You ask for the opinion of the kind and knowledge people on this forum.

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And do not ask after you purchased!

 

is there a way to check the serial number?

 

Depends on the brand. A lot of manufacturers have no serial numbers.

 

I have called the watch company to confirm serial and whether or not it was stolen.

Bought an omega seamster online and called swatch group in Toronto to confirm the serial. They were very nice to tell me everything is legitimate.

In terms of methods to authenticate online purchases, a lot is reading the sellers feedback. Buy the person first. Second, try to get very detailed photos of the watch, usually the dial letters and numeral font are not always correct to the original, especially the numerals (ex. Close looped vs open looped 6), check for consistency. Sometimes, people ask for shots of the movement, and that's harder to fake. Look out for printed letters vs. engraved letters. High end watches usually use engraved rather than printed.

Lastly, google is your best friend, look for detailed photos of the watch you want to buy and just pay attention to every detail while comparing to the one for sale.

Hope this will provide some help

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Some fakes use real serial numbers obtained from web photos, so this method is not very useful.

 

Apply this to serial engraved on the watch like an omega. Serial is on the lug.

And your comment reminded me that recently, someone on the Canadian forum posted that an genuine Rolex sub came with a fake box set and paper with genuine serial... So beware of that as accessories cam fetch a good coin now days

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Research, research, research.

Research 1: The watch in question. Does the case and movement match? Is it a particularly popular vintage model that is fairly easy to fake (i.e., Rolex, with its ubiquitous design and difficult-to-remove caseback). Is it a watch company that is now thought to be high-end but at the time of the vintage watches wasn't (these motivate the unscrupulous to buy several cheap old watches, shine them up, and mix and match parts to make a watch they can sell to those wanting a high-end brand at vintage prices.) Is the quality up to the standard of the company? Is the movement correct for the markings it displays? Did that watch come with that movement? Are the case markings consistent with the movement and watch? I once saw a fake/marriage Ebel with a technical reference that indicated a different movement than what was in the watch. I have many other times seen used Ebel chronographs marketed as having Zenith movements (Ebel's caliber 134) when the case showed a caliber 137 (Ebel's version of a Lemania movement). It is wise to do this research as part of the hobby, before even looking for watches.

Research 2: The deal. Is the price reasonable for the watch? Is the provenance credible? "Too good to be true" usually is, unless you can study the watch itself with some expertise, or validate it with an inspection done at an AD. But I've never taken a watch to an AD for an inspection, and still bought many vintage watches with confidence.

Research 3: The seller. Is the seller reputable? This is not always easy to ascertain, but doubt caused by lack of data in this category is magnified by doubt in the two categories above, and slightly ameliorated by confidence in the two categories above.

I would avoid brands about which you have not done that research yourself. Many have posted photos here and asked for advice, but frankly that advice is often wrong. I've seen many watches that looked fine that were accused of having misaligned dial markers or dial paint on the edge of applied markers when it was really just the way the watch was lit, the perspective, or even distortions through a plastic crystal. I've also seen those who expect the perfection commensurate with the modern reputation of a company from a time when that perfection was not as easily attained. But I've also seen positive responses for watches with obvious mis-matches of components that I knew about because of my narrow expertise with that particular brand. Getting advice online provides only a little risk mitigation.

Rick "research, research, research" Denney

 

Wanted to revive this old thread with a slightly different question about authentication:

When authenticating through a third party agent: AD, Jeweler, Watch-Maker, which is most preferred? I came into possession a vintage watch, which I suspect is real based research; but can only go so far before I can confirm.

Also, being that it's an older piece, I'm not sure when the last time the watch has been serviced. Honestly, it's probably due for a service/over-haul.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

maybe send it in to service to the brand/mfr (assuming they are still in existence). If they service it and return it to you and don't throw it away, then you can assume it's genuine

 

There are a few things that you can do which should set your mind at rest.

The first is walk into a pawnbrokers and ask how much they will lend you on it, you could even raise the question of authenticity after they quote you a figure... This is not fool proof but generally Pawnbrokers will have a lot of experience in handling all brands and spotting anything not right because each time they lend money on something they are are risk of losing it if they can't spot a fake.

Some brands you can get an extract from the archive (they look into their records and check the details of the watch) and others who don't supply this like Rolex you can remove the end link and try to buy a replacement... this will cost you a minimal amount but they will check the serial and issue paperwork which kind of verifies that it isn't stolen etc.

 

Can you guys please tell if this is genuine or fake, thank you very much.
I'm new to this watch thing.

 

Can you guys please tell if this is genuine or fake, thank you very much.

No, we cannot.

If you have better and more photos, certain WUS participants may be able to determine conclusively that a watch is counterfeit; but it is virtually impossible to determine conclusively that a watch is genuine through photos alone.

 

The best thing to authenticate a Rolex or Omega is to go a trusted watch repair or authorized dealer. But you will need to have them open the case and inspect the movement. Also, i know people are swapping movements whether the movements are fakes or from different model. I have some friends who bought Vintage Rolex subs and they later find out the movemnt was not the original. This kills the value of the watch

 

I know authorized dealers for Panerai dont offer this service.

 

Need help to identify!!

Could someone help me identify the model number of this watch please. I would sincerely appreciate the help. I have been given this old watch from a family member and wanted to learn more about it

 

Could someone help me identify the model number of this watch please. I would sincerely appreciate the help. I have been given this old watch from a family member and wanted to learn more about it

This is very interesting and in no way suspicious at all!

What did your "family member" tell you about how and why they acquired this "old watch" ?

 

This quite helpful, thanks for sharing this post.

 

I been wondering the same. The problems I have is that there is no 1 clear watch directory (either in general or exclusively on their brand sites) to compare. I been looking at some vintages on Ebay and in alot of the vintage collections its very hard to find their authenticity via serial and model numbers. In a lot of the companies they generally don't even keep info on their older models.