will an AD verify authenticity?

[RACER_X]

will an AD verify authenticity and note it down on an " offical" log?

just read about a buyer here who bought from an PD and when he went to have it serviced he had issues w/ authenticity.

would it be a good idea to take your newly purchased watch to an AD and athenticate it? and will they not it down somewhere for rolex?

[samuelhuntington]

First of all you should always be certain the watch is authentic before you buy it, you can meet the seller at an ad to confirm it. Or if your buying it online post good pictures here for the experts to see and confirm if it is real or not.

Second I don't believe there is a "log" that an ad or Rolex would have to keep track of real watches. Its either real or not. To really know a expert should should remove the case back and inspect the movement and such. If you send a fake to Rolex they will just confiscate it. If you send Rolex a stolen watch you could have some big issues to. So as most people will tell you here, buy from a reputable seller. Its not worth it to try and save a few bucks and not be sure. Hope this helps

[crowncollection]

Good advice Above I agree buy the seller

[Puffy]

Originally Posted by crowncollection

Good advice Above I agree buy the seller

same then little or no need to get a second opinion

[RACER_X]

Originally Posted by samuelhuntington

First of all you should always be certain the watch is authentic before you buy it, you can meet the seller at an ad to confirm it. Or if your buying it online post good pictures here for the experts to see and confirm if it is real or not.

Second I don't believe there is a "log" that an ad or Rolex would have to keep track of real watches. Its either real or not. To really know a expert should should remove the case back and inspect the movement and such. If you send a fake to Rolex they will just confiscate it. If you send Rolex a stolen watch you could have some big issues to. So as most people will tell you here, buy from a reputable seller. Its not worth it to try and save a few bucks and not be sure. Hope this helps

unforn. i have read on here about a guy who bought from an PD and he sent it to RSC and they are saying its a franken watch.

he didn't take pics off teh case (and i don't have the photog. equipment either) to document the case number, so that has me worried

i plan to buy from a PD but that has me worried

[dieseldragon]

Originally Posted by samuelhuntington

First of all you should always be certain the watch is authentic before you buy it, you can meet the seller at an ad to confirm it. Or if your buying it online post good pictures here for the experts to see and confirm if it is real or not.

Second I don't believe there is a "log" that an ad or Rolex would have to keep track of real watches. Its either real or not. To really know a expert should should remove the case back and inspect the movement and such. If you send a fake to Rolex they will just confiscate it. If you send Rolex a stolen watch you could have some big issues to. So as most people will tell you here, buy from a reputable seller. Its not worth it to try and save a few bucks and not be sure. Hope this helps

I have never understood this. Why would an AD want 2 people doing a transaction in their store (that they pay rent for etc...) without any gain for themselves. Is the idea to have the AD verify the watch and someone pay them for their services before money changes hands?

[RACER_X]

i would pay the AD for the inspection. thats what i would assume

they would do it for some income vs no income, on a watch. esp if it's a classic or out of date one

i'm looking for a Pepsi

i would guess $100 to inspect, i have no clue thats why i'm asking

[Fredrik]

I never heard of an AD do a reliable authenticity check. The only way to get that is by sending it to a service center for service, they will tell you if there are any problems. ADs only have sales people there, they only know what they sell, I would never trust an AD for checking authenticity myself.

Also, I doubt very much that they would find it OK for two strangers to do a business deal at their place. If I were the owner I would ask the guards to show them the door.

Has anyone here actually got a reliable authenticity check and made a deal at an AD? I always thought that was a way for scammers to induce faith but never really go ahead with it.

[A. Jacobs]

Originally Posted by Fredrik

I never heard of an AD do a reliable authenticity check. The only way to get that is by sending it to a service center for service, they will tell you if there are any problems. ADs only have sales people there, they only know what they sell, I would never trust an AD for checking authenticity myself.

Also, I doubt very much that they would find it OK for two strangers to do a business deal at their place. If I were the owner I would ask the guards to show them the door.

Has anyone here actually got a reliable authenticity check and made a deal at an AD? I always thought that was a way for scammers to induce faith but never really go ahead with it.

I have an AD near where I live. They are the largest Rolex dealer in Columbus. They are also an authorized Rolex service center. The only way that they will authenticate a Rolex is if you pay a $75.00 fee. They have one of their two Rolex trained watch techs take the watch apart and inspect every piece of the insides and also the case, crystal, bracelet, dial, etc. They photograph the insides of the watch as well as the outside of it like the serial and case numbers. After the watch is found to be authentic, it then goes to their appraiser so he can put a value on it. Not only do they verify the authenticity, but you get a copy of the report that details the inspection and shows copies of the photographs taken during the inspection. To me, that's worth the charge. The only downside is the wait. They are usually booked up two weeks.
IMO just having a sales person visually inspect the watch isn't good enough, but the process taken by my AD seems to be sufficient, and a good value for peace of mind.

[RACER_X]

Originally Posted by A. Jacobs

I have an AD near where I live. They are the largest Rolex dealer in Columbus. They are also an authorized Rolex service center. The only way that they will authenticate a Rolex is if you pay a $75.00 fee. They have one of their two Rolex trained watch techs take the watch apart and inspect every piece of the insides and also the case, crystal, bracelet, dial, etc. They photograph the insides of the watch as well as the outside of it like the serial and case numbers. After the watch is found to be authentic, it then goes to their appraiser so he can put a value on it. Not only do they verify the authenticity, but you get a copy of the report that details the inspection and shows copies of the photographs taken during the inspection. To me, that's worth the charge. The only downside is the wait. They are usually booked up two weeks.
.

WOW, that is well worth the $75, wish it were local to me.

[samuelhuntington]

Originally Posted by dieseldragon

I have never understood this. Why would an AD want 2 people doing a transaction in their store (that they pay rent for etc...) without any gain for themselves. Is the idea to have the AD verify the watch and someone pay them for their services before money changes hands?

The ad's I have been to usually have a watch maker/tech at the store that could inspect the watch etc... And yes I would assume the buyer would pay the ad for this service. I would think in the range of 50 to 100 bucks. And I understand not all ads will have a watchmaker on site, I wouldn't trust the salespeople to authenticate the watch either. Full discloser - I have not done this when buying or selling a watch. I'm sure every ad is different

[mrbill2mrbill2]

Originally Posted by A. Jacobs

I have an AD near where I live. They are the largest Rolex dealer in Columbus. They are also an authorized Rolex service center. The only way that they will authenticate a Rolex is if you pay a $75.00 fee. They have one of their two Rolex trained watch techs take the watch apart and inspect every piece of the insides and also the case, crystal, bracelet, dial, etc. They photograph the insides of the watch as well as the outside of it like the serial and case numbers. After the watch is found to be authentic, it then goes to their appraiser so he can put a value on it. Not only do they verify the authenticity, but you get a copy of the report that details the inspection and shows copies of the photographs taken during the inspection. To me, that's worth the charge. The only downside is the wait. They are usually booked up two weeks.
IMO just having a sales person visually inspect the watch isn't good enough, but the process taken by my AD seems to be sufficient, and a good value for peace of mind.

You have a very unique AD. Most with watchmakers do not want to get involved in a third party transaction. Unless you are a good customer.

cheers:

[A. Jacobs]

Originally Posted by mrbill2mrbill2

You have a very unique AD. Most with watchmakers do not want to get involved in a third party transaction. Unless you are a good customer.

cheers:

They are an authorized Rolex service center, so it's not really a third party transaction. Their watch techs have been trained by Rolex in New York. It's nice to have an AD like that close to where I live. ( Diamond Cellar in Columbus in case anyone is curious who lives near the area)

[yourdaddy]

this might be off the topic . i bought a used watch . should i have the original owner write a letter stating that he sold the watch to me so nothing can happen to me

[Tools]

Originally Posted by RACER_X

will an AD verify authenticity and note it down on an " offical" log?

just read about a buyer here who bought from an PD and when he went to have it serviced he had issues w/ authenticity.

would it be a good idea to take your newly purchased watch to an AD and athenticate it? and will they not it down somewhere for rolex?

No, they don't..

I have never understood why so many advise that a buyer meet at an AD to have the watch verified. Very few Dealers have the ability, nor do they offer a free authentication service, or even counterspace for you to carry out your transaction..

I'm sure that if one of you has a good relationship with a Dealer, they may say that it looks OK, but they won't put it in writing. Most decent watchmakers and even some sales staff will be able to look it over and give you the nod if they are so inclined, but without taking it apart completely, you just don't know if every tiny part is legitimate..

[RACER_X]

free, no i don't expect anything for free, esp for high end items.

as for counterspace, don't know about your local AD but everytime i go buy there places, usually lunch during the week, they may have 1-2 customers. more often then not, they have 1 if that. weekend may be a diff story. and i'm talkin about 'the galleria' in houston, so its not some podunk storefront.

and i would hope 'you' and the seller don't exchange $ in the shop, thats inapproprite, but i have exchanged large sums of $ at banks. but the thread is more about authetication vs transaction.

its also about them being a rolex dealer not jsut a selling place, just like if you buy a mercedes, you can goto any mecedes dealership and they will look at it for a fee.

[train-time]

I had a buyer for a bnib watch that wanted to meet at an AD to have it authenticated and do the sale. I called 4 local ADs between me and the buyer's location and none of them agreed to authenticate or allow a sale to take place on their premises. All cited liability as the reason. I finally found one that would do it, but would send it off to their own in-house service guy for authentication -- one week turnaround and $150!

[A. Jacobs]

Originally Posted by Edward Arthur

I had a buyer for a bnib watch that wanted to meet at an AD to have it authenticated and do the sale. I called 4 local ADs between me and the buyer's location and none of them agreed to authenticate or allow a sale to take place on their premises. All cited liability as the reason. I finally found one that would do it, but would send it off to their own in-house service guy for authentication -- one week turnaround and $150!

IMO, it's worth the short wait and small price tag.

[RACER_X]

Originally Posted by A. Jacobs

IMO, it's worth the short wait and small price tag.

agreed

and $ doesn't exchange hands till all confirmation is good from the AD

and buyer would pay AD fee or some sort of agreement upon who pays.

[jokb]

In Canada I don't think any AD actually does any authentication. Like they would open it up and check each piece.