Is my 2011 Aquaracer (WAN2110) authentic?

Hello all,

I apologize for this, but I must enlist your thoughtful insight. It hurts me to even ask this question, since my Aquaracer was a gift from my bride on our wedding day in August 2011. Believing it to be a thrifty and even wise decision, she purchased this watch from Amazon (please, no jeering here... I realize Amazon is not an AD, and that it is considered "grey market"). as if the "direct from Amazon" marketing language guaranteed an authentic timepiece. She did not know of the risks here, since it appears some people have purchased authentic Tags from Amazon.

Almost immediately, I noticed that the watch was losing time much more rapidly than I thought it should. To this day, almost four years since receiving it, I have to reset it regularly to maintain a reliable time. Currently, the local time is 10:18 CST, and the watch reads 10:15, having last been reset four minutes ahead of time about a month ago. That adds up to a loss of ~7 minutes a month. First question: is that even normal?

I am also concerned about the serial number. In one of the attached pictures, the serial number is clearly 7 digits. My research has shown that Tag serial numbers are generally six digits (two letters + four numbers). Is this a dead giveaway of a fake?

I have not contacted an AD to inspect the watch, nor have I sent it in for cleaning, recalibration, or any type of service. I am concerned that they will refuse to service it, leaving me with a sad lesson learned at the expense of my wife's generosity on a very special day.

Please let me know what, if anything, about this watch rings authentic or not. As much as I would like to proceed in blissful ignorance, I would just like to know. Thank you in advance.

Chase

Looks genuine from here, if it's a fake its a good one. Only thing I'm not 100% convinced on is the second hand, but it looks good compared to this: http://www.goldsmiths.co.uk/TAG-Heu...pid=17380731&gclid=CKuCztib9cQCFQLMtAodVlsAww

A clue may be the glass, has it picked up any scratches in the last 4 years? Genuine sapphire crystal on an aquaracer is near indestructible, I've not marked mine in 6 years of hard wear.

Im saying genuine with moisture damage.

Thanks for the response. What exactly about the second hand catches your attention? When rubbed on a shirt or cleaned with a cloth, the glass shows no scratches or nicks.

There was a thread here that talked about serial number formats: http://forums.calibre11.com/threads/serial-numbers.20198

In short, no, 7 digits is not an automatic sign of a replica.

Hard to verify a watch from a photo- it's easier to say that it's not an obvious replica. And while it's true that Amazon are not an AD (and buying from an AD does provide you with protection/ assurance), I have never heard of Amazon selling replicas.

7 minutes/ month is a lot- call that 14 seconds per day. You should get better than this with a serviced movement

On my ipad, it looked like the secondhand was a different colour, but looking to it on a laptop, it looks fine. but DC is the expert here for sure!

Another question for you wise folks: if a watch comes with a "certified" appraisal, does that bode well for authenticity? A Carrera I just purchased came with a recent appraisal from Jared Jewelers, valuing it at $2,900 (retail replacement cost), but I'm questioning whether an appraiser would even be qualified to certify a watch as real.

The Carrera is model WV211A and has a 6-digit serial (2 letters + 4 numbers), but I've run across pictures of the exact same model having 7-digit serials. Anyone with an authentic Carrera WV211A can confirm their serial format? Also, the rotor on the movement is engraved with "Tag Heuer Calibre 5 Swiss Made" in gold lettering (attached). But, I saw a picture of one with black lettering (also attached). Any answers to these questions is greatly appreciated.

Here are the photos:

As a general rule those valuations/ certifications aren't worth a lot, but in this case given it comes from Jared, it at least means that there is a credible dealer that you can take it back to if it turns out not to be 100% original. While there might have been a couple of examples of jewellers selling replicas, it is very, very rare.

My guess is that the engraving on the top photo is also Gold, but the light is playing tricks. I can't help with the serial format, but this watch was on sale for several years and it's not unusual for formats to change over time.

In short, I'd be comfortable buying, because you'd have to assume that Jared would take it back if it proved to be anything but 100% genuine.

DC, thank you. I do know that Jared has serviced & cleaned the watch, but I'm not certain that the watch was originally purchased from Jared. I'm waiting for additional "receipts" from the seller. Do you think calling TAG or an AD would help with verifying a serial #?

I'm not aware that TAG has a service to verify serials. If Jared has serviced the watch, then they would be very well placed to certify originality, as they would have taken the movement apart. That plus receipts should be enough, assuming all serials match