Rolex Day-Date in an auction - is this fake?

I would agree 110% if there wasn't a cancellation policy which in this case there is for private buyers, businesses are buying on "as is" bases with no returns possible. I wouldn't have even considered bidding without this option. If I would've won it at 9k and found out on receiving the watch that everything was great and the watch was authentic and working, I would've considered that to be a good deal even without the extra stuff in the lot. If the watch would've been fake or there was anything, I mean anything that I didn't like about the watch, I would've just send the whole lot back, full refund, no fees, no questions asked. I like my chances, I can't lose 😉

Ok, but now you have. I'm not going to advocate or publish the site here but it is real. There are a few other Rolex watches listed there right now, but they don't show such potential as the DD because the listings look good in every way so no opportunity for a steal - unlike the DD. Anyway, back to the tall grass to wait for the next watch to prey on. The hunt continues..

I suspect small print will prevail

So this saga came to an end. The lot came back to the auction site as suspected, this time without the watches. In the comments the buyer who had cancelled the deal said that the watches were fakes — and cursed the seller to lowest level of hell. So the consensus here was spot on 👍. At least the buyer got their money back..