I'm curious to know if what I have is a defective one off or are others in this forum also experiencing the same issue with their Forstner 1450 bracelets? I purchased the Forstner 1450 bracelet at the beginning of Oct 2021 and have been wearing it on my FOIS almost daily since. A couple weeks ago, I noticed that the bracelet was noticeably looser on my wrist than when I first installed the bracelet back in Oct.

Pictures 1-3 were taken a few weeks ago and show the separation and springy link failure between the 1st & 2nd link and also between the 3rd and 4th link.

Fast forward to last week and now the springy link has totally failed between 2nd & 3rd link as shown in pictures 4 & 5. The separation between the links are very noticeable whether you're wearing the watch or just laying it on the desk. In all these pictures, I was merely holding the watch head and the bracelet hangs with noticeable gaps between each of the failed links. I reached out to Forstner last week and a replacement bracelet was quickly dispatched and arrived today. Pictures 4-5 shows what a new Forstner 1450 bracelet looks like next to the installed bracelet with the failed springy links. My only concern is that the new bracelet will suffer the same demise in 2-3 months of wear.

I'm curious to see what other member's experience has been like with the Forstner 1450 bracelet.

Thanks to Forstner for the great customer service and sending me a replacement bracelet. Aside from the stretchy link failures, my FOIS has been a joy to wear with this bracelet.

 

I have the flat link version, and noticed that one of my spring links totally failed as well. (3 months old) Haven't emailed Forstner yet, will let you know what they say when I do.

 

Sounds like they need to work on those springs. At least they stood behind it.

 

Email them about the link failure and they will send you a replacement. One of the end links on my original 1450 didn't fit well and was a bit loose and they sent me 2 sets of endlinks too.

 

My biggest concern is what happens after the year warranty is over? Seems these springy links only last 2-4 months based on my experience and briguy according to his post above. I really wish Forstner manufactured the bracelet in such that you can remove the springy links if you didn't like them or if they failed later down the road. The way it's assembled, you can't seem to remove the springy links.

 

I understand, it's definitely not what you expected when you purchased the bracelet, seems like a serious quality issue. You can only keep returning them under warranty and hope that the quality improves.

 

Thanks for raising the issue - based on our experience thus far, it's a rare issue. We of course always continue to improve the quality of our products and stand behind our work. Don't worry about the year warranty expiring for this sort of thing - if the spring links fail, we'll take care of you.

 

OP, can you share pics of the replacement bracelet on your wrist showing the stretchy links side? I’m curious as to how snug you wear your bracelets and how much those links are extended in your normal use.

I’ve had the Forstner Flat Link for a few months and not experiencing any issues with the stretchy links (apples and oranges, I know) but I tend to wear my bracelets a little loose.

 

I've been wearing mine since my sons bought one for me for Christmas. ROI is pretty low for those boys, but they did get me a nice bracelet
I love wearing it and thanks @Forstnerbands for standing behind your products. Just one more reason I love OmegaForums. You mention something about a product and the owner of the company chimes in to let you know they will make it right in the rare case something goes wrong.

 

Comfort is all subjective. What's perfect for me may be too snug for you and vice vera. My ideal bracelet wearing position is to have the edge of the bracelet just touching the my wrist bone on my 7 1/8-1/4' wrist. I don't like my watches flopping around or sliding up and down my wrist. With the Forstner 1450 I originally sized it so that I have three screwed links on each side of the bracelet and the bracelet is in the outer most hole of the clasp.

See the pictures below for reference. First three pictures show the failed stretchy links and the last 3 pictures show the replacement bracelet. The new bracelet fits perfectly as it should and the stretchy links are not being pulled apart as the watch is worn on my wrist. Only time will tell how this new bracelet will wear and last. Thank you @Forstnerbands for promptly sending out the replacement bracelet. I appreciate the good post sales customer support and your comment above about Forstner standing behind their products beyond the year warranty.

 

I had the same issue after relatively little wear-- did contact FB about this along with a request for endlinks but no reply. Ended up removing the bracelet and going back to straps but may follow up now since I really liked the look and feel on my FOIS.

 

Directly email them is how I got a response and replacement bracelet. It's currently my favorite way to wear my FOIS besides the Omega nato. It's a very comfortable bracelet when the stretchy links work as they should by design. A little jangly but that's part of the experience with these vintage style bracelets.

 

Yes, please send us a message - apologies we missed it at first. We'll of course help you out.

 

Unfortunately after only a few months of wear with the replacement bracelet, the stretchy links have started to fail again. For context, this isn't worn daily and is part of my watch rotation.

 

Hi! I hate to chime in on these, but I wanted to share a few details about this exchange. I think your post omitted that we: (1) apologized for the rare issue; (2) offered to send you replacement links and informed you that we recently updated our manufacturing process to strengthen the stretch links; and (3) also offered to send you a new free bracelet in addition to the stretch links for the inconvenience. We have been in covid quarantine for the last week or so, but will send it as soon as we can. I assume that the delay was the impetus for your post, and omission of details regarding our exchange. All the best.

 

I had the same issue and Forstner sent out replacement stretch links. I am very well pleased with both the bracelet, and the response from Forstner.

 

Same for me. Only lasted about 6 months. Otherwise, I like the bracelet, though. I guess I should message them...

 

Great to see Forstner being proactive.
Tells me to buy their products with confidence.

 

You can assume whatever you want, but there was no impetus or ill intent in my post. It was merely to state the fact that the stretchy link has failed on the replacement bracelet after only a few months of wear. However, since you want to call me out on the 3 things above, then let me remind you that my follow up DMs went unanswered for over a week after your initial response. It's not like I knew the entire Forstner company was in Covid quarantine. And for the record, it took over 3 wks and a couple emails before anyone from Forstner responded to my warranty inquiry about the failed stretchy links on my original bracelet that started this thread back in January. I could have included that detail in my January post, but left that out. If you look above, you'll see that I have said nothing but positive things about Forstner despite the product issues. To be honest given my bad experience with 2 bracelets, I would rather get refund if I had a choice, but it seems Forstner would rather send me a replacement bracelet every few months. So please send me a replacement bracelet and the "updated" bracelet when you get those in stock, but do know that I will be posting pictures on this thread if and when those stretchy links fail on the replacement bracelets.

 

This is by no means to deny OP's problem with his bracelet, but personally I've never had an issue with my Forstner bracelets (I've got 3 for my Speedies, all with stretchy links) and I like to wear my bracelet snug. I think the purpose of stretchy links are slight auto micro-adjust when your wrist circumference fluctuates throughout the day and they shouldn't be used as a regular links. Maybe OP can try to add back 1 or 2 regular links and see whether it works out better.