How to authentic a Patek Phillipe watch
With the increased demand for luxury watches comes an unfortunate surplus of fake watches flooding the market. Before buying a Patek, read this short guide to educate yourself and learn how to authenticate a Patek Phillipe watch.
Buy the seller
The most important thing when purchasing a luxury watch is the reliability and authenticity of the seller. You should always do your best to purchase the watch from a trusted watch dealer with a good reputation and reviews. Doing this will significantly decrease the odds of anything going wrong and if anything did go wrong, the seller would be held accountable.
Trusted watchmakers (third-party authentication)
If you are buying the watch from a friend of a friend or distant acquaintance, we recommend taking the watch to a trusted and reputable watchmaker to have the watch inspected. This third-party authentication gives reassurance to both the seller and the buyer and is important. We send all of our watches to our workshop to be examined before purchasing them, and we highly recommend you do, if you're purchasing a luxury watch from someone who's not a reputable dealer.
How to spot a fake Patek Phillipe
Here are three quick authenticity checks to help identify fake Patek Philippe watches.
In recent years, a significant number of fake luxury watches have been spotted. If you know your stuff, these fakes can be easily spotted. Fake watch manufacturers don't have the same quality resources as the real deal, and they cannot perfect the fine details.
1 The dial and hands
Patek Philippe crafts all of their watches in dust-proof environments to ensure that debris or dust gets into the watch. One of the biggest giveaways that a watch has been tampered with or is fake is debris or dust under the glass. Another thing that fakes can struggle to replicate is the quality craftsmanship of the dial; you should always examine the dial pattern and texture, and you should compare the watch to a photo of a like-for-like and ensure everything lines up. A few other things to look out for are the cleanliness of the hands and pinion, the luminescent indices, missed prints or inconsistencies and the symmetry of the watch.
2 Movement finish
Watch manufacturers set incredibly high standards, and replica companies struggle to meet these high standards. Almost all Patek Philippe watches have open case backs, which means that these replica companies have to match the incredible movement finish that Patek watches have. Most Patek Philippe movements have over 200s, which makes it incredibly hard for replica companies to match. Patek Philippe's movements have gold-filled engraving, and this feature is incredibly hard to replicate.
3 The watch size and weight
Patek Philippe watches come in various sizes. Each watch is precise down to the millimetre. With that said a big giveaway sign that a watch could be fake is that the ratios and measurements are off. Patek Philippe works incredibly hard to fit advanced complications into thin and comfortable cases, which is why fake watches are often thicker than the real deal.
Box and papers
When a watch comes with a box and papers, it adds to the collector's value and can greatly depict the value of a watch. The papers, in particular, are irreplaceable and specific to a watch. With that in mind, you must always check that the papers match the watch's model number and serial number.
You also authenticate the box and papers, which is just as important as the watch's authenticity. When authenticating a Patek Philippe box, you should always check the colouration, stitching, smell, and feel. Real Patek Philippe boxes in Thailand should not smell like glue or plastic.
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