Suspicion that local repair shop swapped out Alzheimer's patient's Time Just for fake

[Caregiver]

Hi. I'm a caregiver and my client has Alzheimer's. The watch his mother got for him 40-50 years ago had something wrong with it so I took it to a local and well-respected watch repair shop who told me they were authorized to work on Rolex watches.
They charged my client over $1,000.00 to fix his classic Oyster Perpetual Time Just.
When it was finished 2 weeks later, I wasn't the one to go with him to pick it up, another caregiver was.

Now, three months later the watch is not working right. You can't change the time or the date and the date is wrong.

I went back to the same shop with my client and demanded an explanation. They said they would fix it again this time for free.

In the process, I had a chance to get a closer look at the watch and I'm suspicious that it's not the same original real Rolex and that they swapped it out with a fake.

I think the white dots and a couple other things give it away. Plus, I think it's lighter than his original watch. My client can't tell a difference (other than that it's not working right).

Help?

[Trailboss516]

Get the police involved if you think they scammed your client. More than we can do here.

[TimeLord2]

Looks very dirty for having been just serviced as they will usually remove gunk buildup. Dial looks like they stored it near a dryer with a broken vent hose during reassembly. I suspect they did next to nothing. Sound advice from Trailboss516. See if you can find any pics of him wearing the watch to compare against. Always a good idea to take pics before dropping off your watch. I do hope they were not trying to take advantage of your client, nice of you to try and sort it out.

[Bstewart]

It's a Datejust (not Time Just), and looks VERY filthy, should look immaculate after a $1k service.

[wesdaniel]

Since you're in the San Diego area, which local watchmaker did you take it to?

[Caregiver]

Thanks
Ok, I attached pics of him wearing it from a couple years ago.
These comparisons are partially what made me lean towards it being swapped out.

Then there's another pic of it on the counter at the shop that I took just before giving it to them to service.

My question: Is it normal for the blue face to have the gold-colored dots on it? Is that part of the design?
I compared what it looked like in November before I dropped it off and now, and those seemingly extra dots match up.
Notice how dirty the watch is back then too- I know it was a lot cleaner after they serviced it, but he's an old man who sheds and does stuff outside in the yard and doesn't clean the watch. He just wears it.
And it's been ~3 months so I'm not surprised by the dirt.

Sorry for calling it by the wrong name. You'll have to excuse me as I had just gotten off my 5th 12-hour shift in a row and was pretty exhausted, not to mention distraught over the what ifs of all this.

I will go to the cops, once I'm certain that the evidence is undeniable, and right now, I'm not.

Lastly, I'd rather not give the name of the shop due to how sensitive this is. If my suspicions are accurate, I probably couldn't say because I'm sure an investigation would be started.
And if I'm out of line and everything is above board, I wouldn't want to cause any problems for them or anyone else.

Thanks for all the input. I'm still not 100% sure on this. I guess it comes down to those odd goldish- colored bumps or dots on the face of the watch under the glass.
Thoughts?

[Caregiver]

Here's another pic from November before taking it to the shop.
This one definitely shows how dirty it was. Sorry the others weren't good examples. I was more concerned about if the dots on the dial blue background are normal.
Because those line up perfectly to what's on there now.
Thanks again.

[cht]

Appears the same watch...no way they would just randomly happen to have a fake with the exact same combination/spec.

The dial is old and aging, rolex dials are not made out of anything special, they degrade and the paint can bubble.

Servicing the watch doesn't mean they need to clean it.

And having it with the same filth also points its the same watch.

It's not a particularly desirable nor valuable Rolex model for that that might tempt a watchmaker to push them to criminal activity after years of having a legitimate business.

[Caregiver]

Actually, the man at the shop said that my client's watch is worth about $14,000.
He also recommended that my client's family swap out his watch with a fake & lock the original up. He added that they make fake Rolex watches that are so good you can't tell the difference.
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He also told me that the Rolex people come by every month or something to check serial numbers and make sure everything is in order.

[Incroyable12]

A two-tone Datejust is definitely not a $14,000 watch.

If it were a gold Day-Date then yes.

[shammad10]

Hi,
Well done and thanks for your hard work looking after your patients- you obviously go above and beyond and I'm sure that is appreciated by them and their families.

Regarding the watch- it looks to be the same watch. I don't think an old beat up two tone datejust is is worth someone risking their business over swapping for a fake. As mentioned earlier it is probably worth $5000 on a good day.

I would take it back and get it up and running again with their free offer, and ask them to clean it up!
Good luck!

[1665fan]

Worth about 5k max

[joli160]

Same watch I think but it not being cleaned and the lies he is telling you this is not a reputable watchmaker

[cht]

If you would like to do a nice gesture in re: this watch, I would recommend making sure the crown is screwed down tight, use some warm water with a few drops of dish soap and with a soft nylon bristle toothbrush, give it a light scrubbing and then hand dry it with a microfibre towel.

[wesdaniel]

I don't see anything in the before and after pics that make me think anything untoward happened. As somebody mentioned above, the chances of a watchmaker having a fake that matched the style, the dial, etc. perfectly would be a long shot. And, they don't really fake this model today, so...

Regarding the watch not working after three months, it makes me question the quality and specs of work done on it. Which is why I asked who did the repairs. There are a couple of very well-respected watch makers in San Diego who, if they repaired it, everybody would know that they'll make it right. If it's not one of them, it doesn't necessarily mean anything bad happened, but, it could make it more suspect of what they did in servicing the watch.

The watch is not worth anywhere close to $14K. As others have speculated above - $4K - $5K would be a more appropriate price range.

There's a lot of good advice in this thread. Hopefully it will be useful to you in getting the watch running right for your client! Best of luck!

[GGGMT]

Get this watch away from that watchmaker! Dude is a .


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[cht]

I think you guys are being harsh on the watch maker, I see plenty of threads here from people sending their watches into the rolex service center and having to come back with issues. So I don't think it's fair to judge their quality of their work and their business based on one watch being returned after 3 months. Shrugs.

[Caregiver]

Thanks to everyone for the knowledge and advice.
There's nothing more valuable than peace of mind.
I really appreciate it.
<3