Opinions on concern

MarcusP12

As some of ye will know, I have long term ambitions of owning a couple of trophy watches. My bucket list includes a breitling aerospace or maybe avenger and an omega seamaster professional (blue face) or maybe planet ocean or speedmaster....I've made a good start on my collection and have a Tag Aquaracer chrono quartz, Tissot PRC200 Chrono Auto, a Hamilton, a couple of seikos (auto and kinetic) and a g shock mudman....so i'm doing well I think.

Problem is to add breitling and/or Omega to the stable, its going to have to be second hand and probably online, e.g. chrono24. I like having options for watches so will never be a case of cashing in all my watches to put towards one bespoke piece. I'm sure this is the case with a lot of people so I've no real problem with that.

Which brings me to my query/concern. Replicas!!! Arrrrggg, taboo!! Now before mods shut me down, I'm not looking for opinions on the merits of them or where to source them. I know there are rules around them and that they are the unspoken evil of the watch world.

However, the reason I bring them into play is that I recently came across some article which was a buyer beware type article I think about how good replicas are and that the best ones come with sapphire glass, swiss ETA movements and were "indistinguishable" to the average punter in terms of detail and feel. Now don't get me wrong, I've no interest in owning a replica as such but why i'm raising the topic is because if i'm buying second hand online and possibly not from authorised dealers or from a random punter in spain or Germany, how the hell am I going to know that the watch that i'm paying serious money for second hand, is not one of these high quality replicas? Are replicas these days, that good that I won't be able to tell the difference and the first i'll know I've been done is when I go to get it serviced and johnny jeweller asks me if I know this is a replica?? I remember seeing an add on adverts of a guy selling a breitling and could clearly see that the guy was wearing an addidas tracksuit top in the photo. Now there's nothing wrong with that except my immediate impression was that it didn't fit with the image. Was it knocked off or maybe even fake??!! Apologies if that was any of you good boardsies and were just having a casual day but I hope people know what I mean!

Without asking anyone to break any rules around this taboo, how does one protect oneself from this? Is this a real concern? Are the replicas that good, i.e. will I know its a fake before its too late?

gerfmurphy

Fakes are that good. Right down to the using original parts from the replicated watch.
Buy the seller not the watch.
A reputable guy or gal wont risk their online presence for a quick few grand.
Rolex has to be the one to watch so avoid ones that do not have a trackable history.
You need papers ,warrenty cards etc. Where it was came from etc but Within reason. So if you are buying a 10 year old rado or steinhart it may not be as important to know exact history as a year old daytona.

893bet

Very few fakes are that good really. Most can be sniffed out easily. Do lots of research. If buying something like a planet ocean or submariner then there is a wealth of info regarding about tell take signs.

Papers mean little. Can be bought online for peanuts. Important to have for watch value but again unless you can recognise genuine papers they they over little in the way of authenticity. Check done deal for plenty of fake Rolex complete with fake watch and papers.

Buy the seller. If they are selling below its value then avoid. If a relative recently passed it on then avoid etc. Common sense.

Here is fairly safe. Adverts is ok. Use the resource here and ask. Make sure you get high resolution shots.

Join TZ-uk and take part, it is 99.9percent safe and again buy the seller!

Eoin

There are some pretty convincing fakes out there. Not most of them, but enough to give me pause.When you see the quality that some legit brands can do at a low price, it's easy to see how even people who fancy themselves as knowledgable can get done. Some brands and specific models are more susceptible to having more fakes made of them, and it's not just luxury brands either. The Tissot PRC-200 for example is copied, and copied well.

Buying the seller is all well and good, but there are instances where they've been duped as well to begin with and have no idea they're moving on a (good) fake. If you can find something on TZ that was bought new from an AD by the seller, then I think that's a solid enough choice. And the nature of that forum is that if you later find out it's a fake, the seller would be expected to sort out the problem.

Clareman

I think it's important to remember as well that a number of sellers won't realize that the item they are selling is a replica, so I would say get the watch reviewed by an approved reviewer and include this cost as part of the sale, if you are buying online I would say that you want to bring the watch to a local person on receipt and once they approve it the sale should be regarded as complete, up until then it should be regarded as "pending", I'm sure most sellers wouldn't have a problem with this once it was agreed in advance. I don't think it would be reasonable to come back to someone a couple of years later after you go to get the watch serviced to say "this watch is a fake" and expect your money back.

Clareman

By the way I would liken buying a highend watch to buying a car, both are very expensive and can have issues, it would be best to get them checked out before buying, I would either buy a car from a main dealers or if I was buying privately I would get a mechanic to check it out, I would do the same for a watch.

Cyrus

Clareman wrote: »

By the way I would liken buying a highend watch to buying a car, both are very expensive and can have issues, it would be best to get them checked out before buying, I would either buy a car from a main dealers or if I was buying privately I would get a mechanic to check it out, I would do the same for a watch.

who are you going to get to check a high end watch out in ireland? and are you as the purchaser going to bear the cost?

bringing it into weirs and having one of their sales people look at it is basically a waste of time, so what you really want is someone to open it up, an approved AD wont do that unless its as part of a service....

MarcusP12

Cyrus wrote: »

who are you going to get to check a high end watch out in ireland? and are you as the purchaser going to bear the cost?

bringing it into weirs and having one of their sales people look at it is basically a waste of time, so what you really want is someone to open it up, an approved AD wont do that unless its as part of a service....

Thanks for all the replies guys.....on this, on line dealers will hardly send a watch for authenticity check before payment?? Sounds like a bit of a mine field if you don't know what you're doing or you don't do your homework! If replicas are that good I wonder how many punters have bought watches in good faith and don't realise their pride and joy is a dud (relative to what they paid)...I'd like to think not many but what I'm guessing is that it does happen...

Cyrus

MarcusP12 wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies guys.....on this, on line dealers will hardly send a watch for authenticity check before payment?? Sounds like a bit of a mine field if you don't know what you're doing or you don't do your homework! If replicas are that good I wonder how many punters have bought watches in good faith and don't realise their pride and joy is a dud (relative to what they paid)...I'd like to think not many but what I'm guessing is that it does happen...

sent it to where? the manufacturer?

Doubt it, so either buy from an AD or use an online retailer that has an excellent reputation

if you are properly concerned about this then you bite the bullet, go into an AD or a Boutique and negotiate the best deal you can, no one is forcing you to buy from an online retailer.

MarcusP12

Cyrus wrote: »

sent it to where? the manufacturer?

Doubt it, so either buy from an AD or use an online retailer that has an excellent reputation

if you are properly concerned about this then you bite the bullet, go into an AD or a Boutique and negotiate the best deal you can, no one is forcing you to buy from an online retailer.

Cheers for the advice...fully aware that no one forces anyone to buy on line but the reality is there is such a poor selection of used options in store in Ireland...this coupled with how hard I would find it to justify paying new prices when I would like more than one means on line 2nd hand from reputable dealer is logical solution....even brand new, on line prices seem hard to beat from what I can tell...

Cyrus

MarcusP12 wrote: »

Cheers for the advice...fully aware that no one forces anyone to buy on line but the reality is there is such a poor selection of used options in store in Ireland...this coupled with how hard I would find it to justify paying new prices when I would like more than one means on line 2nd hand from reputable dealer is logical solution....even brand new, on line prices seem hard to beat from what I can tell...

well then the best advice i can give is use one thats properly reputable like watchfinder even if it costs a little more (should be ok with current £ rates)

they have a no quibbles return policy as well

Clareman

Cyrus wrote: »

who are you going to get to check a high end watch out in ireland? and are you as the purchaser going to bear the cost?

bringing it into weirs and having one of their sales people look at it is basically a waste of time, so what you really want is someone to open it up, an approved AD wont do that unless its as part of a service....

To be blunt, once I have a valuation that I can give to my house insurance company I'm happy

Cyrus

Clareman wrote: »

To be blunt, once I have a valuation that I can give to my house insurance company I'm happy

and what use will that be if the watch turns out to be a fake?

Clareman

Cyrus wrote: »

and what use will that be if the watch turns out to be a fake?

I guess there has to be a line you have to draw, if you want to be 100% sure of the authenticity of a watch you'd have to buy brand new from a AD, the line I would draw would be that if I was to lose/break my watch that I'd be covered by my insurance.