Is my TAG Heuer Authentic? All questions here please

Garry Belton

It is clear that popular models, Asians have learned to fake perfectly (almost perfectly). But are there such perfect fakes unpopular models, for example this one

jamesbizs

ok guys. Never said I've never done anything for you LOL. I opened the watch. Here you go.

jamesbizs

ok guys. Never said I've never done anything for you LOL. I opened the watch. Here you go.

A Anton Östman

Hi! I bought a NOS TAG Heuer Aquaracer WAY2015.BA0927 yesterday. Everything checks out except for the lume pip. First of all it’s off centered, so the finishing doesn’t look good. Secondly, it has blue lume in the lume pip. In my understanding this model should have green lume?

I have box and papers, and the warranty card shows the correct warranty number when cross checked with Tag Heuer website. Also the serial number of the watch checks out and I was able to add it in “my watches” in my Tag Heuer account. So everything seems legit, except for the lume pip. Oh, and the whole bezel is slightly off centered too. I can’t find anything else on the watch that suggests it to be fake.

can this be a mistake from Tag Heuer by placing a blue lume pip on the bezel instead of a green one, and at the same time poor QC that didn’t notice the wrong color and centering problems? Or maybe some watches in this series have blue lume pip? Or can the bezel be changed at some point? Or is it straight up fake, even though the serial number and warranty card number is correct for the watch?

i have never heard of a fake watch that was so good that it even fooled Tag Heuer in terms of registering the watch on the website for extended warranty etc, so I really don’t know what to believe here.

what’s your thoughts?

akong71

My thoughts are that it's fake! LOL. I'm not going to get into why, as we've already discussed these issues, including confirmation of serial numbers (not being a reliable indicator of a genuine watch). Sorry!

A Anton Östman

Hi! I bought a NOS TAG Heuer Aquaracer WAY2015.BA0927 yesterday. Everything checks out except for the lume pip. First of all it’s off centered, so the finishing doesn’t look good. Secondly, it has blue lume in the lume pip. In my understanding this model should have green lume?

I have box and papers, and the warranty card shows the correct warranty number when cross checked with Tag Heuer website. Also the serial number of the watch checks out and I was able to add it in “my watches” in my Tag Heuer account. So everything seems legit, except for the lume pip. Oh, and the whole bezel is slightly off centered too. I can’t find anything else on the watch that suggests it to be fake.

can this be a mistake from Tag Heuer by placing a blue lume pip on the bezel instead of a green one, and at the same time poor QC that didn’t notice the wrong color and centering problems? Or maybe some watches in this series have blue lume pip? Or can the bezel be changed at some point? Or is it straight up fake, even though the serial number and warranty card number is correct for the watch?

i have never heard of a fake watch that was so good that it even fooled Tag Heuer in terms of registering the watch on the website for extended warranty etc, so I really don’t know what to believe here.

what’s your thoughts?

Jim Dollares

vår svenska polis har aldrig varit något att räkna med i bedrägeriärenden

akong71

No, not stupid. Inexperienced perhaps? The problem with serial numbers and warranty card numbers is that fakers can easily use the serial number from a genuine watch, then reproduce the same number on several replicas. The person who buys the replica and checks out what appears to be a legit SN is none the wiser.

The real question for you is what is the provenance of the watch? Where did you buy it. Did the seller originally get it from an AD? If so, can the seller produce evidence that it was bought from an AD? If so, can the AD verify that watch was purchased from them?

The problem is there are so many fake Aquaracers (and Formula 1s), chances are (on a balance of probabilities) that most of them sold by second hand retailers are fake.

The lume pip clearly indicates a problem (i.e. fake). It is much more probable that the watch is fake as opposed to a quality control issue with TAG Heuer. On top of that, you said the lume pip is blue when it should be green, and the bezel is slightly off-centred. I would guess that these red flags indicate a fake, more so than your warranty/serial numbers indicating a genuine watch.

Again, I sound like a broken record since we have discussed these issues repeatedly. I apologize for sounding a bit frustrated, and I'm sorry you bought a questionable watch. Do you have an option to return it?

Of course, other more experienced members can chime in here.

All the best.

Jim Dollares

LOL is this supposed to be a WAY2015? They didn't even manage to replicate the emerald green dial colour. Don't forget to report the seller to the police, in many countries it is illegal to sell counterfit products.

Oh, and now I see your name, fellow Swede huh, never mind then, vår svenska polis har aldrig varit något att räkna med i bedrägeriärenden 😉

A Anton Östman

Yeah well my photos here isn’t that good, it is emerald when I put some light on it. But it might be wrong either way.

haha ja, jag vet svenska polisen gör inte många knop.. jag bor i Norge dock och klockan är köpt i Norge. Så jag hoppas att jag kan få hjälp där. Men den personen jag köpte klockan av verkar seriös med många referenser osv. Den är köpt på norska motsvarigheten till Klocksnack, så jag hoppas på att det inte är några problem att få tillbaka pengarna.

Jim Dollares

Do you remember the story where there was an Aquaracer that had been bought and sold between a handful of Klocksnack members during a couple of years? One of them even had like Sweden's biggest auction house "authenticate" it and write a piece of paper saying it is real. Turned out to be a fake watch. There is no doubt your watch is fake though, I hope you get your money back.

A Anton Östman

Hi! I bought a NOS TAG Heuer Aquaracer WAY2015.BA0927 yesterday. Everything checks out except for the lume pip. First of all it’s off centered, so the finishing doesn’t look good. Secondly, it has blue lume in the lume pip. In my understanding this model should have green lume?

I have box and papers, and the warranty card shows the correct warranty number when cross checked with Tag Heuer website. Also the serial number of the watch checks out and I was able to add it in “my watches” in my Tag Heuer account. So everything seems legit, except for the lume pip. Oh, and the whole bezel is slightly off centered too. I can’t find anything else on the watch that suggests it to be fake.

can this be a mistake from Tag Heuer by placing a blue lume pip on the bezel instead of a green one, and at the same time poor QC that didn’t notice the wrong color and centering problems? Or maybe some watches in this series have blue lume pip? Or can the bezel be changed at some point? Or is it straight up fake, even though the serial number and warranty card number is correct for the watch?

i have never heard of a fake watch that was so good that it even fooled Tag Heuer in terms of registering the watch on the website for extended warranty etc, so I really don’t know what to believe here.

what’s your thoughts?

Aquagraph

Has there ever been a really good fake Heuer 01?

flawless

I've not come across any - they're usually closed backs on the fakes and the dials are faux-skeletonized. Similar to the Cal. 36, 1887, etc., the fakes are pretty terrible because it would be so, so much harder get it to the level of the AR/F1 fakes (they're also not as popular, so less incentive).

Aquagraph

Yeah, I didn't think so... bit like the Grand Carreras, even the good ones are bad. And the bad ones are really bad.

A Anton Östman

Yeah, I feel very suspicious about this piece. I mean, I wouldn’t write anything here if I thought it was genuine so I guess I know but I don’t want to believe it you know. I’m going to my local watchmaker today to get a professional opinion on it. I don’t have an AD where I am right now, but I hope I can get answers upon opening the watch and check inside.

thanks for answering me.