26331st Ap / grey mkt question

[305watchcollector]

Hello,
Hope everyone is doing very well and especially healthy during holidays season.

Roughly, 4.5 years ago i helped my younger brother source a ROC reference 26331ST panda. He purchased it on the grey market via trade, trading in several old hublot/IWC watches. The dealer is very reputable, local, and well referenced. Luckily the price early 2019 was still not crazy for ROC and the trade was at MSRP price which was market standard at the time (considering these were at the time readily available at the boutique).

The watch came with everything, box, papers, tag, even stickers. Furthermore, the warranty number and watch was immediately registered under my brothers name in the AP website and warranty was extended to cover 5 years. Nevertheless, being a paranoid individual, i decided to have the case back opened just in case with a local watchmaker in florida that has been working independently for over 35 years. Attached please find pics of when i had the watch opened a couple of years back.

I wanted to share because i have been reading horror stories where clones are made with real serial and warranty numbers allowing collectors to register watches online in AP website. This is especially scary for watches, such as this one, that come with a closed case-back. I also wanted to share pics of the movement to ask collectors how it compares to the newer open display references. Finally, I know the watch was opened by a professional and i was told like 5 times everything is perfect, but if experts can just triple check, would be much appreciated.

Given the horror stories shared in the forum, aside from buying the seller and opening the watch, what else can collectors do to buy with ease outside the boutiques?

Forgive my english as it is my second language. Wishing everyone a great and healthy holiday season.

[Reign]

Looks all good to me. It’s the F Piguet 1185 movement and had terrible aesthetics hence why no exhibition case back.

They are super reliable and sturdy movements though


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[VogelPhoenix]

Originally Posted by Reign

Looks all good to me. It’s the F Piguet 1185 movement and had terrible aesthetics hence why no exhibition case back.

They are super reliable and sturdy movements

Thin as well.

Regarding fakes that register on AP’s website - I spend as much time on TRF as the next guy, and I don’t recall seeing any first hand account of anyone ending up with such a watch. Doesn’t seem an efficient business model when you have to burn the registration of a real watch for every other fake you sell.


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[305watchcollector]

Thanks for the reply

[Goldilock]

The AP designer team must have had a terrible hangover when they put together this dial design. The random placement of the date window might be acceptable on an entry level Seiko but in this category it is awkward. Other punch in the face is the movement. It just looks terribly cheap, even with a gold rotor.

[305watchcollector]

thanks for the replies guys.

[srvrf]

Originally Posted by Goldilock

The AP designer team must have had a terrible hangover when they put together this dial design. The random placement of the date window might be acceptable on an entry level Seiko but in this category it is awkward. Other punch in the face is the movement. It just looks terribly cheap, even with a gold rotor.

Design and symmetry are of course personal preferences. I do prefer the older 39mm models where all subdials are the same size. Date windows are a constant source of debate on TRF but even the 38mm ROCs where the window isn’t evenly spaced between the indices looks fine.

As for the movement, it is a longstanding workhorse. It has been used as a base movement for AP, VC, Blancpain, Panerai, etc. I think like Rolex, they’d decorate the movement more if it were going to be seen.


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[messikens]

Originally Posted by Goldilock

The AP designer team must have had a terrible hangover when they put together this dial design. The random placement of the date window might be acceptable on an entry level Seiko but in this category it is awkward. Other punch in the face is the movement. It just looks terribly cheap, even with a gold rotor.

Movement is the movement... Nothing unexpected.

Don't even mind the smaller regular seconds hand, it makes for a different look

I agree with you on the date window though, the fact that's it's at the 4.23 and a half spot is just so awkward... It ruin an otherwise quite gorgeous watch for me

[hussain]

Just for your knowledge the F piguet movement 1185 is a thin chronograph movement that is very difficult to replicate. The cost to replicate for the replica makers is not worth the business for this specific model.

For other models that have super replicas, there are plenty of videos and topics showing differences