mistake was assuming high cost means high quality. er.... sorry, did you missthe bit where I said it was a fucking gift? Not my mistake.

I think the problem is that the majority of the £600 went on the name, not the quality of the item.
Doesn’t matter how much you spent, the item is clearly not an item of quality and therefore is a throwaway item.

A quick google suggests that rose gold women’s EA watches are mostly in the region of £150 suggesting even more that your DH overpaid for your watch.

It is your mistake though OP... because the mistake isn’t in the buying of the watch, it’s in assuming that it shouldn’t be throw-away for that money. And that’s what you are posting about. So not really fair to be “fucking gift”ing at another poster.

@speakout, prey tell what brand watch you wear, as you obviously have a classy brand as opposed to a “naff brand”

*I DIDNT PAY FOR IT it was a gift from my dh, the watch works well, so I ve no issues with the engineering my issue is with the total lack of consideration from Fossil per repairs! 🤦‍♀️

( I had already paid £150) for the imaginary care.

Did you pay Fossil £150 for them to tell you that they can't repair it?

Your watch is 5 years old, it is a fashion line so I doubt it is production anymore.
Hence Fossil not having the replacement strap or glass to fit.
It is that simple.

A rule of thumb is buy a watch from companies that specialise in watches, not clothing but make watches as a side line.

Like Fossil Group. They're not the same company that make Armani clothing.

It's a bit of a crap rule of thumb.

at some of these comments! If I spent £600 on an item I would expect it to last quite a while!

I got my partner a Armani watch from watchshop (£89 down from £334) so maybe you could look in there Op for a replacement if you really can't get anyone to repair it?

I have a Chanel watch - the strap broke ( I caught it on something) and they fixed it for free.

Sorry your watch broke OP - hope you get it fixed

For all the lovely people asking about the £150 I paid. It was payment up front for the replacement strap/bracelet and glass. It was refunded. I don’t have issue with this. My issue is with the “we don’t carry that bracelet so throw your watch away”, when the bracelet is available on line.

The title of “Should a £600 watch be a throw away item” really seems to be too much for some more mumsnetters to comprehend. It’s not a fashion watch, but heyho, I’m sure all the people telling me they know better than I do 🙄