I really don’t trust the Authentication Programme. If they can’t spot a fake Aquaracer, then literally anything can slip through.
I'd argue the Aquaracer super fakes are some of the hardest to spot as they're so close, though. Maybe they can tell, who knows, it's just I wouldn't really trust anybody to get that one right. And Rolex upwards I actually think that's easier. Grand Seiko, very easy to tell genuine from fake because the genuine ones are finished so well, a fake isn't going to come close.
Who is to say that only Aquaracers are commonly faked to a decent quality? In this forum we focus on TAG Heuaaaa but I presume the world is flooded with excellent fake Longines, Tissot, Oris etc. Anything popular with a generic Sellita or ETA is probably open for Chinese business. If authentication experts can't spot a fake Aquaracer, why would they be able to spot a fake Hydro Conquest?
There are definitely fake Tissots out there. And they can be quite tricky to spot as well. Although, the fakers tend to stick to cheaper popular models like the PRC200. The more expensive Tissot chronos aren't going to be convincingly faked. And eBay authenticaion only kicks in for higher value watches.
Do we know that they don't spot the fake Aquaracers? I'd hope they would too, but when you have a fake that uses a genuine movement and gets close in every other way, then I probably wouldn't trust them 100%. But then I wouldn't trust anybody to authenticate these (except perhaps Tag themselves and a couple of people on the forum).
I think my point about Grand Seikos and higher value watches still holds, though. For now at least. Fakes get better over time.
I agree about GS and higher end brands, movements made inside a house alone will make it a lot more tricky for the Chinese to make a perfect copy.
Wish some baller forum member could pick up a handful of fake Aquaracers and have them go through Ebay's authenticator experts so we could witness how they handle it
Let’s find some eBay adverts for good fakes over the 2k threshold and 14day returns, then go watch shopping
Only way to get security then is to send it to the manufacturer for service right away
Yeah. Either that or spend a little more and buy new from AD 😜