Need help authenticating the 77350 and 15450!

[tifamo]

So after yesterday’s post on how hard it is to get APs and got great advice from the fellow forum members (thank you all!), I have in the end started looking in the grey market...

Since I’ve made quite a presence at local AP boutiques, wondering how would I approach having them authenticate the items for me? Definitely don’t want to be blacklisted.

Also asking for help here again: do the 34mm and 37mm look legit in your eyes? Thank you!

[DJH1977]

Do you have a financial relationship with the local boutique you have made quite a presence with?

[tifamo]

Originally Posted by DJH1977

Do you have a financial relationship with the local boutique you have made quite a presence with?

I wish.. they didn’t give me the opportunity to establish financial relationships with them lol

[huncho]

save yourself the time and effort of authenticating by reaching out to a trusted seller here. they'll get you what you want with no need to worry about whether or not it's legit. also those pics are tiny so it's hard to tell

[macrowatch]

Always hard to say on authenticity, easier to get seller. FWIS, I think Takuya has a 34mm for sale with very little premium after figuring NY sales tax.

Good luck and congrats in advance on rocking the new watch.

[tifamo]

Originally Posted by macrowatch

Always hard to say on authenticity, easier to get seller. FWIS, I think Takuya has a 34mm for sale with very little premium after figuring NY sales tax.

Good luck and congrats in advance on rocking the new watch.

Thank you! So fakes can actually look this good? I just wanted to try on the sizes and feel the item in hands - and this dealer at the diamond district in nyc felt pretty reliable (or at least seemed so). I've tried on APs at boutiques and felt like the watches I saw today did not look or feel off to me. But do correct me if diamond district could actually mod an AP to a Frankenwatch or simply sell me a replica...

[huncho]

Originally Posted by tifamo

Thank you! So fakes can actually look this good? I just wanted to try on the sizes and feel the item in hands - and this dealer at the diamond district in nyc felt pretty reliable (or at least seemed so). I've tried on APs at boutiques and felt like the watches I saw today did not look or feel off to me. But do correct me if diamond district could actually mod an AP to a Frankenwatch or simply sell me a replica...

the diamond district is 100% legit, you should have no worries there

[tifamo]

Originally Posted by huncho

the diamond district is 100% legit, you should have no worries there

Good to hear. Dealer also has great chrono24 and google reviews. But still a bit paranoid since I am paying a crazy load over MSRP.. any chance they swapped out the interior components? (exterior looked fine to my untrained eyes)

[huncho]

Originally Posted by tifamo

Good to hear. Dealer also has great chrono24 and google reviews. But still a bit paranoid since I am paying a crazy load over MSRP.. any chance they swapped out the interior components? (exterior looked fine to my untrained eyes)

with APs having an open case back, no. risks could come when you're buying vintage rolexes without papers, but those dealers will be opening up watches if they see anything suspicious anyway. with brand new APs you should be fine. there's too much competition on that block to allow for any risk of fakes

what dealer is it? i've read a lot of good things about motion in time, avi and co, and element in time

[tifamo]

Originally Posted by huncho

with APs having an open case back, no. risks could come when you're buying vintage rolexes without papers, but those dealers will be opening up watches if they see anything suspicious anyway. with brand new APs you should be fine. there's too much competition on that block to allow for any risk of fakes

what dealer is it? i've read a lot of good things about motion in time, avi and co, and element in time

Luxury Time NYC! Ask for Jonathan there. I was able to register the warranty card online under my name. Went to AP store to remove links and the people there didn’t say anything but treated us super nicely. So I’m guessing it’s genuine otherwise I’m sure the SAs would say something.

[huncho]

Originally Posted by tifamo

Luxury Time NYC! Ask for Jonathan there. I was able to register the warranty card online under my name. Went to AP store to remove links and the people there didn’t say anything but treated us super nicely. So I’m guessing it’s genuine otherwise I’m sure the SAs would say something.

glad it worked out for you. i did the same in 2019 when i had no luck with the AP boutique. got one from takuya on here for 19k like 3 days before AP increased the price for the 15450 by 20%, so turned out the same as getting it at retail. also went to the AP boutique to have it sized and they were very friendly and said they couldn't blame people for going grey because it's impossible to get the watches

which one did you go with?

[supernova]

Well done on the new AP. They also have no problems buying grey and getting help from them under warranty.

Actually, when I went to AP house asking about a 15500, they even suggested my only way to get one in under a year would be to get it grey.


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[tifamo]

Originally Posted by supernova

Well done on the new AP. They also have no problems buying grey and getting help from them under warranty.

Actually, when I went to AP house asking about a 15500, they even suggested my only way to get one in under a year would be to get it grey.


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Actually they did write down my serial number. I wonder why that is. My guessing would be they would potentially "blacklist" the original buyer?.. That's worst case scenario of course.

[tifamo]

Originally Posted by huncho

glad it worked out for you. i did the same in 2019 when i had no luck with the AP boutique. got one from takuya on here for 19k like 3 days before AP increased the price for the 15450 by 20%, so turned out the same as getting it at retail. also went to the AP boutique to have it sized and they were very friendly and said they couldn't blame people for going grey because it's impossible to get the watches

which one did you go with?

Got the white 15450! Have to say, I paid a lot over MSRP... but got a bit below average grey market price.

My friend got the 77350 and she loves it.

[mnl]

Originally Posted by tifamo

Got the white 15450! Have to say, I paid a lot over MSRP... but got a bit below average grey market price.

My friend got the 77350 and she loves it.

congrats!!

[macrowatch]

Originally Posted by tifamo

Got the white 15450! Have to say, I paid a lot over MSRP... but got a bit below average grey market price.

My friend got the 77350 and she loves it.

The is some decisive decision making OP! Congrats!

[huncho]

Originally Posted by tifamo

Got the white 15450! Have to say, I paid a lot over MSRP... but got a bit below average grey market price.

My friend got the 77350 and she loves it.

congrats, i have the same one. in the end it's worth it if you don't plan to sell (probably will go up anyway with how things are going though)

[tifamo]

Originally Posted by huncho

congrats, i have the same one. in the end it's worth it if you don't plan to sell (probably will go up anyway with how things are going though)

Thank you! And I don't plan to sell, at least not any time soon. This has been my grail even before I got into luxury watches. But I got a few Rolex, Blancpain, and Cartier along the way since the 15450ST was always a bit harder to get (I had no idea back then), and always a bit above my budget. Now I've come to terms with the fact that my savings will never catch up to its grey market price inflation, so sooner I pull the trigger the better lol.

[m3tek44]

it's really hard to tell just by photos. if you want peace of mind i suggest you take the watch to HQ Milton (located in SF) and talk to Scott. i'm sure he can help.

[jakjuventus]

Originally Posted by tifamo

Got the white 15450! Have to say, I paid a lot over MSRP... but got a bit below average grey market price.

My friend got the 77350 and she loves it.

Congratulation!

Im still on the wait list for 37mm too.
Just bought 34mm along last two week for my wife also.

Need some wrist shot though ;)


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[tifamo]

UPDATE: So I took my RO in again yesterday, because I still couldn't sleep over the fact that I got one from a somewhat sketchy looking district in NYC, regardless of its well known for being 99% authentic. What if I got the 1%?! Long story short, the AP boutique service guy was like "it's 100% authentic. it's perfect. there's nothing to worry about."

Btw I even bought a kitchen scale to weigh it, exactly 128 +/- 1g, like many sources indicated as the weight for 15450ST (crazy that AP could be so exact!).

So overall - very pleasant experience. Jonathan from Luxury Time NYC, IMO, offered me a far better service than any AP boutique (let alone Material Good in SOHO...). He worked with my many requests, very on top of shipping, and let me register the warranty card right away to see if I could extend the extra 3 years. Had I become inpatient with another piece down the road (daytona maybe?), I would go to him for the peace of mind and the crazy availabilities in his inventory.

[macrowatch]

Nicely done OP.