Authentication by Omega Service Centre

If I buy an Omega on the grey market I would want to get it authenticated. Ideally I would like this to be done by an Omega service centre.

My idea was that I would purchase the watch and then take it to one of the dedicated official Omega outlets and have them send it to their service centre for a 'service estimate'.

i.e. the service centre would open it up and check it is authentic, and then provide an estimate for service. If the watch is not authentic they would decline to provide and estimate I would then either get it serviced or just ask for the watch back and pay a fee for the inspection.

I asked Omega Australia via their website if this was possible. They replied but would not confirm if this was possible or not but instead suggested I approach the Omega outlet directly and request this.

I called the outlet and they said that they would only send it to the service centre if I was actually committed to getting the watch serviced. This would cost a minimum of A$1,300 and take 12 weeks.

I asked about just getting a 'service estimate' and they said this was not possible. I said that anybody bringing a watch for a service would usually want an estimate before proceeding since the total cost is not knowable in advance (like getting a car serviced). The rep just said you have to commit to the minimum service cost before they will send a watch to the service centre.

This is not really ideal for several reasons.

1. If the watch costs say A$5,000 then it is not likely anyone would want to spend 25% of the purchase cost just getting it authenticated.
2. The watch might only be a year old and almost certainly not in need of an actual service.
3. If it did need serviced but needed extra parts and labour and the costs was going to be A$3,000 then the buyer might not have the funds to proceed with the service anyway and might need the watch back as is.

I know that Rolex does provide a 'service estimate' option (since I have used it) where you can take a watch to them and they will send it to the Rolex service centre who will provide a 'service estimate' at a cost of A$150. If the watch is not authentic they will decline to provide an estimate.

I know that there are private service technicians who will provide an 'authentication service' but I have also read of mistakes being made and private watchmakers mistakenly authenticating fake watches,

e.g.


so it would be much better to get this done by an official Omega service centre, I think.

Does anybody have any different experiences with Omega providing 'service estimate'

Thanks for the replies; although I am not quite understanding the level of opprobrium.

I am not looking for the service to be free of charge.

Like I said in the OP I have used a similar service from Rolex, which is a paid service, so I am of course happy to pay for the time for the technician to inspect the watch at an appropriate rate.

The time taken to simply inspect a watch for authenticity is of course much less than the time required to do a full service so I would be looking to pay a fee appropriate to the time involved, which would hopefully be a bit less than the A$1,300 fee for a service.

What I am looking for is the best method for authenticating a grey market purchase. Omega Australia said they could not confirm if it was possible. The AD rep I then spoke to said it was not possible.

The purpose of the thread was to:

1. confirm if this is indeed the general case that Omega will not do any kind of authenticity checks and that I had not just been unlucky with the AD rep to whom I spoke
2. find out, if Omega will definitely not do this kind of thing, then what method do other buyers typically follow for authenticity due diligence when purchasing on the grey market

I am surprised if Omega does not provide such service since

1. It could be a decent revenue stream since inspection time is minimal
2. It would be an invaluable service to the Omega enthusiast community who are their fan base

Thanks for the replies. I am looking for a Speedmaster Reduced triple calendar and an Aqua Terra 8500 41mm

The Speedmaster should not be a problem as it is too complicated to functionally replicate, nevermind superclone and its low value makes it even less of a worry

I know the Aqua Terra gets copied and even supercloned with semi-authentic looking movements, so it would be the main concern. I think the clones have not replicated the jumping hour hand correctly on the 8500 so that might be a tell.

I am happy to self-authenticate if I can find the pictures of the movements and an explanation of the superclone visual tells. I will look into the references provided.

They are definitely putting freesprung balance wheels on the fake superclone Rolexes now.

Not sure about the ATs

If it is a recent innovation then it is probably 8900 movement clones rather than 8500, I guess

The OB I called said they could inform me of warranty status, if it was a valid number and what it went to. If they actually could or would, I never found out because the seller I was dealing with said "I don't give out serial numbers until the funds have been transferred." which is odd and shady. In this case, I was more concerned with it actually being under Omega factory warranty with filled out cards and being much below MSRP. Either it was genuine, purchased grey with suspect cards, or it was all above board. The seller's statement and attitude sent me away. I spent $900 more and bought straight from an AD. Easy.

Sometimes the deal just isn't as good as it seems once you get down to it. Buy the seller, do your own research. If you aren't comfortable with that or spotting fakes, maybe buying from private parties isn't for you. There are plenty of legitimate used watch dealers around.

^Refusing to provide the serial prior to payment sounds quite suspect if you have established your bona fides as a legitimate buyer.

The OB I spoke to actually offered to take a look at any purchase I made if I brought the watch to the shop and to give me an opinion on authenticity. Not a service centre verification but quite helpful.

Most of the online platforms like Chrono24 and EBay now have a window of opportunity to return items if they are not as described, so buying from private sellers rather than trusted dealers is a little bit safer than it used to be, I think, if you have a method of post-purchase authentication at your disposal.