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- Oct 10, 2010
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did not know first part, very cool.
yes, i should have been more clear, patek does not send actual papers, just a verification the watch is authentic, and what is is, and so on.
as to the rolex list, yes they are not perfect, but generally you can get an idea of the year the watch was made in.
totally agree with the last statement, but when buying from the public, as we do, its all about familiarity with the product, as the sources are just any joe off the street.
Rolex keeps a list of all stolen Rolex that have been reported to them. They also confiscate watches that come in for service reported stolen. I have heard of people bringing watches to Rolex service centers to verify authenticity before buying.
As for Archive papers at least the ones I've seen were NOT original replacement papers. They were docs that state a particular watch is authentic.
I wouldn't rely on those lists of serial numbers to determine authenticity. I've seen errors in them, and even a former Rolex service center employee and he told me not to rely on lists. He said sometimes cases are made & stamped with a serial, them stored on shelves and they are completed out of sequence
The key thing is familiarity with the brand models and buying from reputable sources.
did not know first part, very cool.
yes, i should have been more clear, patek does not send actual papers, just a verification the watch is authentic, and what is is, and so on.
as to the rolex list, yes they are not perfect, but generally you can get an idea of the year the watch was made in.
totally agree with the last statement, but when buying from the public, as we do, its all about familiarity with the product, as the sources are just any joe off the street.