Patek Philippe watches are hotly coveted and their incredible demand makes them ripe for counterfeits. While we recommend bringing your watch to a professional to examine its authenticity, here are some precautionary steps you can take on your own to flag potential fake Patek Philippe watches.

1. Inspect your watch’s quality thoroughly.

Patek Philippe is a renowned and, considered by some, the world’s premier watchmaker; the 175-year old brand has been consistently setting and then raising the bar for industry standards. Therefore, they take incredible pride in the absolute perfection of their watches, which makes a fake’s otherwise minor inconsistencies glaringly obvious by contrast. Misspellings, sloppy engravings, stamped lettering, or flimsy hardware are immediate indicators the watch is a fake.

2. Cross-reference the price.

Patek Philippe watches sit at the highest end of the luxury watch spectrum and are priced accordingly. Even a comparatively less expensive model will set you back thousands of dollars. With that high ticket in mind, research the Patek Philippe watch model you’re eyeing across multiple websites and shops to establish a general cost range. If you’re quoted a price significantly lower than the marketplace range, the watch is likely a fake. There is a big market for Patek Philippe watches and a seller would not need to significantly lower the price of an authentic Patek Philippe watch to entice shoppers.

3. Research the seller’s location and credibility. 

Try to find an exact address for your seller. The majority of the world’s counterfeit watches come from China– which does not mean all watches imported from China are fake. But if your seller is based abroad, you’ll want to investigate their legitimacy even more carefully. Evaluate the website to ensure its information complete and the URL is not a close misspelling of Patek Phillipe; it is common for phony sites to try and capture traffic misdirected from incorrectly spelled search terms. Read reviews from past shoppers and scrutinize the language very carefully. If the written reviews are very short (perhaps not complete sentences or a few words) or read like they may be penned by the seller themselves, or if there are no reviews at all, it’s best to just walk away.

4. Look up the watch’s serial number via Patek Philippe.

Every authentic Patek Philippe watch is stamped and logged with a serial number. For a modest fee, Patek Philippe can delve into its archives to compare the watch in question’s serial number with its records to confirm the stamp corresponds to the appropriate watch model. However, proceed with some caution even here: forgers can repeat a serial number of the same model on a fake Patek Philippe watch.

5. Get an expert opinion.

To know for certain if your watch and all its components are genuine Patek Philippe, you must bring it to an appraiser who specializes in Patek Philippe watches. The appraiser will extensively examine the watch to ensure its authenticity and value.

If you have further questions regarding TrueFacet’s authentication process, contact our concierge representative here.

Photo Credit: tiffany.com / thepurists.net / cityam.com / monochrome-watches.com

---