How can you really trust that a grey market Rolex is authentic?

[Kevin of Larchmont]

Originally Posted by PO 2500D

As I've posted on the thread before any grey worth their salt will be opening the case and know what they are looking at.

However I very much doubt most retail customers looking at either of those fakes in isolation from a real one using just their eyes would be able to tell even with a loupe they wouldn't know what to look for, so the opportunity for fraud is there.

That video is a side by side under a macro and he knows which is the fake which in a way is misleading because you watch it thinking oh yeah I could tell..but you probably couldn't in a real life situation. (I know I couldn't)

We are very much in the dealers hands in terms of expertise & honesty when buying second hand.

So we agree on the question of how could the trusted seller not tell and furthermore we agree that it’s their job to tell. They too are the purchaser of that watch, they have the tools and incentive and motivation and the inventory for comparison to discern real from fake because their credibility is at stake. Of course the FOMO bandwagoneer retail customer will struggle but we’re not talking about that person, we are talking about the trusted seller who buys and sells watches for a living. This is why they’re trusted.