A few days ago, we discussed the listing by a Munich dealer, of what appeared to be a fake / repainted PVD Monaco. This dealer, with its fancy looking Munich shop, claims that its trades in "vintage and modern watches of the highest quality". It had posted four low resolution photos (640 pixels wide) of the Monaco in question.
OK, so what do a phone call to Germany and two e-mail messages to this esteemed dealer produce?
- an asking price of 14,500 euro . . . optimistic if this Monaco is genuine / laughable for a fake
- a refusal to provide high resolution photos, on the basis that "too many people collect the photos, rather than the watches" . . . OK, sir, I will admit it, I probably have well over 25,000 photos of vintage Heuers, but only 60 or 80 of the actual watches in my collection, so thank you for keeping my C-drive clear of this additional clutter.
- a refusal to provide a serial number, on the basis that "the photographer is only here one day per week" . . . OK, not sure why we need a photographer to provide a serial number, but maybe that's how the high-end guys like to do things.
Maybe some of the people buying the high-end watches are happy to pay stupid money for fake watches, based on low resolution photos and minimal information; maybe these types of high-rollers don't know and don't care. I suspect that most of the members of our little community are a bit more thorough in their searches, and end up with better watches for their money. But if you have 14,500 euro for what appears to be a fake Monaco, then I'm sure that this dealer will treat you very nicely.
Jeff
