Counterfeit lesson, how much have you learned here?

Sellers description:


CLEARANCE-Watchmakers Estate- One Men's Vintage 1968 OMEGA **CONSTELLATION** AUTOMATIC MODEL 564, 24 JEWELS, QUICK SET DATE, PIE PAN DIAL...!!! PRISTINE CONDITION...!!!Has been Completely SERVICED...!!! An Extreme find for such a fine wristwatch.

LOW RESERVE-BID WITH CONFIDENCE !!. (Check my FEEDBACKS on the quality & professional detailing that I do on my watches-very many HAPPY & SATISFIED CUSTOMERS !!)

 

What are the signs? Apart from the obvious one like the crown.

 

The case back looks very suspicious to me

 

Yeah, that's true...





Mine's the top one..

 

Seems to be the same counterfeit dial described by Desmond, and probably the same case too.

http://users.tpg.com.au/mondodec//Counterfeit_Omega_Constellation_Cases.pdf

 

Yes, but there some other problems with the watch in question...

 

Inside the case back looks engraved, not stamped?

 

These things are getting SCARY good. It's down to nitpicking some relatively minor details. Every time I go to strap on one of my Connies I thank the Watch Gods for looking out for me.

 

Stars too close to the rim on the caseback? Elongated, flabby observatory?

 

Nice fake As good as it gets

 

The most glaring issue is the ref 14900 case is for a NO date cal 551 movement.

 

I don't know that parts not being the same colours is a really accurate method to determine a franken movement. These are old movements, and sometimes the plating is in bad shape. The plating on these older movements wasn't the best really...it's very common to see movements where the plating is intact on some parts, and missing on others. That's is what I see here (brass showing through in some spots), and in addition the movement appears to be dirty and has seen some water.

When I service a movement like these old Omegas, I always check the condition of the plating - if it appears to be suspect, I clean off any plating that is loose. If I don't, it will migrate to the jewels and stop the movement - I've had that happen once before. Often the plating comes off differently on different parts, and sometimes even areas of the same part the plating will come off on one area, and be solid as a rock on another (possibly not applied well at the factory).

It may indicate a movement that isn't in the best condition, but not necessarily a franken movement in my view.

Cheers, Al

 

inside case back markings applied via laserengraving..... best sign of a fake..... achim

 

Achim, do you have pics of original case back

 

not here; easy to spot laser engraving...... kind regards. achim

 

This is caseback from my Connie C case cal 1011. OK so the original have thicker and curved edged font because it was stamped.

The fake is thinner and higher precision because of laser engraving. Definitely it looks very modern.

 

Feel free to use whatever method you like for determining if a watch is legit or not. I am simply saying that there are common reasons why a movement may have different colours on it, and not typically because it's a franken movement.

As I said, it may indicate a movement that is in poor condition, which could be well enough reason to dismiss a particular watch, but it is certainly not a sure sign of a franken movement.

Regards, Al