Rolex Found...

[Ed Rooney]

That is as fake as they come.

USGS almost certainly did not give gold DD's to employees.

A lot of times the fakers will engrave a replica to make it a bit more believable.

It is as fake as the DD I found in Goodwill.

[DSJ]

First of all, familarize yourself and your friend with CA Penal Code Section 485"
"One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him
knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who
appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another
person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just
efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is
guilty of theft."

It's likely fake, but take it to an AD for authentication. If it's fake, throw it away, since it's counterfeit. If it's real, have the S/N noted, PM me, and I will get in touch with my friend at LAPD to have the S/N looked up in the stolen/lost database. Should there be nothing in the stolen database, and your contact to RSC prove fruitless, then you have done your due diligence in trying to return the watch and there would be no criminal liability in your friend keeping it.

[GBJIV]

Thanks David - sounds like wisdom to me...

Best,

[dkpw]

[quote=DSJ;670910]First of all, familarize yourself and your friend with CA Penal Code Section 485"
"One who finds lost property under circumstances which give him
knowledge of or means of inquiry as to the true owner, and who
appropriates such property to his own use, or to the use of another
person not entitled thereto, without first making reasonable and just
efforts to find the owner and to restore the property to him, is
guilty of theft."

In the UK this is called "Theft by finding." Here, if you hand in something to the Police and it's not claimed within 6 months you can ask for it from them. Thus honesty is rewarded.

[BigHat]

Originally Posted by f16570

What a sad end to a great story.

So true.

[Lisa]

it crossed my mind that the owner of a genuine gold Day Date would be very unlikely to take it off and place it on the concrete curb at a car wash. Floor mats, maybe.

[redshirt1957]

My Catholic upbringing sneaks into my thinking every once in a while. Yes, a good ole' southern redneck can have a Catholic upbringing. If your freind's intent was to keep it and at the time thought the watch was real; a mortal sin has happened.. Three repeatings of "Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee" ought to set things straight..

Now this is Bubba speaking so watch out for lightning!

[shelley]

Who goes through the trouble of engraving a fake Rolex? Wow, I still cannot believe that he was given a fake Rolex after 35 years of service! The poor guy was probably wearing it regularly and never knew the difference.

[Lisa]

Originally Posted by redshirt1957

My Catholic upbringing sneaks into my thinking every once in a while. Yes, a good ole' southern redneck can have a Catholic upbringing. If your freind's intent was to keep it and at the time thought the watch was real; a mortal sin has happened.. Three repeatings of "Oh Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee" ought to set things straight..

Now this is Bubba speaking so watch out for lightning!

Or, in the case of being brought up around many, many Southern Baptists, I'm afraid he doesn't have a chance. Gonna go straight to hell.

[pwrslider]

Originally Posted by shelley

Who goes through the trouble of engraving a fake Rolex? Wow, I still cannot believe that he was given a fake Rolex after 35 years of service! The poor guy was probably wearing it regularly and never knew the difference.

It's a lousy engraving too...the "3" in 35 is off of the edge of the back casing.... More than likely...USGS didn't give out this watch...maybe a "friend" gave Kendall the watch as a joke...and had it poorly engraved. It used to be a common joke.." did you get a gold watch when you retired.."

PM me the Serial #..if real...and I'll run it through NCIC for ya! As David said...keeping found property is a Misd......keeping "stolen" property is a Felony...even if its a fake...or worth $50... let me know!

[BigHat]

So this started out as a nice guy doing the right thing in trying to return a valuable watch to some sad retiree, and now it's about a dirt ball thinking about keeping a fake watch, given to some poor smuck that was engraved by an incompetent, as a joke about working for the feds for 35 years and getting nothing.

What a country.

[pwrslider]

Originally Posted by BigHat

So this started out as a nice guy doing the right thing in trying to return a valuable watch to some sad retiree, and now it's about a dirt ball thinking about keeping a fake watch, given to some poor smuck that was engraved by an incompetent, as a joke about working for the feds for 35 years and getting nothing.

What a country.

HA......we'll see the rest of the story on Springer or Maury later this fall!

[GBJIV]

All, I took the watch to my AD and it is verified as a fake. The movement is ETA. I returned the fake Rolex to the guy that foung it. My AD said that from time to time they do see fake Rolex's that have been engraved. People falsifying Rolex will go to extreme lengths to make them seem legitimate.

Anyway, thanks all for your time on this. I appreciate the education....

[warrenmich]

Yes, it is terrible that it is fake. It is terrible that they went to as far as engraving the back. BUT, it still could have some sentimental value to the owner. It could be a gift from his kids or Wife as a joke or gag gift that he values more than a real one! NONE of us would do it but you never know the reason of owning it. Maybe you could look just as hard for the owner of the watch and make him/her the happiest person on Earth!

Just my .02

[GBJIV]

Agreed - 100% - I asked the guy that he report it as missing to the Police. There is a waiting period - if it is not claimed it becomes his legal property. I sincerely hope that he does that as sentimental value can be worth much more than money as you noted.