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My Apple Watch band gave out before year two - and it could've been bad

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The weak link! Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

My Apple Watch Ultra 2 is, as of today, 626 days old, and apart from charging, it has been on my wrist pretty much continuously. It's accompanied me on many an adventure, been in several countries, found itself deep inside loads of car engine bays, been covered in dirt and mud, and it still looks like new.

Regular readers will have seen it in countless photos here on ZDNET.

But the other day, something broke, and while it wasn't serious, it could have been really bad.

The band broke.

The attachment for the clasp broke off. Adrian Kingsley-Hughes/ZDNET

How Apple's own watch band failed me

Now, preempting the obvious question, yes, it was a genuine Alpine Loop Apple band. It was the band that came with the watch. And yes, it's been through a wash cycle a few times to freshen it up.

But other than being worn on my wrist, the band hasn't been abused in any way. I've hardly given it much thought over the months, to be honest with you.

A few weeks ago, I noticed that the adhesive holding down the end tabs was lifting, but I saw there was stitching underneath, so I didn't worry about it.

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