Royal Oak Clasp Issue

[ralpie]

Hey, first post in this section.

I was listing my RO Chrono for sale a few weeks ago (I've since decided to keep it, due to selling some other stuff). And while taking photos, I noticed that the clasp was a bit looser than it should be. The same exact same thing happened to me with a Hublot Big bang a few weeks prior to that, and Hublot fixed it even though the warranty period had expired. The Hublot issue was functionally nearly identical to this issue.

If I had to guess, I'd say the spring on one side came loose.

So I took the ROC to the AP boutique in NYC to check it out- I was told it is safe to wear, and not to fix it until the watch needs a service. While I understand that this may be true, I do like my stuff to be perfect.

Can anybody recommend something that will fix this, short of sending it back for an 18 week (what the boutique quoted me) service?

Photos are below- I made it look a little worse in the photos by pushing down the clasp locking piece for illustrative purposes. You can not pull the watch off at this point without pulling the clasp down the normal way.

Thanks!

[diver2012]

I'd go back and tell them you want it fixing and that you don't want to wait (possibly 5 years) for the service.

Surprised they didn't just do it to be honest.

[Passionata]

That clasp looks very sad,
Even worse you got such a "service"from a luxury brand like AP.


Best
George

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[ralpie]

Originally Posted by diver2012

Surprised they didn't just do it to be honest.

Originally Posted by Passionata

That clasp looks very sad,
Even worse you got such a "service"from a luxury brand like AP.

Agreed guys, but a happy ending! I took the watch to a local watchmaker who I sometimes use for small repairs. He opened up the clasp- he showed me the tiny spring that was at fault and he had the exact size spring brand new ready to go in the watch. Spent about 20 minutes working on it and handed it back. "No charge this time, good customer" I tipped him about 1/10th of what AP likely would've charged me and now my clasp is much better- see below. In fact, the left side now springs slightly higher than the right, though it is imperceptible unless you're looking for it.

[bayerische]

Great!

Good outcome, and definitely better than 18 weeks with AP.

This is also great info, as I worry a bit too about the spring loaded mechanism in the clasp. Mine is quite stiff, which is good I guess, but I've been thinking "when will this spring burst?"

[kilyung]

Nice! I'd swap out the other side as well to avoid uneven wear.

[ralpie]

Originally Posted by bayerische

Great!

Good outcome, and definitely better than 18 weeks with AP.

Yes, much better- especially since the watch does not need a service right now!

Originally Posted by kilyung

Nice! I'd swap out the other side as well to avoid uneven wear.

Good idea, I was thinking that may be the right thing to do- I'll go back later this week.