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masteroftime
·Hi all,
Late last week I purchased my first Constellation with "Pie Pan" dial and just had the opportunity to pick up the package from my post office. At first look, the watch looked to me to be relatively original, but in overly polished condition. At under $700 it seemed to be a relative bargain. After looking through some of the threads in this forum and reviewing Desmond's writeup, I started to notice a few red flags and became worried that the case may be a counterfeit.
I had purchased this watch from a local auction house that specializes in horology and they mentioned that it had an original case and an "expertly refinished dial". To me, the dial was not a huge deal breaker because it looked clean and presentable. It also seemed to me that most of the dials on these watches don't survive the test of time all too well. I noticed that the casebook reference number read 167.005, which would be incorrect for this model, but I just assumed that the casebook had been switched at some point.
Before reaching back out to the seller, I'd love to get your thoughts.
- Does the case look correct? It seems to be missing the chamfering on the lug edge, but I had figured it may have been polished out. Also the faceting on the bottom of the lug that Desmond described as beginning "at the point of where the lug is attached to the case" instead seems to begin midway through the case.
- Is it at all common/possible for the lug holes to ever be drilled incorrectly? When removing the band, I did notice that both sets of spring bar holes don't sit directly across from each other. I tried to show this in an attached photo, but one of the holes on each side seems to sit far too close to the edge of the lug and causes the springboard to attach a little crooked.
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. I had never realized that these watches were commonly faked. Please let me know if I should take any more photos. Thank You!
Late last week I purchased my first Constellation with "Pie Pan" dial and just had the opportunity to pick up the package from my post office. At first look, the watch looked to me to be relatively original, but in overly polished condition. At under $700 it seemed to be a relative bargain. After looking through some of the threads in this forum and reviewing Desmond's writeup, I started to notice a few red flags and became worried that the case may be a counterfeit.
I had purchased this watch from a local auction house that specializes in horology and they mentioned that it had an original case and an "expertly refinished dial". To me, the dial was not a huge deal breaker because it looked clean and presentable. It also seemed to me that most of the dials on these watches don't survive the test of time all too well. I noticed that the casebook reference number read 167.005, which would be incorrect for this model, but I just assumed that the casebook had been switched at some point.
Before reaching back out to the seller, I'd love to get your thoughts.
- Does the case look correct? It seems to be missing the chamfering on the lug edge, but I had figured it may have been polished out. Also the faceting on the bottom of the lug that Desmond described as beginning "at the point of where the lug is attached to the case" instead seems to begin midway through the case.
- Is it at all common/possible for the lug holes to ever be drilled incorrectly? When removing the band, I did notice that both sets of spring bar holes don't sit directly across from each other. I tried to show this in an attached photo, but one of the holes on each side seems to sit far too close to the edge of the lug and causes the springboard to attach a little crooked.
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated. I had never realized that these watches were commonly faked. Please let me know if I should take any more photos. Thank You!
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