YIKES. I paid a pretty penny for one of these off eBay just a few months ago. Hope I didn't get duped.
Came from Turkey and the guy only had a couple left. They're all gone now.
I own one definitely genuine 16 mm stainless steel UG buckle that came on a NOS Polarouter band, as shown in the photo posted here. The leather band is extremely low quality!, but the buckle is very high quality. Recently I bought one of the ones for sale from Italy on the 'bay, and here it is in the photos compared to the original. In my opinion the Italian ones are fake. The quality is so obviously inferior, with muddy instead of sharp edges, a poorly formed U, etc. Probably made from a mold made off of an original. The seller is a complete gentleman and says he bought them from an old watchmaker's estate, and he insists they are original. Even originals, he claims, varied in quality. Maybe, but I think the old watchmaker had a stash of fake buckles, whether he knew it or not. I have arranged to return it. Personally, I am done buying this style of UG buckles unless it comes with all the NOS trimmings. They are simply too rare and the chances of finding an authentic one are too slim anymore.
I own one definitely genuine 16 mm stainless steel UG buckle that came on a NOS Polarouter band, as shown in the photo posted here. The leather band is extremely low quality!, but the buckle is very high quality. Recently I bought one of the ones for sale from Italy on the 'bay, and here it is in the photos compared to the original. In my opinion the Italian ones are fake. The quality is so obviously inferior, with muddy instead of sharp edges, a poorly formed U, etc. Probably made from a mold made off of an original. The seller is a complete gentleman and says he bought them from an old watchmaker's estate, and he insists they are original. Even originals, he claims, varied in quality. Maybe, but I think the old watchmaker had a stash of fake buckles, whether he knew it or not. I have arranged to return it. Personally, I am done buying this style of UG buckles unless it comes with all the NOS trimmings. They are simply too rare and the chances of finding an authentic one are too slim anymore.
I don't mean to criticize a whole country, I just mean this seller has been posting these repro buckles for a long time (I used to buy them before I knew better), I'm sure they will pop back up shortly with more.
Aside from this very well known source, I'm not clear on identifying all the various fakes, I don't think I had previously seen 14mm of the style that you posted (meaning like the 16mm versions), the 14mm versions I've had were the other style, that are not a complete empty space between the U. But maybe there are multiple types, I don't know.
I would be concerned about anything coming out of Turkey, particularly showing a whole bunch of these NOS buckles in one photo. I know someone else said those were authentic, but I don't know myself.
There are a few people that have researched this topic extensively, I would want @CafeRacer to weigh in on those 14mm buckles you got from Turkey.
