BUYER BEWARE : new wave of "hyper-fakes" amongst pre-owned TAGs from eBay.

As I was in the market for a cheap but resilient quartz beater (budget cap EUR600), I thought of Traser and Luminox. But then, I remembered that this is about what 2005-2009 pre-owned F1s goes for. Plus I'd rather add a Tag to the collection than a Traser. The Tag also tick all the boxes (200m, sapphire, ETA F.XX.XXX).
Browsing eBay, I stumbled across what seemed to be a gem. A gorgeous, seemingly NOS condition Tag Heuer Formula 1 WAH1110.

Box, papers, extra links, EUR618, love at first sight :



I'm aware of super-fakes for very sought-after references, like the Nautilus 5711, Royal Oak 15400...super clones of those icons are going viral on YouTube. But a super-fake for a 15 years-old Tag Heuer Formula 1 ?? There's not enough demand for those to justify such advanced fakes out in the wild. Or so I thought.

It's worth mentioning that what first attracted my attention wasn't this watch, but other, more obvious fakes sold by the same seller (Longines Hydroconquest). Naturally I asked the seller about the Longines but he never answered. So I started to dig deeper, and I found an interesting post by @Aquagraph that you can read there : https://tagheuerenthusiast.blogspot.com/2019/08/feature-please-read-this-before-buying.html?m=1

Reading this, I went to my seller's history to see how many WAH1110.BA0850 he sold before mine.
Six, over the past three months. same condition, all with box & papers.
So I dug even deeper, but couldn't find conclusive evidence until the watch finally showed up.
And boy is it good. To me this isn't even super-fake anymore but hyper-fake:



My fine eye for details and a trip to my A.D managed to settles things out though :



Bezel logo at 12. Above picture is on a certified authentic WAH1110. Below picture is from the watch I bought.



Notice how the space between the two elements is bigger. The "HEUER" part of the logo is also strangely round.
Now onto the SWISS MADE text at six.



Above picture is certified authentic. Below picture, what I bought.



This one is harder, but you can clearly tell that one is "SWISS MADE" while the other, more like "SWISS MADE".
Clearly not the same font.
Now, some deep obscures details on the back of the watch.

Here, notice two things :
The space between the little holes on the back of the links.
The space between the edge of the caseback and the holes for the caseback removing tool.
Below is the watch I bought. Above, certified authentic.



Scary good, right ?
Here's the watch opened by A.D, who told me the back had been "hand screw" and was barely staying in place.



Movement is a genuine ETA F06.115. Albeit this watch was only released with ETA F06.111, which has since been replaced by....F06.115...which points out to a more recent assembly.

Now, what comes with the watch. Starting with the box.



The patina on the logo really sold me on the authenticity.
But it's all fake. This box is brand new. It even smells new. Nowhere near what a 18 years old box should look, feel, or smell like. Because yes, according to the card, this watch was bought in 2006. Note the fake patina on the card.



Last nail in the coffin, that card. Here's Tag Heuer's 2006 Catalog for monochroms F1s :



That's right. No WAH1110.BA0850. This reference was introduced in 2007...
Seller refunded me, no question asked. He claim to have been fooled by his supplier. Watch will be in the mail tomorrow, back to Austria. I tought I ought to document this experience here while I still had it. Be EXTREMELY careful when buying on eBay, now more than ever. Even obscure references of 15 years old watches are now being faked so good anyone would be fooled.

EDIT : I also performed "the water test" by putting a drop of water on the glass, and on my Aquaracer's. Same reaction, so it even comes with a sapphire crystal, this fake.



It even hits markers better than the real deal...

Excellent write-up!

I'm still confused. Did you buy it thinking it was fake? Cos you almost seem happy to be proved right?

Thanks I appreciate this.

Lol good point ! Happy I don't know but I'm genuinely excited to had the chance to document this. I think this is both worrysome and fascinating. The scary attention to details, not to replicate the latest Patek but for faking a forgettable Tag from 2007.

I was, however, convinced it was genuine when I sent my 618€. I was really looking forward to rock that watch, as I still believe you can hardly find a better quartz beater for 600 bucks. But one can try, so I'm back hunting for one, which I gotta admit I love even more than the watch itself.

I am not surprised at all. If I was a Chinese businessman this is the kind of counterfitting I would invest my efforts in. Manufacturing watches for <100 dollaz and sell with an insane markup, in a price segment no one cares enough about to investigate properly or even consider it might be fake, for brands and models that are reasonably attractive on the secondary market. Makes total sense. And for years now, the Chinese have had very efficient methods for "aging" products which makes it ideal to sell older models that are not yet vintage or valuable enough for the community or anyone else to care or bother investigating.

The box is truly terrible and you can instantly tell it's a fake. The logo is all wrong and the wear clearly artificial. The watch looks good at first glance but although I can't put my finger on it exactly, something just looks a little off. The fact is looks so brand new is also a red flag.

I mean... I did say it looked dodgy. But he wouldn't listen.

And like you.. I can't say why exactly. Just looks wrong.

I played with it a little and it looks just right, with some weight to it as well. I believe there's even some anti reflective layers on that sapphire. But as you said, it has no right to look this fresh which is a dead give away.

Well the watch was already in the mail, and it looked so right I thought that maybe, just maybe it could be genuine...but as soon as I got my hands & nose on this brand new smelling fake patina box, I just knew.

Precisely...this watch is so far from the usual suspects that I didn't even bother to investigate prior to purchase. You're right, it makes perfect sense to copy that kind of references...most buyers will own thoses for years before realizing something's wrong, if they ever do.

Without @Aquagraph 's paper on the matter I'll probably would have worn mine, clueless about what's what.

Something about the bezel I think, maybe the sizing/proportions aren’t quite right? Bezel font is wrong too.

Bezel, definitely. And also the dial logo. And the whole thing doesn't quite have the same sheen/finishing as a real one - difficult to put your finger on, but it just doesn't have the right "look".
It really doesn't. [the box]

This has been really interesting. Thank you for sharing. At first glance those pics would have fooled me, too.

I want to be surprised but I just can’t. Although I don’t think this is as good of a fake as some of the modern F1s and Aquaracers, but what I find interesting is that it’s a modern fake of an older model. I just had this conversation with someone yesterday on WatchCrunch. It’s just getting harder and harder to tell. It looks like they’re making adjustments to these fakes based on information they find here lol.

BTW. Those F1s are cool, but have you considered a 2000 series from a little earlier? I feel like you get more for your money with that range, and they are just bulletproof to be beaters. Another plus is they are extremely easy to tell genuine from fake, and even franken. These are just my thoughts and I completely understand if you’re set on the F1.

im going to post a link to an eBay seller that I have been watching for over a year. I have not purchased from him yet, but he seems to be extremely honest. The descriptions are good, and it looks like he just deals with TH. I honestly thought he was one of you guys for a while. He is a little pricey though… I’m curious to see if you guys think he seems legit or not.

https://www.ebay.com/str/motleywatc...uid=wnoxf7y1sri&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

I often wonder whether some of the posts in this thread, often from new users, are actually digging for information on how to better their offerings.

If I was a chinese business owner I would definitely have some of my employees monitor the forums as input to my R&D department, makes total sense 👍

Which is why I understand when members are hesitant to give out information that they have learned over years and years of experience. Its like we have to have a private chat or something 🤦

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm gonna steer clear of eBay for a while. As for my quartz beater purchase, the Citizen Godzilla Promaster filled that niche quite nicely. Comfortably brand new, iso certified and solar powered. It's also a lot more exotic than a black dial F1 from 2007, which I particularly enjoy.



This seller seems legit..but again after this experience it's gonna take a while for me to trust anything pre-owned from eBay.