Is my TAG Heuer Authentic? All questions here please

kwilcox

The genuine version of his watch is most likely to have an ETA Caliber 955.112 movement. It won't have a Rhonda movement for sure but it may also have a ETA Caliber F03.111. Both seemed popular Tag choices for aquaracers of this vintage. Many ppl on caliber corner reported that their WAY1xxx watches had the 955.112 and my WAY111C has it also. The fake I shared here had a Rhonda movement. Agree, not a definitive check but another piece of evidence to add to the pile. We can also check to see if its been screwed in or not.

NewbGuy90210

this is for sure where i get out of my element, I dont know much about movements. kinda like another language people speak.

NewbGuy90210

WHAT IF the second watch shop looks at it and says its genuine too? Should I be dismissive to the 2nd jeweler and the 1st, because someone (i.e. you guys) online say you know better (which y'all very well may, thats the whole reason i posted on here in the 1st place)? If y'all and the jewelers on complete polar opposites and I'm in the middle, what should i do? Believe complete strangers on tags forum or believe brick and mortar jewelers that specialize in swiss time pieces? (1st jeweler didn't specialize, just someone who's opinion I tend to believe, the 2nd place im taking it to later today is a primer swiss watch retailer/shop).

jamesbizs

That's the problem tho. It wouldn't matter if you were the worlds leading expert on movements. The current fakes of these, use THE SAME movement, from the same source/manufactuers, as tag heuer. So taking it to a jeweler, will do literally nothing, because unless they are an expert in not only these models, but also what to look for with current clones, then all they will do is open it up, see it has the correct movement, and be done with it. I have multiple examples of these watches, both real and fake, and the side by side pics will look exactly the same. If the guy needed to open the watch up, in order to determine these are fake, then no, he doesn't know what he is doing. Maybe 5, 10 years ago. Sure. But not today. Not anymore.

So I'll ask again. Please send me a link to the person you bought it from, or at least post more pictures. You've given us very little to work with, yet are expecting a lot in return.

jamesbizs

That's the problem tho. It wouldn't matter if you were the worlds leading expert on movements. The current fakes of these, use THE SAME movement, from the same source/manufactuers, as tag heuer. So taking it to a jeweler, will do literally nothing, because unless they are an expert in not only these models, but also what to look for with current clones, then all they will do is open it up, see it has the correct movement, and be done with it. I have multiple examples of these watches, both real and fake, and the side by side pics will look exactly the same. If the guy needed to open the watch up, in order to determine these are fake, then no, he doesn't know what he is doing. Maybe 5, 10 years ago. Sure. But not today. Not anymore.

So I'll ask again. Please send me a link to the person you bought it from, or at least post more pictures. You've given us very little to work with, yet are expecting a lot in return.

jamesbizs

You're giving multiple people physical access to your watch, and you want to know who to trust more, them, or the people you've given one single picture to?

Unless your jeweler is an expert in these models AND modern clones, his opinion means very little. I've literally done tests with these people, even with places that are authorized dealers. They are just places that sell watches. They are not experts on the ins and outs of these watches. They are living in the world of fake tag heuers from 10 years ago, which are incredibly easy to figure out, and none of them have actually kept up to date with modern clones. So yeah, the people on this page, are MUCH more experienced and knowledgeable about these things, as almost anyone on here, has seen dozens, if not 100's of clones. While your jeweler, might have seen 1, or maybe 2 examples of these modern clones. Hell, half the people on here can probably tell you even if your paper hangtag is not real...

kwilcox

When you have the second jeweler open the case, have him tell you what the movement is and post it here. Here's a link to the watch movements that Tag uses. You can use it to research the movement most likely to be in your watch:
https://calibercorner.com/tag/tag-heuer/

Aquagraph

For what it's worth if you send the watch to TAG Heuer they will do metallurgy tests on the case, things like that - just shows it's really not a case of looking in the back and saying yes or no. At the end of the day people who work in the shops are sales people, they aren't usually watchmakers and even if they are they might be able to spot a fake, but whether they could verify beyond doubt something was 'real' is a different matter.

jamesbizs

so based on the photo alone, what makes you have zero doubt that the watch is fake? I hate photos with these models, cause just a little bit of a wrong angle, or bad lighting, throws everything off. That's why I really like when they give you the sellers name, so that I can show them ( as I did with those 3 other accounts), why the watch is fake based on the sellers other sales. But with quartz and steel insert bezels, it's harder to tell, unless the lume is really bad, or it's a really good picture.

NewbGuy90210

Crazy, so your saying there is no way to physically spot a fake Tag Hauer Aquaracer Khaki. The only way to spot a fake is by assessing the seller of the watch? Even Tags own "Customer Warranties" serial lookup cant sus out fakes. Damn. We'll if you think it will help here is the sellers info, https://www.ebay.com/usr/thoande-8619. I assumed from the get go yall would have a way to physically look at a model and tell. No wonder the Tag Hauer store wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole, even THEY have no clue anymore.

NewbGuy90210

idk I just thought someone somewhere could look at it locally and thumbs up or thumb down it, informal, not a COA or anything crazy. Im in north dallas, a large metropolitan city. Three different shops didnt want to look at it (one being the stand alone Tag Hauer store itself) and a fourth shop was wrong apparently. I didn't imagine this amount of agida about something relatively benign.

Aquagraph

Sadly, things have moved beyond that stage. Fakes now are way too good for most of us to spot without a similar model to hand to compare, and even then as James says he would have to dismantle a watch to be sure. Looking on the internet for examples doesn't really help much either because you can't be sure the one you're looking at online is genuine. Really the only way to be 100% sure is to buy new from the AD or from a company like Watchfinder who have something to lose if they sell fakes. People don't want to hear that obviously, because of the price, but sadly that's how it is.

NewbGuy90210

Follow up today, I called the 2nd jeweler/retail shop and they don't do authentication. You'd think in this era of being awash in high quality clones/fakes more people would be in the business of authenticating swiss time pieces. I guess there is for Rolex/Breitling/omega/IWC, not for Tag Hauer (in the time frame I need the watch authenticated at least). The 2nd shop offered to send it to Tag and if its fake, Tag would send it back saying "we did not work on other manufactures watches", which is more then the tag hauer retail store offered. Owell, I only have 30 days to return the watch, ebay policy. I'm going to return it. If there's a shadow of a doubt, return. I think ill be sticking with my Seamaster now on, shows me for trying to get a beater.