Bought a box of vintage watches - real or fake?

Foxfall · Tues. 8:40pm

After buying an omega for my partner in an estate sale I’ve been bitten by the vintage watch hunting bug. I bought this box of assorted watches and jewellery in an estate sale sight unseen for $100 (USD) online.

Is this worth taking to a watchmaker to get opened up to find some reference numbers?

I note that there is a hyphen in the “oyster-perpetual” which makes me think it’s fake.

It isn’t running and I did wind it but no movement yet, so I can’t see if it had that sexy smooth movement. The date does change if I do a full 12-hour wind.

ErichKeane · Tues. 8:45pm

Yep, that one is a fake. The lower text sticks out to me the most, and the 'gold' parts of the bracelet wearing off (they are actually gold links, not plated!).

Nothing particularly valuable in that collection, a few bucks a piece maybe. But that rotary isn't too bad. There are a few others that a battery change/cleanup might get you to a few tens of dollars total. The Oris in particular are neat, but non-top-tier ladies watches are basically valueless these days, to the chagrin of sellers/joy of lady collectors.

asrnj77 · Tues. 9:59pm

ErichKeane
Nothing particularly valuable in that collection, a few bucks a piece maybe. But that rotary isn't too bad. There are a few others that a battery change/cleanup might get you to a few tens of dollars total. The Oris in particular are neat, but non-top-tier ladies watches are basically valueless these days, to the chagrin of sellers/joy of lady collectors.

Lady collecting has been the downfall of many 😀

Dan S · Tues. 10:01pm

The Rotary might have a decent movement, but the case is in bad shape, with plating loss.

ErichKeane · Tues. 10:12pm

Dan S
The Rotary might have a decent movement, but the case is in bad shape, with plating loss.

I was trying to look on the bright side 😀

That white blank dial one is probably an FHF movement, I think I had a similar one at one point labeled 'crusader' that I chose not to work on. Otherwise, that looks like a 'junk drawer' sweep unfortunately. $100 is probably not far off from what you could get out of it. MAYBE see if the two hexagonal Oris watches could be combined to make something wearable.

Having done something similar (and even ended up with a similar looking fake Rolex!), it can be fun to just mess with a box like that though.

Foxfall · Tues. 10:19pm

ErichKeane
Yep, that one is a fake. The lower text sticks out to me the most, and the 'gold' parts of the bracelet wearing off (they are actually gold links, not plated!).

Nothing particularly valuable in that collection, a few bucks a piece maybe. But that rotary isn't too bad. There are a few others that a battery change/cleanup might get you to a few tens of dollars total. The Oris in particular are neat, but non-top-tier ladies watches are basically valueless these days, to the chagrin of sellers/joy of lady collectors.

ErichKeane
I was trying to look on the bright side 😀

That white blank dial one is probably an FHF movement, I think I had a similar one at one point labeled 'crusader' that I chose not to work on. Otherwise, that looks like a 'junk drawer' sweep unfortunately. $100 is probably not far off from what you could get out of it. MAYBE see if the two hexagonal Oris watches could be combined to make something wearable.

Having done something similar (and even ended up with a similar looking fake Rolex!), it can be fun to just mess with a box like that though.

Thanks for the help. It has been really fun and educational, so worth the hundy for me. I had hoped that the head might be a 1970s 6917 automatic non-quickset with a replacement bracelet. It is really beautiful regardless, so if I can get it to run, I will wear it until I find something nicer.

Sadly when I came across the auction it only had 10 hours left and I missed the in person viewing, so I just took the leap. I imagine a lot easier to tell fakes apart if you have a real one.

ErichKeane · Tues. 10:22pm

F Foxfall
Thanks for the help. It has been really fun and educational, so worth the hundy for me. I had hoped that the head might be a 1970s 6917 automatic non-quickset with a replacement bracelet. It is really beautiful regardless, so if I can get it to run, I will wear it until I find something nicer.

Sadly when I came across the auction it only had 10 hours left and I missed the in person viewing, so I just took the leap. I imagine a lot easier to tell fakes apart if you have a real one.

It can be, I've not seen a real datejust, but it is pretty clear from the printing. so seeing photos is pretty much all you need. In my case, the picture on the listing was blurry though 😀

IF that is like the one I had, it is just a cheap quartz movement inside of it. Mine probably would have run (it ticked when I put a power supply on it), but the rest of the watch was a bit beatup anyway.

Might be worth popping the back off and seeing if it is something you can get moving.

EDIT: Another dead giveway (other than the misspelling/mis-hyphanating of 'datejust'): The cyclops on a real one is MUCH more effective and the date will fill the window, for some reason the fakes never do a good job at that.

Foxfall · Tues. 10:32pm

ErichKeane
It can be, I've not seen a real datejust, but it is pretty clear from the printing. so seeing photos is pretty much all you need. In my case, the picture on the listing was blurry though 😀

IF that is like the one I had, it is just a cheap quartz movement inside of it. Mine probably would have run (it ticked when I put a power supply on it), but the rest of the watch was a bit beatup anyway.

Might be worth popping the back off and seeing if it is something you can get moving.

When I searched online about the hyphenated oysters-perpetual it told me that was a dial variation on older models and is now a collectors dial. And it has the T Swiss T which fits that time period. And it has the date magnification. So I got my hopes up.

I’ll probably take it to someone to get the bracelet off and back off to confirm it is a fake just for the full shame experience 😂 I’ll see if they can get it running.

ErichKeane · Tues. 10:38pm

F Foxfall
When I searched online about the hyphenated oysters-perpetual it told me that was a dial variation on older models and is now a collectors dial. And it has the T Swiss T which fits that time period. And it has the date magnification. So I got my hopes up.

I’ll probably take it to someone to get the bracelet off and back off to confirm it is a fake just for the full shame experience 😂 I’ll see if they can get it running.

Ah, interesting! That I did not know about the hyphen! I would still expect 'better' magnification and the bottom text looks goofy, but perhaps worth spinning the back cover off anyway.

Canuck · Tues. 10:40pm

Collect watches, not repairs!

Donn Chambers · Wed. 6:33am

ErichKeane
Yep, that one is a fake. The lower text sticks out to me the most, and the 'gold' parts of the bracelet wearing off (they are actually gold links, not plated!).

Nothing particularly valuable in that collection, a few bucks a piece maybe. But that rotary isn't too bad. There are a few others that a battery change/cleanup might get you to a few tens of dollars total. The Oris in particular are neat, but non-top-tier ladies watches are basically valueless these days, to the chagrin of sellers/joy of lady collectors.

I also noticed those two Oris watches! They were the best of the lot as far as I could tell, but are unlikely to sell for the cost of the lot, unfortunately.

Dan S · Wed. 6:42am

F Foxfall
I’ll probably take it to someone to get the bracelet off and back off to confirm it is a fake just for the full shame experience 😂 I’ll see if they can get it running.

I've never had a Rolex two-tone jubilee with gold-plated links.

Foxfall · Thurs. 5:16am

ErichKeane
Ah, interesting! That I did not know about the hyphen! I would still expect 'better' magnification and the bottom text looks goofy, but perhaps worth spinning the back cover off anyway.

While I was looking through the watches again, I found this Pierpont and while I moved it around it started running on its own! I can’t find much info about the watch online. I ran it through AI to see what the dial might have looked like originally. I really like the patina and might get this one cleaned up to wear.

There is also a “Raverne” which I cannot find any information on.

ErichKeane · Thurs. 8:33am

Unless you're doing the work yourself, neither of those watches are worth the gas money to bring them to watchmaker, let alone his costs. That said, that Pierpont case shape is lovely, and the 1st mockup of the dial is super cool, it would be awesome if someone made something like that!

That said, if spending on those makes you happy... thats what money is for 😀

Duracuir1 · Thurs. 9:47am

I like the look of this one. But it needs to be re plated. New crystal, service etc…

Too much $.

Would have been nice when new.

Dan S · Thurs. 10:44am

Given the condition of the Pierpont's case compared to the others, it might be stainless. And hopefully it has a common Swiss ebauche inside (e.g. A Schild). If so, and you like the appearance of the dial, it wouldn't be crazy to have the movement serviced as something you would enjoy wearing. But I would be careful about spending too much on it.

TexOmega · Thurs. 4:46pm

F Foxfall
Thanks for the help. It has been really fun and educational, so worth the hundy for me. I had hoped that the head might be a 1970s 6917 automatic non-quickset with a replacement bracelet. It is really beautiful regardless, so if I can get it to run, I will wear it until I find something nicer.

Sadly when I came across the auction it only had 10 hours left and I missed the in person viewing, so I just took the leap. I imagine a lot easier to tell fakes apart if you have a real one.

Just exactly what sellers want to achieve with a "plant" in a lot.......back in the day, it was called "salting the mine"

Worked then works now......

Enjoyment is the goal of collecting, so enjoy and better luck next time.

Foxfall · Thurs. 5:11pm

ErichKeane
Unless you're doing the work yourself, neither of those watches are worth the gas money to bring them to watchmaker, let alone his costs. That said, that Pierpont case shape is lovely, and the 1st mockup of the dial is super cool, it would be awesome if someone made something like that!

That said, if spending on those makes you happy... thats what money is for 😀

Dan S
Given the condition of the Pierpont's case compared to the others, it might be stainless. And hopefully it has a common Swiss ebauche inside (e.g. A Schild). If so, and you like the appearance of the dial, it wouldn't be crazy to have the movement serviced as something you would enjoy wearing. But I would be careful about spending too much on it.

I really like the Pierpont and she started ticking again just from me holding her so I think I’ll get her a spa day with a good watchmaker and see if she can go for another 70 years. I love rare handmade things (I’m an architect so I’m in love with detail and craftsmanship.) The fact that she’s still going with so much neglect is incredible. I’ll keep the dial as is but get a service, exterior clean and the glass cleaned up. The patina is beautiful, to me.

I’ll probably pay to get the others cleaned up too, over time. My grandfather served in the second war and I feel a sentimental connection to whoever these old watches military style watches belonged to.

The Raverne is intriguing to me because I can’t find any info about it so I want to see the insides.

50kopek · 2026-03-13T04:28:21-0500

There seems to be a similar Pierpont on Ebay

https://www.ebay.com/itm/156707498696

showing this movement:

I'm not a movement expert at all, so I'm just going off looks here, but that looks similar to a Record 022K. Then again, I could be way off.

(image courtesy of Emmywatch.com)

Bought a box of vintage watches - real or fake?

Foxfall

ErichKeane

asrnj77

Dan S

ErichKeane

Foxfall

ErichKeane

Foxfall

ErichKeane

Canuck

Donn Chambers

Dan S

Foxfall

ErichKeane

Duracuir1

Dan S

TexOmega

Foxfall

50kopek

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