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Cause for concern and Alarm!

  1. omegaaddict Jan 28, 2014

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    I have come across a few counterfeit omegas in my day, and most have been quite easy to call out, if not by their mere look, just by simply holding them in my hand and giving them a quick once over.

    However, I was recently told of a website that sells replicas out of china, I visited that website
    9trusty time) and what I saw was cause for major alarm. From the pictures and sometimes videos even it looks like their watches are of a very high replica quality. I only really looked at their omegas as that is what I know best, and compared a few of their models to omegas I currently owned or have owned recently and it is uncanny. They even go as far as installing real swiss eta movements sometimes!

    I am honestly somewhat terrified by learning about these new high end replicas in the market. Looking at these pictures I have the feeling that I personally would have trouble knowing they werent genuine, something tells me that even my jeweler would have to take the watch apart to find out and maybe even then he might not be able to know.

    I just wanted to see what members thoughts on these issues are? Has anyone had any experience with these high end replicas? Accidentally purchasing them and finding out too late that they were not the real deal?

    Do even these replicas have an Achilles heel with which one can easily know that they are not genuine?

    I figured this would be a good place to share knowledge as the more we know the less likely one of us is to fall prey to one of these, and we can stop any of them that might be currently circulating the pre-owned markets.

    Cheers!
     
  2. ulackfocus Jan 28, 2014

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    No matter how good a fake is on the outside, the counterfeiters almost never bother to duplicate the movement.

    This is why I always buy from an Authorized Dealer unless it's a $150 Seiko beater for beach / fishing duty. Even then I look for a reputable seller on eBay.
     
  3. omegaaddict Jan 28, 2014

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    That's what I thought and has been my experience. But this site has gone to great lengths. Having sapphire crystal display backs. I was looking at some of their ATs and they have the 8500 movement down, same red ink, same engraving of the rotor. It is actually incredible the lengths they have gone to.
     
  4. ulackfocus Jan 28, 2014

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    They might be using real pictures to advertise their fakes. Happens a lot.


    PS - I see you put your own avatar picture in place so I removed the phrase about the slinky.
     
  5. omegaaddict Jan 28, 2014

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    That would be fair. Except the way I found out about this site is through someone that purchased from them. Lets just say I looked at the watch they purchased (an IWC) and I took the back off and sure enough even though that was not a display caseback they had still gone to the lengths of engraving and decorating the rotor and movement appropriately
     
  6. ulackfocus Jan 28, 2014

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    That's scary. Sooner or later they were bound to pull off nearly identical copies.
     
  7. omegaaddict Jan 28, 2014

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    Well then the question is what can we do about it? How can we protect ourselved
     
  8. ulackfocus Jan 28, 2014

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    The same way we always have - buy from known entities and do your due diligence. There will always be replicas as long as luxury goods have status attached to them.
     
  9. omegaaddict Jan 28, 2014

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    I know I will, I usually trusted myself to some extent when buying and selling Omegas, but now I can no longer be positive in my abilities. Will have to definitely take added steps to ensure that everything is legitimate.

    Hope everyone does the same!
     
  10. AuBuyer Posh Nouveau Yank Jan 28, 2014

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    We had a gentleman come in the other day with a Nautilus, box, papers, tags, still wrapped in the plastic bag with stickers.

    Beautiful watch, right weight, markings, etc. etc....we almost took the plunge but a real 5711/1A-010 model has a Sapphire Case Back, this one did not!!

    I asked if we could open it to check the movement and he said we could....sure enough it was a high end Swiss ETA movement with correct markings but not up to the Patek Philippe standard of excellence.

    We passed and he was not happy, he paid $5,000 for it!!! I feel bad for him, I really do.
     
  11. omegaaddict Jan 28, 2014

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    What scares me specifically in regards to Omegas is that since they are owned by Swatch I can only imagine that there are a lot of similarities between Omega movements and ETA movements. If an ETA movement is used in an omega replica I recon It would be harder to see the difference than in you case
     
  12. AuBuyer Posh Nouveau Yank Jan 28, 2014

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    I agree omegaaddict..consider this, Swatch has a new automatic watch called the Sistem51, imagine how many replicas that movement will end up in. That's scary too.
     
  13. omegaaddict Jan 28, 2014

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    A) just googled that. Seems like an interesting movement and quite a step for the swatch brand.
    B) that is scary
    C) I got a great white yesterday which im 99% sure is authentic, im still going to take it to my jeweler to double check. Even though im satisfied the last thing I want to do is sell a replica to someone else if I ever decide to sell this one
     
  14. ulackfocus Jan 28, 2014

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    That should have made him skeptical too. The first really good fakes I remember seeing were Panerais. Was in Sam Kalter's shop when two guys from a pawn shop came in looking to sell one and Sam had to give them the bad news.
     
  15. AuBuyer Posh Nouveau Yank Jan 28, 2014

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    To most people they have no clue what a real high end watch costs, they think 5K for a Patek and they jump, hell I would buy real ones all day long for that if I could!!!!
     
  16. ulackfocus Jan 28, 2014

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    Exactly why I don't feel too sorry for anyone that gets taken. No clue = susceptible to scams.

    You and me both brother!
     
  17. tpatta Happily spending my daughter’s inheritance Jan 28, 2014

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    Hi guys, new member here. Can I assume from the posts here the the majority of watches sold here are real? I just joined the forum 2 weeks ago and took the plunge and purchased 3 watches from forum members. Probably should have thought about this BEFORE I bought them, but this forum seems pretty good about spotting fakes, so I figured some of the members would be vetting the sale ads for obvious fakes. Anyway, glad I found you guys. Learning a lot but as you can surmise I do kind of jump in head first. Hope I don't break my neck....or my bank account.
     
  18. omegaaddict Jan 28, 2014

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    Hey there,

    As long as you're buying from a reputed member you should be fine. But always do your due diligence and it wouldn't hurt to get your watches authenticated at your local jeweler or omega boutique
     
  19. tpatta Happily spending my daughter’s inheritance Jan 28, 2014

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    Thanks. I'm planning on going to the Omega Boutique in Los Angeles this weekend. Hope I don't leave there with a sad face.
     
  20. ulackfocus Jan 28, 2014

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    Regular members usually sell from their collection so they can upgrade to a rarer model, or solid gold, etc. You can generally trust that the watch has been vetted and any flaws will be noted in the listing or at least a general description of the overall condition.

    However, you can always ask for second opinion from somebody you might know.