Posts about fakes usually bore me but I thought members might appreciate this alert.
In the last six months the UK trade has seen a significant number of fakes which in many ways are much closer to the real thing than anything that has gone before. Mostly it is the desirable Rolex sports classics like Date Submariners, DeepSeas etc, but a number of businesses have also lost thousands of pounds on fake Audemars Piguets, typically complete with very high quality booklets and documentation. Just before Christmas I was sent two of those APs for my written appraisals. The Rolex commonly come with unique, matching warranty cards (fake), a mix of real and fake boxes, booklets, swing-tags etc, and well-crafted background stories that allow the sellers to claim ignorance if caught. The coincidence, wide geography and careful orchestration of the set-up suggests it is a well-co-ordinated, professional scam. Members here are exposed perhaps to direct sales of these items, but also if they buy them unwittingly from jewellers and others who have themselves been duped. We all know there are many in the trade who really haven't much of a clue, including some otherwise respected names.
This afternoon Beaker from The Muppet Show (or his incarnation in human form) tried to sell this watch to one of my companies:
The warranty card was a good effort.
While I could see that the font of the unique elements wasn't quite correct, it was close:
The back tries hard, but perhaps a little too hard. Have you ever seen one from Goldsmiths stamped thus?
However, the fake card completely failed my UV light test (decent UV torches available circa £15 online are also useful for checking bank-notes, discovering what is illustrated throughout your passport and exciting-young-children-at-bed-time-when-you-were-supposed-to-be-calming-them-down-dear).
This is what you should see when a UV light is shone on a genuine card of this type:
The movement displayed great effort on the part of the bad guys. Its appearance was very much that of a correct 3135 Rolex calibre, having authentically coloured and placed metal / plastic wheels and plates marked up as a 3135 with all text ostensibly correct in size, placement, orientation etc. I opened up my personal Sea-Dweller 16600 with its own 3135 and compared them side-by-side. It then became clear that the fake's text was filled with inferior quality and "dirtier" yellow ink. The deepest movement plate lacked some vital detail and the finish on the plates generally was not as good. While it was obvious to me with considerable experience and a control exemplar next to it, the fake 3135 would, I am sure, have fooled many. I wish that I had taken some photos, but was busy showing a gaggle of interested colleagues my findings as I went.
The watch felt a little light overall. The bezel clicked authentically but just a little less robustly than the real thing. You can see the crown-guards and hands for yourselves, but each "tell" will slowly be improved upon. The dial itself was very well done, as the better fakes typically are in recent years, and the inner rehaut script accurately reproduced, with the correct letters corresponding with the relevant hour markers. Lasered coronet - check, and much better than on previous fakes, but crucially omitting the one, final security feature which is so hard to reproduce. The bracelet was in some ways superb. The attention to detail and alphanumeric markings on the end links were troublingly close. The clasp was less convincing but, as with my comments on the movement, I'd rather hold some detail back so as not to help the baddies. Case back interior markings were impressive.
This generation of fakes has already proved good enough to earn the crooks many thousands all over the country. They will continue to fool the unwary and will of course continue to evolve further. The method of delivery, with accessories correct or faked, is well-conceived and shows considerable knowledge of what buyers may be looking for in both the seller and what they are offering. Ebay's going to see a tonne of these.
What more can I say about Beaker?
I do wish I could share his photo with you.
Not the sharpest screwdriver in the box, this one. Expensive-looking suit and brusque manner, demanding a cup of coffee before it was offered - what image was this to convey? While he waited, he spread some very important-looking papers over the desk to study, clearly relaying the impression he was a respectable businessman. However, the grubby and worn hands of a labourer, their knuckles scabbed as if from recent fights, did not support the impression of life near a water-cooler. The shaky meltdown when told the watch was fake and questioned about it was classic. "So, tell me now why you didn't want us to take the back of your watch at any point, even if we agreed a price. That's it, just smile for the camera while you're at it. So, who's the crook, you or the guy who sold you the watch? You said you knew him; shall we call him now?" etc.
Be warned, everyone: attention to detail, replicative technology and "setting up" the sale of these fakes have all improved to a point where this isn't funny any more.
H
Edited to add the case number of this specific example, so that it will show up in web searches: FAKE! 33R5R903 - model 116610LN
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Originally Posted by Lorex
