Is my TAG Heuer Authentic? All questions here please

Thehighwayman
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Yes, I would agree with you 100% and based on the fact they "Authenticated" it by doing a battery service with a genuine new warranty card, you would be very disappointed after it returning damaged to find that they then condemn the watch... Very odd.

So I did speak with the service center and they would not/could not give me any reasoning behind it at all. Even more frustrating... If you are condemning my watch having confirmed it's genuine, at least give me a decent reason why!?

As it stands I wish they never had it! An official complaint will be going in none the less. I want and need answers, because after all they owe it to me having paid for the damn service! Appalling from Tag Heuer.

Another note though... Given we know the movement is a gold Ronda 5040.b as expected there really shouldn't be anything about it INSIDE the movement to suspect a counterfeit because let's face it ... A Ronda 5040.b movement is inexpensive anyway. It's pointless changing it.
Yes it's odd and I certainly would be very disappointed too.
I can understand how a simple battery and gasket change wouldn't raise suspicions though,modern fakes are good, very good.

I wouldn't be happy with TH saying they can't provide more details either ,no such thing as can't. There must be a job number assigned to the work that can directly lead to the person who condemned the watch.
I think you're right to pursue it and use multiple avenues.
Another option would be send it back specifically for authentication and ask for a detailed report.

As things stand, should you want to sell the watch in the future you don't know whether you're selling a fake or a real one.

As far as the movement goes, yes it's an inexpensive movement. The fact it's gold finish and marked Swiss is in the watches favour.
Pointless changing it, well yes... but..
That sort of thing is just what some guys who knowingly buy replicas through choice do.
Swapping out Asian clone 7750's for genuine, even fitting genuine bezels,crowns, crystals etc to fakes to increase accuracy ... strange bunch!
 
Turpinrr
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Thehighwayman Thehighwayman
One thing in this ones favour is the gold finished movement. It's known that some fakes have a silver finished variant marked "Swiss Parts" rather than "Swiss"
The trouble is that there a number of factories making TH fakes. The people who are "in to" replicas even have names for the various factories.They run for a while, get raided and pop up again in a different form. Some are more accurate than others. What holds true for one replica of a particular model may not apply to others.

The bezel pip does look dubious and I can't see TH labelling it counterfeit if it isn't. It's very small fry to them,not worth the reputational damage to try and get out of correcting an issue as McBeardy said.

What it does prove is that this is a complete minefield, personally I wouldn't be inclined to buy anything online manufactured in the last decade.
The fake Hydroconquest that I bought has a genuine and very reliable eta movement in it.

The seller also sold fake Tag Heuers and is probably still selling fakes 7 years later.

I've seen an Aquaracer on Ebay with a cloned serial number and just by coincidence (or was it ?) the original was on YouTube
 
Jim Dollares
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With these movements being so cheap, why would the chinese criminals not use genuine movements? Or, for that matter why would they not copy and make movements with gold tone that look genuine?
 
F1 Dee
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Jim Dollares Jim Dollares
With these movements being so cheap, why would the chinese criminals not use genuine movements? Or, for that matter why would they not copy and make movements with gold tone that look genuine?
Maybe they are.........
 
Aquagraph
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Long story short, send your fake Aquaracers to a local watchmaker and you'll probably never get bad news.
 
Thehighwayman
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Jim Dollares Jim Dollares
With these movements being so cheap, why would the chinese criminals not use genuine movements? Or, for that matter why would they not copy and make movements with gold tone that look genuine?
They do use gen Jim, some fakes have gen Sellita SW200 in them.
As I understand it, both the silver and gold finish Ronda's are genuine. The gold is Swiss made, the silver one assembled elsewhere using Swiss parts and is cheaper, TH always use the gold version.
There may well be fakes using the gold one or the rep guys and modders may swap in a gold one to make a rep closer to gen.

What some of those guys do is a real eye opener.
They aren't averse to spending a couple of thousand dollars on putting gen dials,movement parts, bezel inserts and hands on Sub reps and that sort of thing .
 
I
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Aquagraph Aquagraph
Long story short, send your fake Aquaracers to a local watchmaker and you'll probably never get bad news.
Or take it to Tag Heuer and receive a service and a warranty for the same watch ... !? Just don't complain if it's damaged...

Stupid point to make. If you don't think watchmakers who have been around for 35+ years don't know a thing or two about a Tag then that's silly.
 
I
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I just want to be clear on something...

I am not trying to argue or convince anyone of the authenticity of this watch at all. I came here for people's opinion and you're giving me just that. I appreciate it...!

I just find the whole situation and conversation around it fascinating, despite the fact it could be me with a counterfeit watch. I'm ok with the money loss, It's my issue.

Im genuinely intrigued into this matter. I think we're at a point where these so called fakes that we all know do exist are so good ... With gen movements etc.

It's also extremely hard in some cases to be sure of a fake from photos alone. Let's face it... Whether my watch is real or not, Tag Heuer certainly confirmed it was initially... Crazy.
 
Thehighwayman
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I just want to be clear on something...

I am not trying to argue or convince anyone of the authenticity of this watch at all. I came here for people's opinion and you're giving me just that. I appreciate it...!

I just find the whole situation and conversation around it fascinating, despite the fact it could be me with a counterfeit watch. I'm ok with the money loss, It's my issue.

Im genuinely intrigued into this matter. I think we're at a point where these so called fakes that we all know do exist are so good ... With gen movements etc.

It's also extremely hard in some cases to be sure of a fake from photos alone. Let's face it... Whether my watch is real or not, Tag Heuer certainly confirmed it was initially... Crazy.
I believe the most accurate fake factory for TH is known as the "OF" factory. They make Aquaracers, F1's, 3 hand Autavias, 3 hand Carrera's etc.

It's a big problem, short of only buying new from an AD you're really in the lap of the gods.

The fakers move fast, we were only a few weeks ago seeing the first Solargraph fakes. They were easy to discredit ,not least because they put an automatic movement in them. Roll on to today and there is a quartz version out already from a different maker.
 
BillC3
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I just want to be clear on something...

I am not trying to argue or convince anyone of the authenticity of this watch at all. I came here for people's opinion and you're giving me just that. I appreciate it...!

I just find the whole situation and conversation around it fascinating, despite the fact it could be me with a counterfeit watch. I'm ok with the money loss, It's my issue.

Im genuinely intrigued into this matter. I think we're at a point where these so called fakes that we all know do exist are so good ... With gen movements etc.

It's also extremely hard in some cases to be sure of a fake from photos alone. Let's face it... Whether my watch is real or not, Tag Heuer certainly confirmed it was initially... Crazy.
At a minimum, TAG Heuer owes you a refund for the initial service.
 
I
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More photos added for the conversation.

Let me know your thoughts...

What sticks out for you that's isn't right??

For me, the level of detail is extremely good. Even the back of the divers helmet is spot on, as is the circumference surrounding it.
 
Turpinrr
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PXL_20251122_132348621.MACRO_FOCUS.webp PXL_20251122_132340605.MACRO_FOCUS.webp PXL_20251122_132217906.MP.webp PXL_20251122_132601465.MACRO_FOCUS.webp PXL_20251122_132314211.MACRO_FOCUS.webp PXL_20251122_132524127.MACRO_FOCUS.webp PXL_20251122_132231937.MACRO_FOCUS.webp
In the top pic you can see it hasn't been machined properly.
Whether it's been done by an end mill, flat bottomed drill or a drill with a shoulder on it, who knows ??

But, the caseback has been faced up well 👍
 
I
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Turpinrr Turpinrr
In the top pic you can see it hasn't been machined properly.
Whether it's been done by an end mill, flat bottomed drill or a drill with a shoulder on it, who knows ??

But, the caseback has been faced up well 👍
I see what your saying, but oddly this isn't visible by eye. It doesn't actually look like this I just wonder if the photo is creating something...
 
Turpinrr
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PXL_20251122_134029050.MACRO_FOCUS.MP.webp


Another angle.
I can see it in this pic.
In the past i've googled to find out what the bezel looks like without the pip in it or how they're machined, without any luck

On some of the fakes I've seen the casebacks have 'pluck' marks which is what happens on stainless steel when the tip needs changing.
But yours looks 👍
 
I
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Turpinrr Turpinrr
I can see it in this pic.
In the past i've googled to find out what the bezel looks like without the pip in it or how they're machined, without any luck

On some of the fakes I've seen the casebacks have 'pluck' marks which is what happens on stainless steel when the tip needs changing.
But yours looks 👍

From what I can see there are slight variations of the "Lume pip" from TH too. It would make no sense for good fakes to change it. The smaller lume pip I also think would be far harder to do than just a full load.

Same for the numerals, some are watches steel and raw others are painted. It would make no sense to paint them if they didn't ever come like this, it's an added extra that's not required for a forgery...
 
flawless
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From what I can see there are slight variations of the "Lume pip" from TH too. It would make no sense for good fakes to change it. The smaller lume pip I also think would be far harder to do than just a full load.

Same for the numerals, some are watches steel and raw others are painted. It would make no sense to paint them if they didn't ever come like this, it's an added extra that's not required for a forgery...
Lume pips are inserts, not filled.

I can tell from your earlier picture of the label sheet that it is fake - the text/QR code is not aligned correctly.

It's unusual that they performed a battery change/reseal without registering that it is fake, but it's not surprising either.
 
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