Thrift Store Lotto Win

[MTdweller]

If it is authentic and not stolen . . . what a find!

[Luap1976]

Originally Posted by bobernet

If it’s a fake, then I’m fooled. Never seen a fake with a genuine Rolex movement, although I know some vintage frankens exist.

It's not fake it's 100 percent authentic but it's 99 percent stolen goods

[sillo]

Originally Posted by Luap1976

It's not fake it's 100 percent authentic but it's 99 percent stolen goods

I’d wager it’s 50/50 at this point. If it was a pawn shop I’d say 99. Thrift stores work off donations. They can’t purchase goods to sell.

[georgekart]

Originally Posted by sillo38

I’d wager it’s 50/50 at this point. If it was a pawn shop I’d say 99. Thrift stores work off donations. They can’t purchase goods to sell.

I'd say a thing that helps it is that it was in rough shape at least according to post 3, which means someone might have thought it's a fake and handed it to thrift stores. Low chance someone who had a real Rolex would donate it to thrift store.

[417WIS]

A friend who works in law enforcement told me the easiest way to tell if a Rolex is fake is to shake it and listen for the rotor turning. If you can hear the rotor, it's probably fake. But I've read that the new Rolex movement with the ball bearing rotor could make a bit more noise than previous calibers.

[Boaters]

Awesome score!

[eco8gator]

Nice score but be cautious. My spider sense is telling me that the watch is as hot as the deal you got (scorching).

I am surprised the thrift store sold it...they arn't a pawn shop but these days all second hand shops are on top of things like this. I have a feeling this was an attempt to get something they wanted nothing to do with off their hands and make 700 in the process.

If this is legit, congrats but don't sit on stolen goods. Find out now and deal with it accordingly. Ignorance and or maintaining ignorance is not a good path forward.

[037]

Great find! Curious how this turns out with RSC. Also curious if the thrift store had any Patek or AP in stock.

Keep us posted. Hope it goes well!

[1665fan]

Have you checked serial with Rolex to see if it’s stolen???i would before I would begin the celebration dance. If ever reported stolen Rolex will keep it....

[Wizardly]

What are you getting your mom as a gift?

[cvo]

Sweet find! It will clean up nicely.

[importstunna]

Wow, that's an amazing find. Your mom deserves something nice in return! Congrats!

[TimingIsEverything]

Wow! Great catch! Looks completely genuine to me.

[Andrejb]

This is wild


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[AdamW]

Originally Posted by Luap1976

Also if they were sure it was fake why the hell were they trying to sell it for 1000
I don't buy this story

THIS

[ShingaMC]

Originally Posted by sillo38

So this happened about a week ago and still haven't fully come to terms with my mom's luck. She's being thrifting lately and has found some cool stuff, but nothing crazy until now.

This is going to be a little bit of a story so strap in. I was at an OSHA class last weekend and my mom texted me that she's at a thrift store and they have a Rolex for $1000. Immediately the red flags go up and I think fake. She sends me a couple of pictures and it's a 116710LN.

At this point it looks decent so I tell her a few things to look for and pictures to send me. Shots of the rehaut, dial, etched coronet in the crystal, hand stack, bracelet markings, etc. Knowing it should have a 3186 I have her do the crown test (full rotation of the crown should jump the hour hand 8 hours) and it passes on everything.

I'm getting a little excited now and frantically googling dial pictures to compare to the ones I have from my mom. Asking her to play with the bezel and crown, how it feels compared to her DJ and just generally what her untrained eye thinks about it.

I was still unconvinced overall though because of the classic "If it's too good to be true, it probably is" and I tell her to straight up ask if they know it's fake. The person behind the counter called over the manager who tells my mom someone had it checked at a jeweler and it's fake. I tell her not to buy, but she had a feeling and decided to gamble (and she talked them down to $700)...

Well here it is

Looks legit to me


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[np208]

Originally Posted by bayerische

I don't want to be Mr Negative, but realistically what are the odds of it not being stolen?

No way this was NOT stolen. make sure you take it in for service at a Rolex service center please.

[BigBlue1]

Damn, that is awesome.

Thanks MoM

[BigBlue1]

Originally Posted by Wizardly

What are you getting your mom as a gift?

I was thinking the same thing

[1665fan]

Call Rolex with serial number and report back

[jb335]

When are you sending it to RSC?

Quite the cliffhanger here....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BNA/LION]

Sometimes a Gamble Pays Off. Cool story and great ending. Congratulations!

[sillo]

Originally Posted by 1665fan

Call Rolex with serial number and report back

They don’t dot that. I’m going to call RSC Dallas today and arrange a service.

To me it’s a win-win anyway. It’s either not stolen and we have a huge find on our hands or it is and we helped get the watch back to the right person. Since it was purchased from a store we should have no problem getting the money back if it is indeed stolen.

Here’s one of the databases I checked too.

[FiendishDrWu]

I'm not so sure that its stolen. If it is stolen, why wouldn't someone try to pawn it off or sell it? Did the thief decide its worth more to list as a charitable donation on their taxes? ;)

I suspect the more likely cases are either someone found it in their relatives estate, didn't know its worth and donated or someone bought it grey market, realized it was fake/stolen and then donated.

Either way, its a hell of a score. I certainly would have rolled the dice too on this purchase. Great find!

[037]

Definitely a win either way.

[m j b]

I concur, just because it was at a thrift store doesn't mean that it was stolen. It simply means that whoever donated it didn't know or didn't care.

Congrats OP, nice find! Kudos to Mom too.

[LuminousMaximus]

That’s My stolen GMT and I can Prove it!!

..

..

..

..

haha. Scared you though, right...

[tie219]

Congrats on the find! I'm hoping it works out for you

[JR16]

Cool story if it turns out it’s real and not stolen. But one question i keep asking myself is why would a thrift shop be selling a Rolex they think is fake for $700 ? Seems a bit high for a fake Rolex .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[jb335]

Originally Posted by JR16

Cool story if it turns out it’s real and not stolen. But one question i keep asking myself is why would a thrift shop be selling a Rolex they think is fake for $700 ? Seems a bit high for a fake Rolex .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

It's a fair question, but never underestimate the level of incompetence and apathy out there. It just takes one person at the thrift store being painfully ignorant or woefully disinterested.