Reply With QuoteDepending on the AD and how old the watch was, maybe.
But only in person, not from photos.
Would a Rolex AD confirm authenticity of a Rolex Watch, which you were looking to buy privately i.e. off Ebay.
Thanks is advance.
Depending on the AD and how old the watch was, maybe.
But only in person, not from photos.
Most of them are woefully lacking in any material experience of what they need to look for. Many are simply gilded box-shifters who have never needed nor bothered to learn much about the watches they sell.
A good secondhand dealer (and not all are.....) should have handled and seen re-numbered cases, fake dials and bezels, cobbled together bracelets, cut-and-shuts and so on.
If you want to chance buying off eBay, though, many might say the risk --- and it is very real --- is borne by you alone. I can tell you that hardly ever do I have a customer who has achieved even a reasonably buy on eBay, never mind a bargain. Conversely, we will see several a week where an excited visitor has to be told that they have bought some sort of dud.
You may be lucky and find a forum member in your area willing to look at a watch, but it's often too late then and what power do you have to get out of the deal, without significant grief?
Proceed with caution !
Haywood M
Last edited by Haywood_Milton; 8th March 2015 at 12:07.
wouldn't risk it personally, a rolex is quite a large investment. Id wait until you can access sales corner or post in the wanted forum and see what turns up. Theres a sub on there now with full set for a smidgen over 3k (nowt to do with me)
Incidentally, what is the post count required to access WTB.Originally Posted by comdiver
Thanks
i think anyone can post on wtb but I'm not sure
Don't be scared away from eBay. Bought a GMT last week from a jeweller on eBay. Brilliant experience from start to finish. I would be more wary buying from a private seller if you have concerns about proving if its genuine, but the buyer protection is there if it goes south.
Nice info on this thread it's something I wanted to ask.
There's plenty of advice on here about eBay, but in general "buy the seller, not the watch" seems to be the theme.
I had a very dodgy experience with a deal on eBay, poor pictures, the watch didn't sell first time, the seller wanted to meet me in a car park in Crawley and so I must say I was somewhat nervous about turning up on my own with a huge wedge of cash, I very nearly sacked off the deal when I got there.
As it turned out he was a genuinely lovely chap, with a real passion for old Rolex.
We both wandered around for an hour or so trying to get the watch authenticated at a couple of jewellers (there was no Rolex AD in Crawley at the time) before I cautiously agreed to the sale, leaving with the sellers address and registration plate.
Two days later I was in Rolex St James booking the watch in for a service and I am happy to report that all was confirmed as cosher.
Hindsight however tells me that I would never put myself in this position again when it comes to an eBay purchase, there are just to many villains out there. In short I was stupid.
That said, I've had meetings through this forum which I think is a little different, again carrying wedges of cash, and met some really nice people in very public places!
There are many dealers with shops on ebay so you shouldn't be put off. If buying from a private seller then be sure to meet at a local Rolex AD who normally shouldn't have a problem confirming authenticity. But as some have already mentioned on here not all of them are actually qualified/capable to doing so.
I hear this a lot "get it authenticated by your local Rolex AD"
Do AD's actually do this? I mean what's in it for them? As unless they charge a fee, it's a third party sale, for which they have nothing to do with.
I have heard a horror story on another forum when someone had pictures and asked if the watch was genuine, and it was thought to be so. Unfortunately it turned out to be a quality fake, the buyer using the forum's 'expert' opinion then tried to sue the forum owner.
Yes they do this in the Netherlands..
However I would nog go for an AD for a authenticity check. They most of the time don't even open the case and only have a look at the outer of the watch. Considering the amount of effort the fakers put in these watches you can not check all Submariners only from the outside.. Many guys on this forum know better what to look for then a Rolex AD..
I would go to a second hand watch dealer who also sells Rolex and ask him to open the case for you...
This is an interesting topic, I was going sell a watch on eBay (not enough posts yet for SC) but this thread has put me off totally, imagine some guy turning up at your door with cash / bank transfer wanting to take the back of your safe queen (for the first time) to check the movement etc, buyers have plenty of support through eBay but sellers have very little from what I can tell and then there's the whole PayPal thing which takes it to another level with charge back etc. etc. - not for me!
I don't have enough references for selling on ebay however I am not sure if I regret this..
Buyers indeed have so many protection.. I would however never have a buyer take of the caseback himself before he or she had paid... Have seen some horrible caseback scratches in the past..
Who would let someone do that? If you want to ruin your stuff do so but make it yours before...
I don't know how it is in uk but if you get a bank transfer from a German account in Germany you are safe that the money could not be taken back. On the other side cash at a public place also works well...
Depends on the AD and if they are really competent to do so as mostly they are just sales people. I would take it to an authorised rolex watch maker myself as thats their bread and butter and they tend to be much more helpful then the AD's these days.
Sorry to disappoint, but very, very few watchmakers (including the approved Rolex ones) spot things like the better fake or cut-n-shut bracelets, fake bezels, repainted dials, renumbered cases or things like that which are not directly related to the movement. All of these are major problems which you may think you are safe from, but they are very common and your exposure is real.
Haywood M
So if i pawn my Rolex with you for say 450 quid until the next day. will i be g'teed it's authenticity ?
Last edited by the big fella; 14th March 2015 at 15:55.
I bought a Bi metal Submariner on eBay. I was 'reasonably' satisfied with its history and provenance. I took it to my local AD and he was happy to authenticate it. He asked me how much I had paid and remarked that I had purchased this authentic rolex at a ridiculously cheap price. So AD's will authenticate for you, knowing you've been in the Rolex market and may well buy again.
Ha-ha! You could be sure it would have perhaps £700 of realisable value in it, yesSo if i pawn my Rolex with you for say 450 quid until the next day. will i be g'teed it's authenticity ?
Now, if someone brings in a watch which has some parts that are not by Rolex ( let's imagine they shopped at Pryor's or A.Baker & Sons, before the owner was sent to prison ), there may be value in the watch sufficient to support the amount they wish to borrow but we will not necessarily in the process detail all those parts which are damaged or not correct before it is sealed and put in the safes.
As I suspect you know, this is something we do every day so we have the process well practised.....at any one time the businesses will have about £1,000,000 lent out against Rolex, some 85% of which are reclaimed --- and more often than not used to secure further loans in the future.
Yesterday was one of the bigger days, with just one repeat client borrowing £35,000 against a Day-Date, two Pearlmasters and an older diamond Datejust. This is not the choice of the desperate, but the rational action of those who need sums of any size with immediacy and flexibility. You might well be able to get bank loans or other facilities, but sometimes no matter how fat a cat you are there comes an unexpectedly large tax bill or an unpaid contract just when your wage-roll comes round.
If you want your Rolex assessing, we'll do it for you properly and formally: the pawnbroking service is not designed nor indeed would it serve as a cheaper way to achieve the same end :-)
HM
Each one will decide for themselves whether to try to "authenticate" a watch for you. You found an exception.
Most won't.
Some will, but with varying levels of competence so to do. How can you tell if yours is one of the very few capable? "But they are an official agent! They sell loads of new ones! They have a watch-maker on site!" Please don't take comfort in any of that.
Many an AD has given an opinion on a watch which is quite wrong. Most simply don't have anything more than passing familiarity, if any, with all that there is to look for. Speak to most about renumbered cases, cut and shut bracelets, vintage pieces, what all the model / bracelet / movement numbers denote etc and they know nothing worthwhile, frankly.
Authentication by main agents is mostly not offered and where it is offered it is mostly inadequate....but not recognised as such by the optimists giving or receiving the opinion.
That is not to say your (1)16613 / 16803 may not have been a bargain and of course I hope it was.
Haywood Milton
Last edited by Haywood_Milton; 14th March 2015 at 17:27.
That's just scaremongering.
There are plenty of decent, authentic watches on eBay. In the same way that there are plenty of 'dealers' selling hooky watches from bricks & mortar shops.
The usual rules apply: buy the seller; if it looks too good to be true, it usually is; etc etc.
I am afraid that my experience of my own customers' regular findings cannot really be contradicted: we see what they bring in and hear what they tell us! They represent a much wider buying public than we on the watch fora do. It seems little recognised, but we here are a tiny proportion of the real watch market and entirely unrepresentative.
Indeed there are bad dealers with bricks and mortar stores, but identification and recourse is generally far easier where someone trades from a fixed address, their identity is stated and you can assess their financial records and assets openly.
The are countless more frauds on eBay than there are from physical stores. How much more quickly would Trading Standards shut down one than the other, do you think?
Yes, there are bargains on eBay. Somewhere. There are bad news stories, much more easily found.
Haywood Milton
Last edited by Haywood_Milton; 14th March 2015 at 19:32.
If you want it authenticated, just take it to your nearest friendly Rolex dealer for a clasp adjustment. If they think it is not kosher they will take (steal) it and you will never see it again. If you get it back, then Bobs your uncle, authentick!!!
This is an excellent point about AD's being poor at spotting dodgy Rolex.
I learnt by doing trade repairs for some of the big resellers in the UK, you very quickly learn the common problems especially from the dealers with more lenient morals. That and working on them day in day out.
If you can imagine it then someone has done it to a Rolex. Worst case I had was a gold day date on bracelet. Bracelet was fake (all hallmarked up). Case back was from a different model not matching the case. Serial number was changed on the case. Movement was the wrong one for the case and had the number removed from it. Dial was fake and packed out with paper so the movement would fit the case. Crown was plated not gold. Paper work was fake too.
They sent it in to be regulated before selling it on in the trade. No idea what happened with it in the end but it wasn't sold further on in the trade.
Fair enough but I was only really referring to my own experiences but I can see your point.
Boo hiss Rolex. But let me guess... yay, Grand Seiko?
sums him up nicely.
My post was simply relating to the experience of someone who thought he was a Rolex owner. If that somehow sums me up, so be it. I think it rather sums you up to be honest.
I've had two watches checked by my local ad I bought off eBay, a rolex sub and a Tudor 'jumbo'. Both were private sales and both were fully legit.
At the time, I hadn't ever bought anything from them, however I did then return to said ad and by a brand new rolex...and as part of the deal he serviced both the above mentioned watches!
Yes it was a risk buying off eBay but there is protection, maybe I've just been lucky, but I would do it again.
When you say looking to buy , you obviously mean not available for anybody to examine in person .
Sorry but stop wasting people's time . Learn about the pitfalls of buying through a third party Chanel such as this and ultimate use some common sense . What others have said is great advice but honestly do you expect any dealer to stick his reputation on the line based on a picture on a computer screen ...?
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