It wasn't the watch that went first; it was the tongue on the buckle, although the strap was headed that way. The watch wtill works, but it can't be worn. This is the first to go from a batch of three, each of which cost under five dollars when bought at Walmart late last summer. All three have a patriotic theme. The one that just went has a red-and-white striped band and the face has a common graphic of a solarized head of the statue of Liberty, navy blue on a white background. The second one doesn't get worn as much. Its band has a white background, with a repeat pattern of American flags set at a 45-degree angle. Its face is in red, white, and blue and steals from Robert Indiana's American Dream series--five-point star with a wide-framed circle. I forget what the third one is, but I'll be wearing it as soon as I can find it again. Since the events of 11 September, when everybody broke out into patriotic garb, people have been noticing them and asking where they were found, but I suspect that they long ago sold out, at that price.