How to identify a watch

Jun 20, 2022

What would be the thing that hit watch lovers with great joy and anticipation? buy fakes!

Counterfeiting has been repeatedly banned, and even with the development of science and technology, counterfeiting technology has become more and more powerful. Often you can't blame watch lovers for not understanding it, but you can only blame the fakes for being too "true". Therefore, it is not enough to buy a watch without eyesight, and to understand some identification methods can better traverse the world of watches.

The basic process of watch identification evaluation.

Determining authenticity: confirming that the main body of the watch is the original production

Step 1: Overall observation

By observing the front, back and side of the watch, make a preliminary judgment on the basic information of the watch and determine the key points of identification.

Step 2: Zoom in on the details

Observing the brand characteristics and important identification points of the watch to determine its authenticity.

Important identification points: pointer, dial, case, strap, buckle and 6 major parts of the movement. Among them, the appearance is the key observation point, and the movement is the secondary observation point.

Confirm the originality of the whole watch

Originality: Only the original watch body can be defined as genuine. In addition to the main part, the authenticity of other parts is also part of the original degree.

A small number of brand watch mirrors have obvious characteristics, which can be used to determine whether the watch mirror is original. However, if the watch mirror has no obvious characteristic points, it is impossible to judge whether it is original, so the originality of the watch mirror has less influence on the value.
If there are inlaid diamonds on the outside of the famous watch, it is necessary to judge whether the diamonds are originally inlaid by their corresponding styles, models and the characteristics of the inlaid diamonds. Due to the large difference in value between the original inlay and the back inlay of the same watch, when there is inlay on the outside of the watch, the detailed process should be followed to determine whether it is the original inlay.
For the crown part, it can be comprehensively judged whether its parts are original according to its brand positioning, processing technology and brand imprint. If it is not original, the value will be slightly affected if the authenticity of the watch is confirmed. The crown part can also be used as an auxiliary identification point to preliminarily determine the authenticity of the watch.
Common watch straps are divided into two types: metal straps and belts. Among them, the metal strap is one of the two major components other than the main part, and its originality can be judged by the degree of bonding and the detailed workmanship of the parts. The metal strap is not original, which has a great impact on the value. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the originality of the detachable section of the strap, which is related to the overall authenticity. If the belt is not original, it depends on the value of the watch. For example, if the Cartier belt is not original, the corresponding cost can be deducted when valuing, while Tissot needs to consider its residual value.
Attention should be paid to the originality of the clasp. The non-original clasp will have a certain impact on its value. The larger the brand, the higher the value under the influence. For example, the original precious metal clasp of Patek Philippe is worth about 20,000 yuan.

Condition: Condition and condition of the watch

The overall value of the watch is assessed based on the flaws in the individual components.

Defects in the dial part: The dial part is relatively intuitive. If there is a defect, it will have a great impact on the value of the watch. Post-repair costs need to be considered. If there is a serious defect, you need to consider the cost of replacing the original dial.
Defects in the pointer part: Due to the difficulty of maintenance of the pointer parts, most of them need to be returned to the factory for replacement, so the comprehensive maintenance cost is relatively high. The hands and dials are critical components, and if there is a defect, the overall repair cost needs to be assessed.
Partial defects of the movement: The defects of the movement are divided into two categories: failure and damage. If there is a functional failure, the maintenance cost needs to be considered; if the movement components are obviously damaged, the replacement and repair costs need to be considered, and the value will be greatly affected. Serious flaws such as rust, obvious scratches require a reassessment of the overall value.
Defective parts of the bezel: If the bezel is damaged, you only need to consider the repair cost, and the impact on the value depends on the brand.

PS: Pay attention to the status of the watch strap, which is related to the use of the watch. Wearing the watch strap for too long or wearing a non-standard length will cause the watch strap to loosen. If there is obvious loosening, it will have a greater impact on the overall value of the watch, but technical means Repair; secondary damage caused by non-standard repair and refurbishment, such as serious irreversible casing defects caused by excessive grinding, and the edges and corners of the casing are processed too round, which seriously affects the value of the watch, and this defect cannot be repaired.

Test the linkage of functions to ensure that the watch functions normally

This is the most easily overlooked step in daily operation, but the maintenance cost of the malfunction watch is relatively expensive, so in order to avoid losses, be sure to test the linkage of the watch's functions.

Ways of observation

Visual observation

First observe the whole to determine the part to be observed. Then zoom in on the details, such as pointers and functional areas, to determine the direction of further observation.

Hand experience

The hand feeling experience is the preliminary detection of the movement status through manual debugging, which mainly includes the following items:

Use the movement characteristics to quickly identify, such as: Rolex instant jump, Omega hour jump.
Check the functional linkage of the watch to determine its functional operation and whether there is a functional failure.
To roughly judge the use status of the watch, you can make a preliminary assessment of the movement status by simply winding the chain smoothly, whether there is any abnormal noise, etc.

Instrument detection

Through instrument detection, you can observe whether the watch is in normal operation and whether there are risks such as warranty failure. For the special attributes of some brands, instrument detection can also be used to determine the authenticity of the movement.

At present, the common frequency of automatic movement is 28800, and the special vibration frequency refers to the movement that is different from the commonly used vibration frequency. The vibration frequency is set by the manufacturer when the movement is produced, and it is often found on the self-produced movement. Changing the vibration frequency requires redesigning the core parts of the movement, which is no less difficult than redesigning a new movement, which is not achieved by imitation watches at present. It is a very quick way to identify some brand movements by a special frequency.

The basic identification methods of watches are almost the same as the above, and then I hope that everyone will try their best to buy from regular channels, so that the chance of buying fakes will be greatly reduced.