I agree that aging them to look real would not be easy, but the lure of 2k or so for a mildly aged bezel is plenty to tempt talented "fake artists." And items that have been aged purposely, like those awful baked "brown" dials are generally easy to pick out, but I've seen vintage items of all kinds created that are tough to spot, and again, the better faked bezels could be circulating, and no one would know for sure. Consider the stainless 2915 bezels from Germany. I believe the maker goes by "Berndt." He told a friend he is working on improved versions, and the unimproved were nearly impossible to detect, and he is working in stainless, not thin, printable plastic. The insert is all that needs to be faked. The bezel itself on the DONs can be taken from just about any era bezel. It's a minefield, I believe.

 

How much are the real deal fetching these days?



While I admit to hoarding more than my fair share in past days, I’m sure there are more egregious offenders among the OF community. And anyway, I may soon be a reformer,

 

Around $2.5 - 3K in that kind of condition and $5k for a perfect one, i think.

 

You must have paid a good bit for some of them, unless you were collecting them before about 2010. There was really no serious market for them until the last several years. Even in 2010 I expect they were less than 500 usd for a very nice example. In the early 2000s and before, I do not recall any real mention of the minor differences, and for 100 usd I could find just about any bezel (except the 2 earliest iterations). Maybe others had different experiences, but I started buying old Speedmasters in the 90s, and I never considered stockpiling bezels, as they were plentiful and not really in great demand. I didn't know anyone who began collecting bezels until AFTER the prices went up because there was no reason to think there would ever be a shortage.

 

I shudder to think how many of those flat link bracelets I took off of 60s Speedmasters and sold for 175 bucks. One 105.003 came with the original and another 1039 bracelet. I had no idea what numbers were stamped into the end links. Probably got about 200 for the pair in 2002 ish. I was thrilled. They paid for 1/3 of the cost of the watch purchase. I did finally find a Speedmaster bracelet I love: The trilogy 60th Speedmaster bracelet. Those are extremely well-made and comfortable, not to mention their adjustment system. Oops, I mentioned it.

 

As much as I hate knowing there are so many fakes out there and even seasoned veterans are getting conned, I also have to say I love it at the same time. The challenge of identifying these fake bezels is very enjoyable. That's only if you are successful

 

Here is a new one for me. The watch has just posted for sale by a German dealer. "The DO90 bezel is in mint condition. The watch was acquired from a collector in Belgium. The watch/set is more than in investment grade quality"

Mmm who can spot the tell?

 

without even looking at relative spacing of dots to text, or the fonts, I would say on first whim the text size is wrong.

edit : but well spotted, you are obviously scrutinizing every DON watch you see

 

The dots look a little large, but without having both in hand, it is hard to be sure

 

Saw the offer yesterday, had a feeling about the bezel...

I really would be interested to know if it's genuine, keep it coming!

 

The fonts are too small which caught my eye, once you find the mistake you can be sure. By the way I told the dealer that it was fake & even kindly told him the tell and his reply was "if you dont like it dont buy it". "Shuck the Oyster" in Berlin.

 

Ah! 80 not central to the markers.

 

Also the dot over 100 is in the wrong place.

 

Thanks.
Shuck is off my trusted dealer list for a while now.
What is it with the oyster dealer brotherhood?

 

So to be clear, a well know dealer, 'Shuck the Oyster' has been informed the bezel on this is likely fake and without doing any further checks is happy to sell it as genuine?

 

He also sold that dodgy vintage Ultraman a while back if I remember correctly

 

Whatever floats the boat, is morally correct apparently.

 

When the printing looks sketchy, I always look at the dots over 140 and 150 these days.

The bezel IS in mint condition BTW ... just totally fake.