Fake Encounter at the AD

[George Ab]

I’m talking to my watchmaker at an AD going over some work with a Vacheron Overseas, Rolex Yacht-Master and TT Daytona that are laid out on the case in front of us. An older gentlemen approaches holding this gold colored fake Submariner, says excuse me, and asks to have a link removed. My watchmaker and I are both probably too polite, but this is how we handle it. My watchmaker says I am not supposed to work on these, but quickly removes the link. The guy asks how we knew? We each point out three things immediately, blue crap covering crown as they can’t make a crown, look of gold, lugs, dial font edge, and on and on. The guy seems to have understood the subtext of the message “it’s a piece of crap”. The guys responds, well it was only $100, and I respond well you threw away 100 bucks. If you would of bought a Rolex, you may have even made some money. I then tried to educate. I said, us watch guys have respect for people who buy a watch that looks like a Rolex such as Invicta as although they “get close” they are a real watch company that proudly display their company name.

So now I’m driving home thinking about this guy, and I start to get a tad upset. I mean the balls on this guy to go to a Rolex AD with a fake to get a free link removal. I’m glad I didn’t get upset at the guy, but dealt with it some semblance of grace. Now that a few more hours have passed, I find it pretty darn funny. It will give my watchmaker and I something to talk about next time we go out to lunch, and is good thread material.