Is my TAG Heuer Authentic? All questions here please

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Nice! Well worth $100 and extremely unlikely to be fake.
 
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I bought my CBN2A1F.FC6492 off of Chrono24, and inadvertently introduced my wife to that site. 😲 She started looking around C24, and decided that since I now had a really nice watch, she wanted one too. 😲 😲 🫨

She spent a long time looking through the site, over many days, and picked out watches from TH, Cartier and Breitling (among others), but decided she really liked the WV2212.FC6302 model. I kinda shot the idea down by pointing out all the other really expensive things she wanted that had higher priority, but secretly started looking for one as an anniversary present.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I found a few on C24 that seemed nice but really expensive and a few that were noticeably worn and still rather expensive, so I expanded my search to other sites. On ebay, I found one that looked virtually new and was significantly less expensive, from a dealer in Japan. Plus, it seemed to fit all the criteria for being genuine -- pictures exactly matched other pictures of the same model, the serial number came up on TH's warranty page, googling the serial didn't find any matches, etc. It even came with the boxes, manual and warranty card. So I bought it, pics below:


What do y'all think? Did I get a bargain, or did I waste my money on an excellent forgery? My biggest question is the model number, which is WV2212-0, but even that seems legitimate.
 
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What do y'all think? Did I get a bargain, or did I waste my money on an excellent forgery? My biggest question is the model number, which is WV2212-0, but even that seems legitimate.

Looks fine, honestly. You could pop in to a jewellers and ask if they can test the stones or if you want to be sure, and have time, you can send it in to TAG Heuer for verification (and refinishing, if you want).

-0 just means it's a revision of the original WV2212 - possibly updated movement.
 
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There was one other oddity I forgot to mention earlier: When I registered the watch on TH's warranty site, it showed the serial number and warranty code and dates, but no picture -- just a black silhouette saying no pic available. When I registered my other TH watch, it showed all the data and a matching picture. I'm guessing there's no pic because it's an older model, but don't know for sure.

Looks fine, honestly. You could pop in to a jewellers and ask if they can test the stones or if you want to be sure, and have time, you can send it in to TAG Heuer for verification (and refinishing, if you want).
Hmmm, you think they might have swapped the diamonds for fakes and then re-sold the watch? Hadn't thought about that. Seems like an awful lot of work for dubious gain, though. Can't imagine those little stones would be worth a whole lot on their own.

How long would it take to send the watch to TH for verification? I'm in the US, and have no idea how long it would take, but I have read stories here about TH taking several-to-many months to return watches.
Edited:
 
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There was one other oddity I forgot to mention earlier: When I registered the watch on TH's warranty site, it showed the serial number and warranty code and dates, but no picture -- just a black silhouette saying no pic available. When I registered my other TH watch, it showed all the data and a matching picture. I'm guessing there's no pic because it's an older model, but don't know for sure.

It's not uncommon - my Connected Modular 45 shows up on the WAS page, but doesn't have a picture under my account.

Hmmm, you think they might have swapped the diamonds for fakes and then re-sold the watch? Hadn't thought about that. Seems like an awful lot of work for dubious gain, though. Can't imagine those little stones would be worth a whole lot on their own.

Not that they would have been replaced, as the stones would not have been worth the effort, but that if it was a fake then the stones likely wouldn't be diamonds to begin with.

How long would it take to send the watch to TH for verification? I'm in the US, and have no idea how long it would take, but I have read stories here about TH taking several-to-many months to return watches.

It can vary, but expect a couple of months (it is a free service, after all).
 
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Hi everyone,

I'm new here and just wanted to ask for some advice. So I've started to get into watches slowly and I'm thinking about building a bit of a collection especially around Tag watches. I don't want to break the bank and always look for deals (Yes I can be cheap sometimes).

I was looking on eBay and found a very good deal on a TAG Heuer WAY201S.BA0927. I ended up winning the auction but then noticed this watch comes from Bulgaria which has raised some red flags for me as I know those regions of Europe create very good fakes. I have a very good standing with eBay and the seller looks like they do too, so in case of a fake I'm sure I'd get my money back however, I also don't want to go through the hassle.

Is there anyway to tell if this watch is real from the photos provided? I have messaged the seller with a few questions and requesting more photos but no response yet.

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No idea if it's genuine or not, but you are right to be wary. At the same time, you should ask questions before you bid, not afterwards. As an eBay seller myself it really pisses me off when people make offers and then don't pay or tell me they don't need the watch anymore as they bid on something else at the same time. Of course you can relist, but if you listed it on the 80% off fees and then someone 'buys' it then you have to wait for the cheap listing to come around again. Fortunately there is a way to stop that and now when people make offers their card is charged when I accept. Of course then you get clownshoes buyers messaging you asking to get their money back as they didn't realise their offer was binding... so annoying.
 
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No idea if it's genuine or not, but you are right to be wary. At the same time, you should ask questions before you bid, not afterwards. As an eBay seller myself it really pisses me off when people make offers and then don't pay or tell me they don't need the watch anymore as they bid on something else at the same time. Of course you can relist, but if you listed it on the 80% off fees and then someone 'buys' it then you have to wait for the cheap listing to come around again. Fortunately there is a way to stop that and now when people make offers their card is charged when I accept. Of course then you get clownshoes buyers messaging you asking to get their money back as they didn't realise their offer was binding... so annoying.


Thank you for responding. I’ll be transparent and say that I didn’t post on the forum to get your opinion on how people bid on eBay or when you should message sellers but since we’re on that subject, what you said doesn’t really make much sense (from my perspective anyway).

I sent the original messages to the seller before the auction actually ended (now nearly 2 days ago) and I haven’t yet received a response. The auction had over 100 favourites and in total, 72 bids.

Considering I didn’t want to miss out on the auction, I placed my max bid and ended up winning. At this point I didn’t see that the watch was being shipped from Bulgaria and when I spotted it, I sent additional messages, so technically I done both.

I have over 500+ positive feedback reviews on my eBay (mostly seller) and whenever I choose to sell, I’m very attentive when people message me and I would usually respond within 24 hours. This seller hasn’t responded for 2 days, so what makes you think they would have responded during the 7 day auction?

Additionally, whenever I sell higher value goods then I try to make sure I provide as many photos as I can + a very detailed description to avoid sellers asking questions but in this case there are 3 photos and a 20-30 word description (not very good for an item selling over 1k). I would understand if it was an item worth £20.

So this goes both ways from a seller and buyer perspective. + if the item turns out to be fake, then I genuinely don’t care if I paid or not & if it’s genuine, then i’ll pay 😀.
 
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Thank you for responding. I’ll be transparent and say that I didn’t post on the forum to get your opinion on how people bid on eBay or when you should message sellers but since we’re on that subject, what you said doesn’t really make much sense (from my perspective anyway).

I sent the original messages to the seller before the auction actually ended (now nearly 2 days ago) and I haven’t yet received a response. The auction had over 100 favourites and in total, 72 bids.

Considering I didn’t want to miss out on the auction, I placed my max bid and ended up winning. At this point I didn’t see that the watch was being shipped from Bulgaria and when I spotted it, I sent additional messages, so technically I done both.

I have over 500+ positive feedback reviews on my eBay (mostly seller) and whenever I choose to sell, I’m very attentive when people message me and I would usually respond within 24 hours. This seller hasn’t responded for 2 days, so what makes you think they would have responded during the 7 day auction?

Additionally, whenever I sell higher value goods then I try to make sure I provide as many photos as I can + a very detailed description to avoid sellers asking questions but in this case there are 3 photos and a 20-30 word description (not very good for an item selling over 1k). I would understand if it was an item worth £20.

So this goes both ways from a seller and buyer perspective. + if the item turns out to be fake, then I genuinely don’t care if I paid or not & if it’s genuine, then i’ll pay 😀.

Green Aquaracers in that guises were heavily faked, actually that style Aquaracer were heavily faked.

Regardless of the location I’d want proper photos and asked questions before, if it looks to be too good of a deal then it is.

As for the for the seller not responding, ‘life happens’ selling something on eBay sometimes isn’t the top priority when something comes up.

many threads & experts in here will till you what too look for. But I guess reading your above, you’ll probably best to cancel the bid or get out of the win.

believe a popular YouTuber Bruce Williams (watch content) got done with a fake green aquaracer could be worth looking at.
 
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If they didn't answer then that probably tells you all you need to know.
 
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The only way you will know for sure is to send the watch to TAG for authentication, but if its fake by the time you get it back it will probably be too late. Unfortunately, this is the current situation with Aquaracers. Buy from a shop or don't buy one.
 
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Green Aquaracers in that guises were heavily faked, actually that style Aquaracer were heavily faked.

Regardless of the location I’d want proper photos and asked questions before, if it looks to be too good of a deal then it is.

As for the for the seller not responding, ‘life happens’ selling something on eBay sometimes isn’t the top priority when something comes up.

many threads & experts in here will till you what too look for. But I guess reading your above, you’ll probably best to cancel the bid or get out of the win.

believe a popular YouTuber Bruce Williams (watch content) got done with a fake green aquaracer could be worth looking at.

Thank you! This is very helpful, especially knowing that this style was heavily faked. I’m going to definitely assume this is a fake and get it cancelled if I don’t get a response by tomorrow. Seeing so much interest on the auction and so many bids, made me think it could just potentially be a good deal.

i’ll also checkout the youtuber, will help me understand more. Thank you!
 
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We should really change the title of this thread to is my watch fake. We are far more likely to be able to tell someone if their watch is 100pc fake than to be able to tell them its 100pc genuine. Because if we could then you would be able to send a photo to TAG and ask them.
 
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Thank you! This is very helpful, especially knowing that this style was heavily faked. I’m going to definitely assume this is a fake and get it cancelled if I don’t get a response by tomorrow. Seeing so much interest on the auction and so many bids, made me think it could just potentially be a good deal.

i’ll also checkout the youtuber, will help me understand more. Thank you!

Probably a smart move.
 
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Those Bulgarian sellers are definitely fake - they repost the same selection of watches with the same photos. You're not even going to receive the watch pictured.
 
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@Onix2024 the fact that you are "always looking for deals" is a risky game to play when looking at modern TAG Heuer Aquaracers (and F1s for that matter). These watches, and in particular the "WAY" series of Aquaracers, are notorious for having so many fakes. We've said this before so many times on these forums - if I were to buy an Aquaracer I'd go to an AD. No question. It's simply not worth the risk. Below is a recent thread where we discussed this issue at length:

https://tagheuerforums.com/threads/how-to-spot-a-fake-quartz-aquaracer.168868/

The fact that the seller hasn't responded to you is icing on the cake. Good decision on your part to back out of this deal. Good luck and welcome to this great forum!