As an auctioneer I can tell you why so many fakes are coming through the houses, it's quite simple, most of the auction houses do not actually employ experts, they employ sales people. Historically auction houses always had some of the best specialists in the business, increasingly they are not interested in expertise they are interested in slick sales people who can get in the business and then sell it equally as well (for well read slickly) Does this happen a lot, yes all the time and watches are the tip of the iceberg, art is a far, far bigger slice of the pie and the number of fakes going through the big houses are staggering.
YOU KNOW, I really suspected this!!! But I haven’t been able to find much information on this!!! Thank you so much for this insight. Even just listening to people on podcasts who worked for Sotheby’s and Christie’s, and it sounds like some of them were in a different department. Took a liking to watches. Then wanted to be transferred to the watch department. And there’s nothing wrong with this! ID WANT TO BE IN THE WATCH DEPARTMENT. 😅 but I just thought it would require… like… some kind of an expertise! But from the sounds of it…… it didn’t really take expertise. 😅 (and I’m saying this as someone who is an enthusiast, but I could not be hired to authenticate things! I just don’t know enough!)
@@BrittPearceWatches I hate to say it, but a lot of this initially comes down to money, it's cheaper for the houses to employ younger (for younger read cheaper) 'specialists' who look the part and talk the talk. There is a popular misconception that auction houses are these hallowed temples of knowledge, where only the finest objects are handled. The truth is, auction houses are just middle men, the used car salesmen of the fine art and collectibles world, yes of course it's more complicated than that but basically that's what they do, and they do it well. With slick advertising, shiny offices and even shinier staff. This isn't to say they don't have experts, they do, but sadly they are few and far between at the big houses.
That's what makes grey market dealers so fascinating, because they know the value of pieces day by day and their business depends on extremely accurate valuations and sales data. They aren't perfect either, but they are never off by a factor of 25 in their valuations.
Agreed! And it's not only Omega... many high horology brands encountered this as well. Somehow these watch vloggers always talk without much knowledge.
That’s even before allowing management companies/consigners/manufacturers to big on their own produces to inflate the final value. Looking at you, Damian Hurst.
For me, the real story isn't the fake/franken-scam, but how hard both Phillips and Omega DIDN'T work to authenticate it. The people at the top saw dollar signs and were unwilling to listen to anything that didn't support the promise of another big payday.
They fundamentally don’t give a fuck because it benefits them. The more that get sold at auction, the more advertising they get. Look up the big “art of patek philippe” auction in the 80s, widely seen as the birth of the big vintage watch auction market. Then look up how many of those were bought by patek themselves to artificially inflate the market
Conspired, colluded and Co-operated. Fook the guy that tell me to shut up when I post the link that the auction photos in the booklet were photoshopped.
Great vid as always. One thing though. You state that auction houses authenticate what they sell. They explicitly don’t. Philips in their t&c ‘s state “The knowledge of Phillips in relation to each lot is partially dependent on information provided to us by the seller, and Phillips is not able to and does not carry out exhaustive due diligence on each lot. Prospective buyers acknowledge this fact and accept responsibility for carrying out inspections and investigations to satisfy themselves as to the lots in which they may be interested” The auction houses avoid legal liability by basically saying “Buyer beware”. Their in house appraisers (which is mainly about pricing) may have opinions on authenticity but at the end of the day - they generally don’t touch authentication with a ten foot pole. Partially this is why the system is as rotten as you say….😊
One additional detail worth mentioning... the BUYER was actually OMEGA themselves. They decided it would be an immaculate example for their Omega Museum. It seems this might have also been engineered as part of the caper by the Omega insiders.
Omega would never do that. They are the pillar of integrity in the watch world who’s only concern is providing superior watches on demand to their loyal customers…profits be damned. Rolex is the evil watch company that uses marketing to inflate demand. I bet this is all just false flag plot orchestrated by the diabolical Hans Wilsdorf foundation.
You raise some very good points! I would be VERY WARY buying a vintage watch online as how many of them out there are fake/frankesnstein watches? Buyer Beware as they say!
Vintage is just such a scary world for me! 🙈 it’s just hard to find good resources, there’s so many unknown things! If you’re happy with frankensteins and stuff that’s totally fine! I think I would be for a watch I really liked! 😅
Wearing a 1963 Seamaster with a 1961 correct 552 service movement, a service crown and bezel. A fake ? No, massive water damage sometime in its lifetime. I had all the info on purchase and paid half the price (under 5K). The watch looks really stunning.
Hey Britt! Enjoyed the Ocean's Eleven analogy! 😂 I think it's good to distinguish whether auction houses intentionally push vintage watch forgeries, or if they're simply lazily offloading the risk. I believe a reputable company like Phillips really doesn't want to risk auctioning counterfeits due to potentially huge reputation damage (aka the Omega Speedy story). However, they have the incentive to pick "unicorn" models and generate hype - and turn their commission from hundreds of thousands into millions. Yet, they legally wash their hands of authentication responsibility, placing the responsibility with the buyers to know what they're bidding on. So, I see their approach as not malevolent, but sneakily indifferent, offloading risk onto buyers.
Britt! 78K!! Some how I missed this one...And Love It! Well love the video, but hate that videos like this have to happen. But this is world we live it now, in regards to watches. From the Grey Market crap show to the fakes popping up, it sucks. Also, hearing you state your love for the Man in Black does make me like you a little bit more. Long Live the Cult(s)
Love this sort of story. Thanks for sharing. I don’t know why this doesn’t seem to be a bigger deal in the watch youtuber community. The only other channel I’ve seen mention this is Theo and Harris…
If you want to investigate how scummy the auction houses are, forget art and horological sales and look at the ancient antiquities market. Even those items that are correctly provenanced only serve to encourage the burglary of archaeological sites. Once items are ripped out of their stratigraphy and context, knowledge that belongs to us all, is lost forever.
Great video! Love the story-behind-the-story stuff. Your delivery is fantastic so if you've got some other stories you're interested in, don't be afraid to pull them out; even if they've already been covered by others.
This is why I love your channel 🙂 Informative and also quite funny how you present this. I knew about the story but never got into it like this, but quite unbelievable 😮 As for auction houses…. I’ve got a one owner Casio G-Shock they can auction off for 10K, no problem with that 🤪 And no…. I won’t buy watches from an auction house. Trusted dealers is more my thing.
🤣💕 I think we are two peas in a pod! I’m fascinated by auction houses! BUUUUT I’m sticking with my AD! 😅 I hope one day I can afford a crazy grail! But for now, I’ve got way too many watches and I’ve been far too lucky 😅💕💕💕 I found this story FASCINATING!!! It’s just the craziest story! 🤣 it’s Oceans 11 meets Omega! Its so wild!
BRITT- Hopefully you will be doing a video on the "Timepiece Gentleman" ANTHONY FARRER and the claims he stole millions of $$ in Consignment watches and partied it all away on Cars, Hookers, Drugs, Alcohol... The "Grey Market" is for sure affected by this! LOVE to see your viewpoint!!!!!!
I mean the watch is real and surely has some value, so not a "fake" but misrepresented which puts the onus on the sellers for lack of diligence. The watch itself is neutral.
While the surface, I find this story amusing, it’s also a bit sad really knowing that many people will shy away from ever knowing the joys of owning a vintage timepiece. Anything that diminishes our wonderful hobby of owning, collecting, and enjoying watches is really distasteful. I’m glad that it was discovered and the perpetrators caught but your assessment that it has likely happened before and probable to happen again is valid I think.
Owning a vintage timepiece doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg. I shy away from vintage watches that are in the high thousands or tens of thousands as they are a minefield if you don't have the expertise however one can still purchase a nice vintage Omega or Longines for below 2,000 USD even some below 1,000 USD. The cut-off point for me is around 1,500 USD for vintage watches, if it turns out to be franken although it is still a substantial amount of money, I won't lose sleep over it.
Rich people buy stupid stuff to fill their huge mansions (plural, plural mansions) and show off to other rich guys. Whether or not it's actually real doesn't matter as much. It's in a collection, in a display case, and occasionally gets handled to show it off
You are 100% right about the whole auction market. It should be illegal. It is just one big scheme all supporting the bullshit being sold and the $ being made. The auction house is happy, the buyer in this case is happy (Omega) , its a great piece of marketing, but people need to uncover the bullshit and be informed. I also love it when the seller says I will give some of $ to a charity - which means that they get a tax deduction for this as well.
Not surprised since some auction actually sold fake paintings too lol. But there's been gossip about auction house being used as a money laundering scheme.
You said it in one, Omega sold the highest price watch at auction, just a publicity stunt lol but people have been copying things since man walked on the planet, there was even copies of Viking swords and their makers name back in Viking times because a blacksmith would have been payed handsomely and so would the retailer Great story though 👍
You have a distrust of auction houses? You’re right, be very careful. A few years ago, I had a painting to sell and contracted Christies in NY. I was told that they were very interested and asked if I was interested in a private sale. The price they offered was about 10% of what I was looking for. I contacted Sotheby’s and they sold it in auction for more than I was expecting. Being your research is your best defense.
This one should also be on Philips and Aurel Bacs. They didn’t do their homework and got found out. But lucky for them they get away with this gross negligence.
You know, I agree. I know it sounds harsh, but Phillips and Bacs & Russo accredit themselves at being the best at what they do. Which leaves them with a high burden of responsibility. (In my humble opinion)
Great vid, thanks. One small thing: Adrian does this really annoying thing where he really slows down his speech pattern and casts his eyes to one side, as if to show his conflicted interior processes. Please don't you start mimicking it! (1:28 btw)
@@BrittPearceWatches sure thing. I’ll address two or three things so I don’t word vomit too much. 1: auction houses and second hand sellers in general. I’d say in 2023 there isn’t much difference between any auction house and any second hand dealer. If you are buying a watch in any situation that isn’t directly from the brand the authenticity should be brought into question. This applies to everyone not just auction houses. It’s only a story when it happens at auction houses or very reputable because of the weight the brand holds and the reputation they have and therefore the trust that individuals have in the authentic nature of the piece because of that. For example if you were to buy a $50,000 Stella dial day date off eBay from a private seller and it turns out that the watch is inauthentic or Frankenstein it’s unfortunate but it’s not seen as unexpected but if you bought that same watch from an auction house and it is in authentic it’s a big deal. I think that risk of error is there regardless of who you buy from we just expect the risk to be less at reputable resellers. 2: driving up prices/exploiting watch volatility: This only applies to the modern watch market. So post watch social media era (so 2015ish and later). Two things on this. Auction houses are market makers especially for very high end, very expensive and very rare watches. Similar to Chrono24 that’s a market maker bro all second hand watches. The market dictates the prices and the auction houses or Chrono24 is just the platform on which the market conducts its transactions. There is obviously an insensitive for them to make the most money but that applies to every profit seeking firm. So if it applies to everyone it cancels itself out. The second part on this is the driving up prices and hype. In the post social media watch world you can make the argument that you tubers are bigger market makers and hype creators than auction houses. Broadly there are three types of Watch content creators on social media. Just enthusiasts you could say that’s people like yourself and Adrian barker. second hand watch dealers which are the likes of Nico L and Theo & Harris. Then creators that are in partnership with actual brands like Hodinkee and Teddy Baldisar (lol spelling). I bring this up because that perspective would have an influence on their content. Think about the “John Mayer” Daytona that created hype and drove up prices more than I’ve seen from an auction house ever but that happened from Hodinkee. Post Nico L I’ve seen Casio’s everywhere in Toronto and everyone loves the God Tier g shocks to the point where in my opinion the g shock is more hyped than the Daytona at the moment. That’s hype generated by a content creator. I can make countless more examples. So my argument is that I do not think that in modern times auction house are not drivers of hype or price volitility and content creators have more influence on prices than auction houses and auctions are indicators of shifting tastes and market shifts. 3. What is real? what is fake? What is Frankenstein? If there are replacement hands that are accurate to that specific model but are not the specific hands that the watch left the factory with does that qualify as Frankenstein? If they are authentic hands that are from the brand but from a different model line is it Frankenstein at that point? Or if the handle are completely third party is that the point where we cross to Frankenstein or are we at the point where we would call it fake? I do not know the answer to this but I’m sure that what we divide is the answer to this would be linked to how we would view situations like that omega. Taking all of these things I personally cannot view auction houses in a better or lesser light than I view any other participant in the watch space. This was long. Oops 😅
I think that they are originals as long as people think, certify and sell them as originals. The problem comes when someone discovers that the king has no clothes on….
So if over time if every part of a watch is replaced due to wear and tear, is it less a watch than a WatchCo Seamaster? The best thing you can do is buy a watch because you love it and never sell it!!
It's called due diligence and many businesses just don't care about that too much. But, in Phillips defense, if Ωmega said it's good you want to trust them. So, the people involved need to be investigated and charged for their criminal activity!
Auction houses and secondary market dealers are the same. They received a piece/watch believing is authentic and their process is focused to demostrarte their initial thesis is right and not the other way around
It’s genius! This is now a 1 of 1 with an exceptional story. It’s a real OMEGA. All parts are genuine OEM parts. It will sell for more than the auction price within 10 years.
Dang, and here I thought I was dumb for buying an Indiana Jones prop from a sketchy instagram ad...could always be worse I guess! Great video though! Luckily my hardline budget for watches is far below 3 million dollars, so I don't think I'll ever have to deal with this particular problem, but it is a shame really. If I did have that kind of cash to throw around, I would have expected (before watching this video) that an auction house with a good name would do their homework and not sale a fake watch, especially when they may or may not have known It wasn't legit the whole time! Shows what I know!
@@BrittPearceWatchesI was bamboozled by an Instagram ad to buy the Grail Diary from Last Crusade and for just twenty more bucks I also got the gold idol from the beginning of Raiders of the Lost Arc.
Complete madness that someone didn't see the scam! Very interesting vid! By the way the video image is quite dark, is that my computer or your lighting. Keep up the great vids.
Auctions and elite spenders also brings out the watches with components from endangered animals, such as elephant ivory. This is something I witnessed at Christies in Hong Kong. Amorality and wealth will always find a way.
Honestly, if these details were off (movement, caseback etc.) that means this was A BAD frankenstein. An idea behind frankenstein is to make a watch that would be indistuinguishable from genuine. So, this was a bad one. That means somebody in the auction house was in the con team, or they have very bad specialists authenticating the watches. Which is bad for big time investors and snobs and funny for me. You have to remember one thing: vintage watches is a different kind of animal and you have to be a REAL watchgeek to know what to look for in a watch like this.
Sorry, not watch related but those puppies are so cute! I know you were puppy sitting - will you be getting a puppy and what breed best matches your fav watch?
🤣🤣 I LOVE THIS COMMENT!!! Hahaha! We are always doggy sitting for friends! 💕💕💕 man. If we were to add a new puppy we’d probably get a golden doodle! 🙈 we just can’t cope with shedding!
To me, this incident wasn't *quite* a "Banksy moment" in the watch world (although in both cases we know who the actors were...mostly), butvI think the utter hunger to find that elusive needle in an ever-shrinking haystack is simultaneously reducing the level of oversight on the part of auction houses, and encouraging would-be scammers to up their level of sophistication in creating impeccable forgeries. At least Banksy offered up some comic theater.
Auctions can be a good way of getting a bargain....but.........buyer beware :D Equally, the good auctioneers will make it right if you do buy a pup, as long as you realise it at the time :D
Problem is that now with the internet, even a "local" auction house's auctions will have an international audience, so with increased competition among bidders, less chance of getting a bargain. Also, after a winning bidder pays taxes, a buyer's premium and possibly shipping, those "bargains" begin to seem much less so.
I might have missed this, but has it ever been revealed who the person or persons were who actually represented themselves to be the owner of this fake Speedmaster when it was offered to Phillips to sell? Were the Omega employees the actual sellers, or were they involved by others to help facilitate this fraud? I’m surprised the stories I have read only describe the individuals as “Employees of Omega.”
SO! This is still an ongoing legal thing. Omega has given very little information as they are just in the beginning stages of litigation from what I can see! But legal action is taking place! 😱
I can’t blame Phillips auction house at all… because if you think about it.. the fake was technically made at Omega, by Omega employees, made with real Omega parts…. I’m amazed that it was caught.
Right?£?! My husband and I were just talking about this! Like… what is fake?! It was all real parts… I describe it as “authentically-not-what-they-said-it-is” 🤣💕
@@BrittPearceWatchesas l wrote in my other comment, auction house must have been in it. Becasue good frankenstein would not be that obviously different from genuine watch. Omega emplyees would be able to get a gen movement, caseback etc. So no, auction house doesn't get to get away with this so easily.
Not really. This was a bad franken watch if it had so many tells. Auction house must have been in this for sure. Either actively or passively - because their watch specialists arw so bad they didn't see obvious issues (movement, caseback etc).
I think if they auction it again it will reach minimum the double what it went for the past auction, minimum!!! After this super juicy story every Collector wanna put his hand on it.
Because of this, the inhouse certification of Rolex becomes more important. Although we have yet to see what kind of assurance they offer if they fail to certify
Rolex can certified the watch to be real, but they will never state that it come with a service dial, service bezel, it can be a real Rolex watch but a Frankie. The Omega is real just a Frankie. So the question is do collector approve a Frankie as Real?
@@kokhui32liau88 I was talking about Rolex certifying pre-owned rolex watches. if it came from the manufacturer itself right, That it was good and legitimate then it should be okay, correct? But if found wrong then their brand’s quality will be under scrutiny. And if they do not restore the watch then their service and reputation will be destroyed. Since the service they offer is supposed to weed out frankensteins and subpar fixes. Watches needs to be serviced to the manufacturer’s authorized service center. My biggest gripe with Rolex is about the long service times because of how long the parts arrive recently. They have spare parts or can create the parts.
I never heard this story about the....."Fauxmega" (sorry :P ). On a serious note: I think it's crazy that you have fake and Frankenstein "affordable" watches now. For someone like me who wouldn't know how to check whether a watch is authentic it's a bit scary.
Sometimes it can happen, that after long regular service and maintenance period, an original vintage watch can consist some elements from later years than original date of production and I personally regard it as a natural life of vintage watch. But this is much away from the procedure of assembling fake watches on purpose. 😊
I don't quite understand the disrespect towards Aurel Bacs, but the story is great😄great in the sense of real-world thriller😆I love the Johnny Cash song, what a nice insertion🤗and I'm looking forward to the upcoming 7 reviews😍
Would love to know the inside story of how Omega handled this. You can't blame Omega for a rotten employee or for wanting to protect their reputation. But whether there is more to the story is mere speculation. 🤔
There are too many fakes and Frankenstein watches out there. AD or nothing for me...I would rather not own a watch then always wonder if its a fake. That alone ruins the joy of owning and wearing the watch.
A lot of people think that a fake is the same as a Frankenstein watch, it's not Frankenstein watch is all authentic pieces put together from different watches. That's why the auction house didn't have any reason to assume it would be a bank and omega of course proving it that was nothing else to say. I think omega should have been the one to take the hit, not the auction house. And there the 12 colluded where their employees did.
It's not easy to fake a watch, given all the parts that you have to somehow give a consistent date to. That's why this Omega was found out, although the auction house "expert" certainly has egg on his face for not noticing all the red flags. My favorite story of fakery is the wine scammer Rudy Kurniawan. Unlike a watch, a bottle of wine has no moving parts, and he was very, very good at manufacturing "vintage" bottles of Bordeaux and Burgundy. (The hardest part was printing up genuine-looking labels.) I like the story because the wine snobs who paid tens of thousands per bottle couldn't actually tell the difference between the real thing and Rudy's concoctions: they got off on drinking expensive wine just _because_ it was expensive. Wealthy marks, ready and willing to pay top dollar for his bottles, regardless of the contents. made for an ideal scam. (His downfall was peddling fake 1940s vintages to a group that included the owner of the chateau, who knew that they hadn't bottled that wine in the '40s.)
Brit, I think it is really important to flag the Scottish Watches podcast with Perezscope where he gives context to Philip's from his time there as an appraiser and how they suppressed him.
The buyer got their money back. Embarrassing for the auction house. You have to scratch your head as to why people are willing to pay over the odds for something. It's fun to watch, I suppose.
Am I the only person on earth who asked mom to make a balogna lettuce cheese and mustard sandwich instead of eating a cookie? Screw the cookie.. cookie don't cut it.
I have old TAG/heuer quartz from the early 90's. It was for a long time my daily watch. So it needed to be repaired some times got a new movement one time. No even talk about the plastic bezel that was exchanged many times. Can I call this watch authentic! I actually don't care because I don't sell. It is a chronograph with central minute something is hard to find these days.
