Tudor 1926 39mm Black Dial - Fake or Real ANSWERED! · Watch Lover

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Tudor 1926 39mm Black Dial - Fake or Real ANSWERED!

(Previously on Watch Lover Community... I attended a Car Boot Sale and purchased a possibly-Tudor watch for £60, from a seller that was offloading some Unclaimed Airport Lost Luggage items. Unsure of its legitimacy, as it's a well-crafted and appointed watch regardless of the provenance. Today, looking for definite answers, I took the watch to a local Tudor AD to get their opinion.)

So!

I took the possible Tudor to my local Tudor dealership today, and explained the situation. The two sales experts widened their eyes in surprise when I mentioned the cheap price. Then the more experienced of the two (20 years working for Tudor, apparently) took a look at my watch, and declared that it's a 100% genuine Tudor watch. Not only that, he checked the serial numbers on a company database, which revealed that the watch was once owned by Sir Paul McCartney, and they offered me £15,000 for the watch so they could display it in their Historic Tudor Horology Exhibit at their head office in Geneva.

Only kidding. it's fake.

Everyone at the Tudor store was lovely, and super helpful. They talked me through the differences between the watch I presented, and showed me what a genuine Tudor 1926 39mm Black Dial looked and felt like. Side by side, with my hands on both, the fake was still incredibly good, but the differences were pretty stark under scrutiny. They were:

1- Thickness. The fake was at LEAST 75% thicker than the real. The experts did say that previous models were thicker, but not to the scale on display here.

2- The font on the fake dial, while excellently spaced and expertly applied, was ever so slightly thicker that the font on the real. Not something I'd ever have seen without having them side by side.

3- As I suspected, the etching on the fake case back and bracelet was not as pronounced as that on the real. I'd suspected as much from my own research.

4- The fake had push pins structuring the bracelet. Yes, they had cosmetic screw facias, but they were still push pins.

5- As mentioned in comments on a previous post, the date complication on the fake was of a markedly lower quality that that of the original. The original was better lettered, and soooo smooth.

6- Tied into this was a movement difference that I learnt about swiss made watches. On an original swiss made watch, when the crown is out and set to alter the date complication, the second hand should still be running; it should only stop when the crown is set to adjust the actual hands. On the fake, the second had stopped on BOTH the date complication alteration setting AND the hand alteration setting. Every day is a school day.

Both the experts were actually very complimentary about the standard of the fake, and they both said they would (and I should) happily wear it and enjoy it. I found that surprising, but they were likely just making me feel better after the disappointing news. But I'm not disappointed. If anything, I'm a bit relieved. I've been collecting modest watches for a literal hot minute, and I don't think I'm ready to wear anything with a comma in the price. I was in too deep!😄

So, what do I do with the watch now? It's a lovely looking, very well-made watch. It's got a fun story behind it. It's my only Automatic watch. It's definitely my style, aesthetically.

It's also, well, fake.

I'm very new to the watch scene, and I've no idea on the best course of action. Do I wear it? Can I post it here if I do? I'd never pass it off as real, but is just wearing it AT ALL a no-no? Do I need to head to Mount Doom and cast it into the flame?

Any advice greatly received. Oh, and thanks to everyone who's given me guidance and input thus far. You're all superstars. ⭐👍

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