A while back I wrote about my experience buying a replica watch and how the fake timepiece failed terribly in comparison to a real Breitling. Not only do I advise people to save up and do whatever it takes to go with an authentic timepiece, but I also caution them to be very hesitant before ever buying a watch from the “grey market.”
My reasoning for doing so can be explained through a very interesting story I was just told by a guy named Matt. He is cool with me telling his story, but he does not want me to give his complete name since he was burnt pretty badly! Anyways, Matt was checking out watches on the internet one night and saw a Patek Philippe 18k white gold annual calendar watch (Patek Ref. 5146G), listed at an incredible price on a “grey market” website. He had been eyeing the watch for a while, so he decided to call up the phone number listed on the site and inquire about it.
Matt was told that the watch was brand new and came with all of the official paperwork. The company “seemed” pretty reputable, so he decided to go ahead with the purchase at what seemed like an incredibly attractive price. The watch arrived and it looked truly pristine. Matt was initially pretty stoked. After he examined the paperwork for a little while though, something seemed a little fishy. Matt luckily owned another Patek watch and was able to compare the paperwork from the two pieces together.
Something was definitely wrong with the paperwork of the recently acquired watch; it just did not look authentic. In order to get to the bottom of everything, he got the serial number from the paperwork and called Patek Philippe. The Patek representative he eventually spoke with told him that the watch was indeed authentic, but that it was five years old and had been serviced twice.
The warranty for the watch was definitely fake, although extremely well-done, and the date on it was completely misrepresented. To make matters worse, the watch picked up five minutes in the first day Matt had it. Getting a Patek watch overhauled is not exactly cheap…
Matt eventually got his money back after contacting his lawyer and threatening to sue the company, but he is now 100% positive to never go grey again…
The Hourology Report 