It is purely coincidental that we should be discussing heels breaking away/off the sole when a year and one day ago, one of the most publicized heel failures in recent memory occurred when one of the Taylor Swift's Louboutins gave out during a concert in Rio. IIRC (I'm not a "Swiftee" by any stretch of the imagination!) she pulled the heel off of the sole and tossed it into the crowd. I am sure her Louboutins cost her well into the five figures which goes to show that price is no guarantee against heel failures. You would think that if one should spend such money on heels/boots, especially Louboutins, heel breakage would not happen. But as pointed out, price is no assurance against product failure - even Ferraris breakdown.