Hi. This is a thread about an older man (in his senior age) who lives in my city. I've gotten to know him personally, know his professional background, know where he resides, and he is an honest man from what I know of him. My point is; he is not some random person on the corner of the street. He owns a Daytona which he says he bought brand new back in the day. So he send me photos today as he is thinking of selling it. I asked him how much he paid and he said somewhere in the teens. I'm wondering if he is telling me a fib which is so confusing on so many levels personally, or if this gentleman purchased a replica that he is still not aware of...or is it possible someone swapped the dial on him and he didn't notice? Please advice. Thanks

 

No, its not real..

 

Classic cheap fake "chronograph" setup.

 

Agreed with the others, the give away is the loupe missing on the date subdial.

 

The other giveaways are the horrendous positioning of ‘Daytona’, the terrible font and the fact the sundials have the tell tale ‘Day, Date’ rather than actual chronograph functions.

 

What does the Chronograph pushers do?

 

I was literally thinking the same thing

 

Day date correctors.

 

13-19 bucks maybe.

 

purchased in the teens a few years ago sounds about right - as long as he’s talking $15.

 

If you enjoy your relationship with this man, do not go any further with this watch. Tell him you can’t afford a Daytona, but appreciate him sharing the pictures with you. If he presses further, just say he should go to a dealer and they can give him assessment of value. That will take you out of the role of having to give him the bad news if he did get swindled.

 

A whole lot of tells that this a fake. But notice how the word DAYTONA is so poorly placed around the perimeter of the 24-hour subdial. If wishes were horses, then beggars would ride!

 

Memories are funny, fickle, things …

 

Awesome advice thanks

 

Be a true buddy and tell him you have concerns cause someone tried to sell you one just like that on Canal street for twenty bucks. I always appreciate brutal honesty.

 

Just be honest and tell him it’s a POS replica and that your sorry he got swindled.

 

Ya that’s the way to do it don’t hide behind words, “I’ll save my money but you really tempted me.” Man what a line of crap anyone can read through in thirty milliseconds. Let the politicians lie watches are about honesty it’s the code we all took on day one.

 

This isn’t a watch guy clearly, and that kind of “honesty” can be hurtful to someone who thinks he has a prize and now he looks foolish. If this were a close friend, then sure- you can tactfully say “hey bud, I think you got a fugazi”. But the OP doesn’t know the fellow well and if he wants to continue having a pleasant social relationship with him, the erring on the side of tact and just opting out of the entire transaction would be the best way to go.
If this fellow asks what he “thinks” of the watch, then that would invite an honest response of “I have some concerns about it’s validity” or something like that.

 

I found a watch store, who sells Rolex, close to his house. I send him the address and instructed him to take his watch there to get it looked at and appraised

 

The truth is that eventually his bubble will be bursted, so why let him go to a stranger to tell him the truth? Makes no sense.