Which is the best and most simple method to check if a watch is a fake?

[shou.biao.kuang]

Bro, seriously??? In that case, opening up the watch is a must then! I get worried.

Yes it happened before! no kidding! one of the incidents was the dealer bought it at an auction and later realized that the parts were not originals, hence they quickly sold it off without the knowledge of the buyer of course! Not many of such dealers but there are some out there who are unscrupulous

Trust only yourself (and of course RSC!)

[quacker]

mr Quacker, you sounded like you just bought one.haha

Yes indeed, which was why I started this thread.

To share my experience, I bought a BNIB Rolex from a reputable seller - a fine and friendly gentleman. Both parties agreed to deal at RSC, so no problems whatsoever.My deal went on smoothly so no complains whatsoever and I must state here that my thoughts/queries here has nothing to do with the seller. The seller was most accommodating and reasonable.

So the deal is the watch will be send for authentication. Normally (I stand corrected), the buyer pays the seller as soon as the watch is sent in for authentication and of course the buyer pays for the cost of authentication. I was advised that if the authentication fails, then the deal is cancelled. I have two questions - (i) I was informed by RSC that the authentication will take half a day, so, is it reasonable to expect the seller to wait that long? (ii) if the Seller does not agree to wait for the result of the authentication, what happens if the authentication fails? Money has already passed to the Seller.

While I have read many advice in this forum from moderators and bros, it seems that the safest bet would be to open up the watch and I strongly agree with that. And while I have also heard of instances where the exterior of the watch is original, the watch movement may have been changed and replaced with an ETA or old or damaged original movement (from old watches) I have never encountered such incidents.

To cut the long story short, if the Seller agrees to authenticate the watch but you choose not to, please don't blame the Seller should you discover something unpleasant in the future. By then the argument that the Seller has sold you a fake watch no longer holds water. As the saying goes, a stitch in time saves nine.

And on a separate note, even if a watch is sold in BNIB condition with stickers intact, it pays to examine the watch closely and carefully for scratches.

[quacker]

i) unless the seller is a retiree with nothing better to do, no one will accompany buyer to wait half a day at rolex center
ii) once money is passed to seller, deal is done - you will almost never be able to recover the money

to counter i) and ii), very simple - buyer pay seller a NON-REFUNDABLE fee (unless if rolex center verify watch to be fake) before handing watch to rolex center for verification. this fee is additional to the agreed price of the watch - it is to compensate seller for his time

seller then wait with buyer at rolex center while seller (who is at this point still the rightful owner) submit watch to rolex center staff

3 possible scenario:
1) if watch authenticated 100% genuine, buyer pay rolex center the fee and pay seller for the watch (buyer get his watch authenticated and seller get paid for his time)
2) if buyer at this point back out of deal, buyer pay fee and seller makan the non refundable fee (seller dont waste his time and dont waste $100 for the authentication)
3) if watch verified fake by rolex center, seller pay fee and return x2 non-refundable fee to buyer for wasting buyer's time (buyer dont waste his time and authentication fee)

above terms and conditions must be written in black and white, signed (preferably with third party witness), before even meeting up at rolex center

btw i like your last point about close examination - even brand new watches with all stickers intact can have hairline scratches!

1) I don't think anyone would want to pay more than the price of the watch itself plus authentication cost.
2) Even if you are willing to compensate Seller, I don't think Seller is going to wait half a day or even more for the authentication process.
3) Once money is paid to Seller, Seller will say bye-bye, good luck take care.
4) If a contract can be drafted, then there is no need for the scenarios. Everything can be captured in the contract.

See if the scenarios painted works then come tell us!

[caroland]

put the fake in running water and after that put into a pail of water. fakes are afraid of water

[quacker]

Some buyers like to be accompanied by sellers to rolex center and wait with him half a day

Will u entertain such requests

To wait for half a day? I don't think so.

If I am the Buyer, I certainly would like the Seller to wait but not if I am the Seller.

That said, if a watch is sent in for authentication at 10 a.m. sharp the waiting time maybe half a day but if a watch is sent it after 1 p.m., it will usually have to be collected the following day.

[quacker]

put the fake in running water and after that put into a pail of water. fakes are afraid of water

But the water test will be time consuming? Prefer a faster approach

[caroland]

But the water test will be time consuming? Prefer a faster approach

some fakes use lousy movements, shake it to hear...sound is very obvious.
Best is to get rollie from local AD, you will get a peace of mind and higher resale value.
Nowadays, fakes got nice bracelet that you cant even tell.( not even pawnshop)
Local AD still the BEST, unless you really know the seller well.
Hope it helps.

[quacker]

some fakes use lousy movements, shake it to hear...sound is very obvious.
Best is to get rollie from local AD, you will get a peace of mind and higher resale value.
Nowadays, fakes got nice bracelet that you cant even tell.( not even pawnshop)
Local AD still the BEST, unless you really know the seller well.
Hope it helps.

Agree with you that if money is no concern, AD is best. But why local AD? Overseas AD also ok what?

That said, so far have not heard of any scams going around in this forum and besides the prices here are cheaper compared to AD. For poor people like me, I guess, every cent counts ... haha.

[caroland]

Local AD with receipt will fetch high value, same as branded bags.

Take a look at buy/sell forum, Overseas AD watch for sure is always cheaper.( at your own risk)

[quacker]

Local AD with receipt will fetch high value, same as branded bags.

Take a look at buy/sell forum, Overseas AD watch for sure is always cheaper.( at your own risk)

Understand the point you are trying to make. But the reason behind it? To me, a watch from any AD, be it local or overseas is equally good. Only difference is that people (locals) who buy from local AD will have to pay GST.