Is there a vintage Blancpain FF expert here who. can tell me if this watch being auctioned on eBay is authentic? I’m interested to bid on it. Thanks. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Early-1950...283290?hash=item2f2ec7689a:g:HFYAAOSwrIpcqklbPurchases made through these links may earn this site a commission from the eBay Partner Network
Please post a picture not just a link. In two years time someone may need this thread and a link will be useless.
The minute hand sticking out beyond the minute track would suggest that the hands at least aren't original
Most people know "something" , the trick is to realize when you don't know enough. It's thinking you know enough that gets people ripped off on eBay. Unless I can truly afford to flush the money down the toilet I don't bid on eBay unless I'm 100% sure off what I'm buying. The sellers assumption that because he's never seen another one like it means it's a prototype is just wishful thinking. In the real world, it's a 70 year old watch that's seen a lot of use and has at some point had an honest bit of refinishing to refresh its condition. Work likely done during a regular service to please the original owner. Now it's labelled a dreaded redial and that hacks a huge chunk out of the value.
It’s really not difficult, with modern software to take accurate clear photographs, if selling a high end watch But apparently this Seller conspires to defeat that notion…? Interesting very ‘puffy lume’…inflated by either time,… or complete bullshit
I’m less skeptical than some here, but still some things don’t quite stack up. My gut feeling is that the bezel is good (although I couldn’t be sure without checking further), and the fact the fifty fathoms text is raised on the dial is a big positive for originality. I think the back looks good too, as does the rotor and maybe dust cover. All of this comes with the caveat that it’s from memory, and I’m not really an expert on these. The hands look too new, but there are a lot of original NOS hands around for the last few years. I know that as I have a few. Maybe it’s been put together ? There’s another 3 digit s/n that’s quite well know I’ll go and find the links. So look here... a watch I know well. https://www.fratellowatches.com/notable-sale-the-earliest-blancpain-fifty-fathoms/ There are some things that stand out immediately. The second hand also runs past the track, and the dust cover doesn’t have an indent. I’ll give it a better look after lunch !
If you state it’s a prototype (rightly or wrongly) you must know something about watches. If you know something about watches and it is what’s its purported to be, you sell it via Phillips.
The earliest fifty fathoms have a triangle mark on the 15 min, which I find to be one of the tells for an early FF. Here is the eBay listing minute track: A rather odd looking 15. Also note the very glossy and fresh looking hands. Case, caseback, movement, hands are proper, but I believe it was put together to create this “prototype” with a suspect dial. Added gay freres bracelet to add some sort of legitimacy. I’m not an expert, but this is based on my simple findings.
This was what I told OP in private. That if they know what they have their hands on, it would go through a proper auction house because of its “rarity” so to speak — and not on eBay. The seller also has 0 selling feedback, which raises a red flag.
Over the years a lot of watches have been discounted as fakes or put-togethers, only for new information or further examples to come to light that proved they were correct all along. Now I’m not saying this is right, but how can we generalise about things like the triangle markers at the quarters when there are so few examples. I think there are something like only 3-5 known ones with 3-digit SNs. So nobody really knows, and without knowing I don’t see how an auction house like Phillips would sell it in a flagship sale. Which leaves eBay as a perfectly good place to sell examples like this. I’ve certainly seen FFs exceed $60k on eBay so why not ?
So you wouldn’t have bought the (then) earliest known example of a FF that is in the Fratello link above. That was with a new seller with zero feedback. Caution is fine, but fortune favors the brave... sometimes