Is my TAG Heuer Authentic? All questions here please

T
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Jim Dollares Jim Dollares
Hello car guy, main rule is to never buy Aquaracer from Ebay. My guess is that 95% of the listings are common models normally faked a lot.

I am not expert in this model but an obvious tell is the lume pip on yours? To me it looks like a bad fake, when compring to photos of the real deal.

Look at this video and you will see what a genuine one should look like, in your photos your lume pip looks very different from a genuine one in this video


Then compare to this video below, posted by this known criminal asshole often posting many videos of fake TAG Heuer watches. The only good thing is that he shows what these commonly faked models often look like when they aren't genuine. This fake version's lumepip looks a lot more like yours

Thanks for the feedback. Maybe I’m blind, but I don’t see a large difference in the lumepip of the two videos. To be honest, the first video the lumepip looks like it has me tail ring around it or it is recessed, where the second video it looks raised like on my watch (and that’s how the Watch looks on the Tag website’s stock photos. The other thing I noticed was that the hour/minute hands on the first video are seethrough/skeleton on the first half. Is that normal? None of the Aquaracers I’ve seen have that.

The one thing I did note in watching a few videos is that the lume of my watch appears to be off. The hands are matching colored (green) to the 12/3/6/9 markers. In a video I saw, the hands are blue, matching the other markers. What is the correct lume/color scheme?
 
JAH
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The sticker tag is printed wrong. Wrong margins text.
Same sticker the fake ones come with. I would send back and get a refund.
My AD bought Tags both have different sticker spacing. Usually a 100% tell for fakes.
 
JAH
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You could also open it up and take a pic of the movement....TH uses one type Fakes slightly different.
 
M
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I am visiting family this week and visited their local Tag Heuer stores. They didn't really have a lot on display and just out of curiosity I asked how much it would be to replace a battery. They quoted me $200 and would take over a week. I laughed and continued window shopping.

A local watchmaker charges $25 (just the battery) and can usually have it ready within a day.
 
Gambba
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M Militarydave
I am visiting family this week and visited their local Tag Heuer stores. They didn't really have a lot on display and just out of curiosity I asked how much it would be to replace a battery. They quoted me $200 and would take over a week. I laughed and continued window shopping.

A local watchmaker charges $25 (just the battery) and can usually have it ready within a day.

Most boutiques don’t have watchmakers in house so it will need to be sent to a central TH location by courier. Then they will also possible replace the caseback seal and will always pressure test it.

I change batteries on some of my watches and costs me peanuts obviously, but I understand where the pricing comes from in this case.
 
Aquagraph
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What watch was it? I sent my Microtimer back to TH for a battery and it was £85.
 
jamesbizs
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Gambba Gambba
Most boutiques don’t have watchmakers in house so it will need to be sent to a central TH location by courier. Then they will also possible replace the caseback seal and will always pressure test it.

I change batteries on some of my watches and costs me peanuts obviously, but I understand where the pricing comes from in this case.

i do this for a living, and i do not understand where the price is coming from.... battery gaskets and o rings cost $10 in material on the high end. 5 minutes on pressure tester.
 
imagwai
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Sending a watch to TAG and back obviously adds quite a bit to the cost. I also imagine they do a clean up of the watch and bracelet as well. And then there's the brand prestige cost to factor in. 😀
 
Aquagraph
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Don't think they clean up the watch unless you have a service. In fact my Microtimer came back scratched but I couldn't prove it. 🤬
 
imagwai
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That's poor. When I sent my Omega in for a battery change, they cleaned up the watch and fixed some scratches on the bracelet clasp. At the very least, I hope they clean around the seals.
 
Aquagraph
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I think they replace the seals, because they would have to pressure test it. But no, you need to service it to get a polish.
 
imagwai
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Yes, but you always get gunk around the seals so hopefully they do a case clean, at very least around the seal area, and don't just slap a new seal onto a dirty case.
 
Aquagraph
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I guess they would... I only send things back that I don't want to/can't open myself, so I can't say for sure.
 
Aquagraph
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I sent my 500M Aquaracer back, I couldn't get the back off. I wonder if they use a machine to put the back on for the 500m? Everything else I've managed to get off, but the Microtimer had the tiniest screws I've ever seen and I was not keen.
 
M
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Aquagraph Aquagraph
What watch was it? I sent my Microtimer back to TH for a battery and it was £85.

I inquired about a TH "Link" WJ1117. The bracelet is pretty scratched up and I asked about that and they would also have to send that out, but didn't exactly give me a quote to polish all the scratches/swirls off it it.

I'll probably take it in to my local watchmaker before the holidays to get it serviced and inquire if they install new seals and pressure test it after battery replacement.
 
imagwai
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It's a test of water-resistance and requires some machinery in order to be able to assure the watch will withstand different presssures/depth ratings. It's a pretty quick test, though.
 
jamesbizs
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Aquagraph Aquagraph
I sent my 500M Aquaracer back, I couldn't get the back off. I wonder if they use a machine to put the back on for the 500m? Everything else I've managed to get off, but the Microtimer had the tiniest screws I've ever seen and I was not keen.
They might have some machine. But only once have I had a hard time removing the back from a watch. It's always all about having the right tools for the job. Removing links is the hard thing in my opinion...
 
Gambba
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jamesbizs jamesbizs
i do this for a living, and i do not understand where the price is coming from.... battery gaskets and o rings cost $10 in material on the high end. 5 minutes on pressure tester.

It’s the adding on of things like courier mentioned and the other admin/labour elements involved before it’s even touched a workbench.

Of course there’s a premium, because you have the boutiques margin and the service centres margin plus the other elements I mentioned involved, so it’s pretty easy to see how it adds up. It’s still overpriced for what is such a simple thing to do, but there’s more than just $10 and 20 mins of labour involved in the case of TH.

Now on the other hand if it was done in the boutique it should be cheap as chips.
Edited:
 
Aquagraph
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My local battery replacement shop can do pressure tests but only to 100M.
 
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